ECD 210
09/09/26
Classroom Design
Physical Design
sets the tone for classroom instruction
Can impact student behavior
Permits safe and orderly movement, especially for disabilities and transitions
Is a component of effective classroom management
Keeps distractions and disruptions to a minimum
5 Key Considerations
Teacher should be able to see every student all the time (from desk, from lecture spot, from horseshoe table)
Students should be able to see teaching demonstrations at all times
Room arrangement should support your goals for instruction
Movement is easy and safe
Easy accessibility to instructional materials
09/14/26
Classroom Design
The students should be able to see teaching demonstrations at all times
The teacher should be able to see all students at all times
Never call a student out in a whole group EVER
Use proximity and if needed, pull them into the hall for a solo convo
Your classroom design should be ADA compliant. You are the advocate for your students!
Don’t ever try to move the whole class at the same time
We make students feel safe by maintaining consistency in our routines and procedures
9/16/26
Travis Neimeir
Whole brain teaching
Score board \
daily, three points either way per day. Rewards at the end may be chocolate kisses, jolly ranchers, mystery envelopes, social time- gameify it!
Mirroring!
Playing for Change music on YouTube
Intro and leaving songs for kids
When kids walked in, he’d have the music playing and have lyrics on their desks. Kids would read lyrics, and respond as prompted on the back, maybe about why that song was shared and how that applies to classroom and community
Playing all different genres of music can be so powerful- but make sure it’s proper and not just popular
Observations from teachers
Chat with students during morning work
Daily check ins
Digressing can be a great relationship builder, and it can be done in a way where we stay on track
Use names often, especially in praise
MOVEMENT! Lots of energizers to work with attention spans for all ages.
You can also break lectures up with quick writes, videos, think-pair-share, etc.
9/23/26
Tips for Pedagogy in Routines and Procedures:
Give a specific amount of time for an activity and let students periodically know how much time is left.
Be proactive to prioritize instructional minutes
The root of “Discipline” is disciple, which means to teach!
A procedure is how you want something done
A routine is what the student does automatically without prompting or supervision
The number one problem is classrooms is a lack of routines and procedures, not discipline!
9/30/26
Routines and Procedures
Attention getters are crucial to have down for safety reasons
There are SO many procedures, and you’ll need to discuss and frontload each of them a lot
Rules/Expectations
Rules govern student behavior; procedures are what students do
“If you don’t follow a known expectation, there is a consequence to that expectation.”
They represent core philosophy and drive classroom climate
Most rules define what is appropriate behavior
You only want to have three to five rules, even for high schoolers
3 general rules for sure
If you put a rule in place, you must enforce it consistently.
Choose 3-5 Classroom rules:
They must be age-appropriate
Simple and clear
Rules you can enforce
When appropriate, set rules together with your students
1. Treat everyone with respect (including yourself!)
2. Act with integrity!
3. Be a leader!
4. Choose your words wisely!
Proximity!
10/7/26
Consequences
Redirection:
Group reminders (“Everyone should be taking their notebook out right now.”)
Group punishment for something one student is doing is not a great thing. Handle that one student, but don’t hurt the group.
Anonymous reminder (“I see a friend who is off task…” and look at the people not doing what they’re supposed to)
Proximity (#1 classroom management strat. Touching the desk when you are near to remind students that you do not approve of their behavior)
You do NOT want to stand over the top of a kid with trauma
You can still use proximity with these kids maybe by kneeling down beside them, but not come front-on or hover.
Some kids will also really not respond to touch
Non-verbal signal (A student keeps turning to his friend and tries to take something off her desk. You signal with your hand to regain the student’s attention.)
You can teach your students a hand signal that they know means pay attention or stop what you’re doing.
These can be great when you’re trying to compete with a loud and noisy classroom.
This can also be eye contact!
These are also voice-savers and encourage your students to constantly be engaging with or looking at you
Quick word (“The expectation right now is that we are silently working. I need you to bring your volume to a zero.”)
You want five positive praises for every redirection: “I see Quincie is ready, Olivia is ready, etc. etc.”
Redirection steps:
It’s about the behavior, not about the kid.
Focus on the desired behavior rather than the problem behavior
Provide a clear description of the desired behavior (Not just, “Stop it!”)
Give the student positive attention as soon as the student shows the desired behavior
Remember the drummer kid video? Kids with OCD behaviors do so without even noticing! They just have lots of energy and are trying to get it out. Flexible seating can help! They’re not trying to be bad, so be careful about punishing them.
When all else fails- Logical Consequences!
“It’s not the severity of your consequences that will make them effective, it’s the consistency of your approach.”
Three Rs of Consequences: Realistic, Relevant, Respectful
Restitution: You break it, you fix it!
You accidentally knock someone down, so you help them up
You hurt someone’s feelings, so you write them an apology and invite them to play
You waste time talking to a friend in class and avoiding tasks, so you make up the time later in the day
Loss of Privileges
A student waves scissors around repeatedly. She loses scissors for the remainder of the period and you have a conversation about safety.
Two kids talk instead of working. They have to sit by themselves.
A student rolls his eyes or calls out during a morning meeting. He has to leave the group.
A student fools around in line. She has to walk with the teacher.
A student logs onto an unacceptable website while doing research. He loses computer time for the rest of the period (or week).
Time Out or Take a Break
Calm corners are great, but we have to be very careful with how we employ this.
Document Repeated Behaviors ABC
Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence
10/14/26
Make learning REAL:
Relational
Experiential
Appliable
Learner-Based
Think-triad-share
Research on Learning Behaviors
Students engage will tasks that they feel they can perform well (attainment value)
Students engage in tasks that bring them enjoyment (intrinsic value)
Students engage in tasks they feel serve a useful purpose or meet an end goal that is important (utility value)
Other considerations with engagement and motivation
Resiliency
Growth mindset
The brain gets stronger and works better the more it is engaged
Too often students believe that the brain is static and hopeless
Research tells us that each time you stretch yourself and learn something new your brain forms new connections and over time build knowledge and skill
Resiliency: Encouraging difficult work
“You aced that really quickly. Maybe this is just too easy for you and it’s time to dig into something more challenging.”
Traditional grading that most students encounter at school may inadvertently encourage the pursuit of easier tasks.
Tangible improvement will occur only if students actually engage in challenging tasks that require them to stretch and grow
What works best for student engagement: Hattie
Classroom discussion
Reciprocal teaching
Feedback
Student teacher relationships