Retention & Recruitment / T-TESS-Planning: Dimension 3.1

Planning: Dimension 3.1

Dimension 3.1 Classroom Environment, Routines and Procedures:

The teacher organizes a safe, accessible and efficient classroom.

Clarifying Statement:

This dimension focuses on how teachers organize and operate the classroom to ensure that it is safe, accessible, and efficient on a day-to-day basis. Including consistent routines and procedures allows students to understand the teacher's expectations and makes it predictable where students can anticipate and act, accordingly. Classroom instruction is maximized when the learning environment, routines, and procedures are well-managed and organized.

Standards Basis:

Standards Basis: 1D, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D

Possible Sources of Evidence:

Conferences and Conversations with the Teacher
Formal Observations/ Walkthroughs
Classroom Artifacts
Analysis of Student Data

T-TESS Alignment to Practice
- Teachers create a mutually respectful, collaborative, and safe community of learners by tapping students’ developmental needs and backgrounds, including embracing their backgrounds and experiences as assets to the learning environment.
- Teachers maintain and facilitate respectful, supportive, positive and productive interactions with and among students.
- Teachers establish and sustain learning environments that are developmentally appropriate and respond to students’ needs, strengths, and personal experiences.
- Teachers establish a physical environment that is flexible, accommodates varied learning needs, and provides access to supplemental resources which complement learning.
- Teachers engage students in establishing, communicating, implementing, and reinforcing classroom expectations, including clear expectations for behavior and how it will operate to create buy-in and ownership.
- Teachers model, monitor, and reinforce expectations for the environment, routines, and procedures and explain the rationale behind why they are established.
Key Questions
- How do the classroom environment, routines, and procedures serve to promote quality teaching and learning?
- In what ways are students involved in establishing classroom expectations for the learning environment?
- How are expectations consistently modeled, communicated, monitored, and reinforced?

Distinguished

Establishes and uses effective routines, transitions and procedures that primarily rely on student leadership and responsibility.
Students take primary leadership and responsibility for managing student groups, supplies, and/or equipment.

The classroom is safe and thoughtfully designed to engage, challenge and inspire students to participate in high-level learning beyond the learning objectives.

Accomplished

Establishes and uses effective routines, transitions and procedures that she or he implements effortlessly.
Students take some responsibility for managing student groups, supplies and/or equipment.
The classroom is safe, inviting and organized to support learning objectives and is accessible to all students.

Proficient

Developing

Most procedures, routines and transitions provide clear direction but others are unclear and inefficient.
Students depend on the teacher to direct them in managing student groups, supplies and/or equipment.
The classroom is safe and accessible to most students, but is disorganized and cluttered.

Improvement Needed

Few procedures and routines guide student behavior and maximize learning. Transitions are characterized by confusion and inefficiency.
Students often do not understand what is expected of them.
The classroom is unsafe, disorganized and uncomfortable.
Some students are not able to access materials.