(in progress)

Unit 2: The Child
Guiding Questions

• What does the ideal classroom look like?
• What challenges do students bring to the classroom?
• What teacher actions support the learning and development of ALL students despite these challenges?  What teacher actions are potentially detrimental to the learning and development of students, considering these challenges?
• What teaching strategies can a teacher use tomorrow in his or her classroom to improve student learning and become more child-friendly?

Session 2.1: What does the ideal classroom look like?

RATIONALE:  This is a very tangible and practical place to begin.  Teachers can think about their ideal classroom - this may include better resources, a different feeling, or a different appearance.  Teachers may also identify attributes of their classes that they think make it an ideal classroom.  As a trainer, it is important to be prepared to ask questions and challenge teachers' thinking if they identify qualities that go against the child-friendly model such as: Why do you believe that makes an ideal classroom?  What if the classroom looked like ______? 

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Session 2.2: What challenges do students bring to the classroom?
RATIONALE:  Just as teachers have lives outside of the classroom that impact their focus and success as teachers, students too are impacted by their lives outside of school.  Life at home and situations in the community can make it difficult for children to focus on learning.  Child-friendly schools work to create an environment that makes school a place where ALL students, despite what they might face outside of school, feel safe, are cared for, and are encouraged to be actively engaged in their learning. Before teachers and schools can do this, however, it is important to be aware of the multitude of vulnerabilities that children may bring to the classroom.

This puts a lot of pressure on teachers and schools because every child is different and some children, and often entire communities, face real hardships that make it difficult to make education the primary focus.   Unit 1 focuses on the teacher and his or her mindset and well-being.  Having a good command of these things is critical because a teacher faces the daily challenge of meeting the needs of each student in the classroom – not an easy task.  In this first section of Unit 2, the group will consider the ideal conditions for learning, the vulnerabilities that children face that make this difficult (in their communities specifically) and will learn strategies for creating welcoming, loving, inclusive environments for their students.

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Session 2.3: What teacher actions support the learning and development of ALL students despite these challenges?  What teacher actions are potentially detrimental to the learning and development of students, considering these challenges? 
RATIONALE:
This question exists to expand teachers' view of their role.  Many teachers have a narrow view of their role and do not realize that beyond the delivery of content, a smile, a "How are you?" and "Nice job!" can really make a difference.

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Session 2.4:  What teaching strategies can a teacher use tomorrow in his or her classroom to improve student learning and become more child-friendly? 
RATIONALE: It would be impossible to provide teachers with every possible classroom strategy that they could use to make their classroom more child-friendly. This training will focus on the classroom environment discussed above, teacher behaviors, and then a handful of child-friendly teaching strategies that can make a lesson more student-centered and less teacher-centered.

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1. Multiple Intelligences.

Find the right timing for the story.  Include transcription.

Session 2.5:  Putting it into Practice

-Review major takeaways from the day with a partner
-Complete graphic organizer on “The Student”
    My classroom ___________ is currently ______________.
I can make my classroom more child-friendly by:
    
OR
    Examples of ways my classroom is already child-friendly
    Examples of ways my classroom is not child-friendly & steps I can take to change this

-Think-Pair-Share
Teachers will share some of their next steps.
Teachers that are struggling with ideas for how to address an issue will first get feedback from a partner and then get feedback from the group (if they would like it)

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