Using a Classroom Environment Checklist

I recently asked a friend of mine what sort of issues they're currently facing in the classroom that we might be able to discuss strategies for on this podcast. Their response was around undiagnosed special educational needs and the impact that that has on learning and the classroom environment as a whole.

Transcript

Penelope Webb: 0:00

Welcome to The Exceptional Humans Podcast, where we discuss questions related to language, identity, education, and behavior. I'm your host, Penelope and I have a background in education, linguistics, and behavioral science. I recently asked a friend of mine what sort of issues they're currently facing in the classroom that we might be able to discuss strategies for on this podcast. Their response was around undiagnosed special educational needs and the impact that that has on learning and the classroom environment as a whole. It is a huge concern for teachers regardless of the year level they are teaching, whether that is early childhood, primary school, or high school. It's a very complex issue, and there are many factors that go into why a student may not have a diagnosis for the issues impacting their learning, as well as issues impacting their behavior. Some of those issues have to do with funding. Some of them have to do with their ability to access those assessments in order to get a diagnosis, and some of them are also surrounding the taboos and conversations around various diagnoses. What we need to remember as part of this discussion is that our students in our classrooms reflect broader society. We are going to get students with a range of experiences and diagnoses that impact their learning and their ability to function within a school environment. These issues are not simply limited to diagnoses around special educational needs. They can also include things such as mental health, having a significant trauma history and exposure to unfavorable environments. For some students they may be in unsafe living environments, which can include things like domestic violence, neglect, and abuse, as well as families facing unstable housing and homelessness. And with the cost of living and housing crisis that is occurring in Australia at the moment, the last one is on the rise. Another thing that falls within the special educational needs category, but is often overlooked is that of giftedness. When identifying students as gifted, we look at an IQ test and identify individuals with an IQ over 110. Whilst it is acknowledged that IQ has historically been incredibly problematic, there are specific barriers to learning that come into play for individuals that are gifted. Sadly, they're actually the most at risk of failing within the school system because the school system is not designed for gifted individuals. Ultimately, there are many factors that go into why a student may not have a diagnosis or why a student and their family may not be open about that diagnosis being shared. There are things, however, that teachers can do regardless of whether or not students have appropriate diagnoses and whether those diagnoses are known. One of the biggest factors that influence learning behavior and people's ability to function within a learning environment is the environment itself. The particular strategy we will be discussing today is the use of a classroom environment checklist. This inclusive strategy is designed to assist students regardless of diagnostic status. To implement this strategy, you are going to create a checklist for your own reference until it becomes routine. The first thing I suggest that you add to your checklist is an item regarding temperature. Humans have quite a narrow tolerance for what is considered a comfortable temperature. In fact, many schools have a policy that classroom temperatures for air conditioned classrooms are set at 24 degrees Celsius. I would also recommend that air conditioning units have the fan set to automatic to ensure that rooms do not become too cold or too hot as you have given the air conditioning unit and its in-built sensors control over managing the classroom temperature. For classrooms reliant on natural ventilation, you are considering opening and closing windows to create cross ventilation. This is the creation of airflow through the room, using aerodynamics. Obviously in winter you may need to close windows down and reduce the airflow within the room to ensure that everybody remains warm. In summer you would ideally have the windows open as wide as they can go to try and ensure cross ventilation and air movement within the classroom. The use of ceiling fans, in addition to windows, can be incredibly helpful in classrooms that do not have air conditioning. However, you should consider the impacts of downdrafts and the noise of the ceiling fan when considering fan settings. The next consideration is lighting. Very few people respond positively to incredibly bright artificial lighting, so it is important to adjust artificial lighting in response to natural lighting. If you've got sufficient light coming from windows, skylights, and other natural sources you can turn off classroom lights. Having an overly bright classroom is going to present a barrier to learning, particularly for those people who are neurodivergent as it can be Hyperstimulating. When it is more overcast we want to ensure that lights are on. Providing sufficient lighting for us to engage in our learning Lighting is very important for energy levels, particularly during the colder months. Insufficient lighting can send our body the message that is time to start winding down and students may start feeling sleepy and start disengaging. It is important to adjust classroom lighting throughout the day in response to natural lighting and weather conditions occurring outside of the classroom environment. Next I would suggest including a reminder to check for and remove rubbish from desks, floors and other classroom spaces throughout the day. Whether you do this or you are asking your students to assist with this is up to you. However, removing rubbish from an environment is incredibly important because if you spend a significant amount of time in an environment that is littered with discarded items it is not a pleasant experience. Whilst doing this, you should also consider returning classroom resources and other materials to their designated spot within the classroom. Items stationary should be returned to trays, pencil holders, or student desks. Student's books should be returned to their desks or cupboards and student worksheets, and any materials that require marking should be neatly placed in piles or in trays for later attention. Doing this helps reduce the visual clutter in your classroom, which assists your students that are more anxious to feel safe and calm in that environment. Additionally, you want to ensure that after each activity desks are clean and tidy. And for this, wet wipes are a great option. The same goes for the classroom whiteboard, the use of whiteboard erases, wet wipes, and whiteboard spray to remove marker residue assist in removing visual interference. It is not uncommon to have students with some level of visual impairment in our classrooms. Whether that's requiring glasses or wearing glasses, or students that have vision loss, ensuring that residue from whiteboard markers is removed assists our students in being able to access what is being presented on that board later on. Those boards are white for a reason. They're high contrast, and allow students to clearly discern information. Not having a clean whiteboard introduces visual interference and can create a barrier to learning. Whilst that concludes the core of what I would include in a classroom environment checklist, there are a couple of other considerations that I would like to address. These particularly apply to early childhood and primary school classrooms and center around classroom aesthetics. Some of you may be a fan of teachertok, where teachers around the world present content on their classrooms, their students and the experience of being a teacher. This content tends to be incredibly aesthetic. Having an aesthetic classroom is not an issue, however, having a Hyperstimulating classroom within an early childhood or primary school setting is. The displays and wall-mounted visual resources can become overwhelming, particularly for students who are neurodivergent or have a significant history of trauma. It creates a lot of visual clutter and can produce significant anxiety for some of these students. Whilst I think there is value in having visual resources on display in your classroom, particularly those related to the concepts you are learning. I think that sometimes the teachers have a tendency not to review the displays they have up on a regular enough basis. When this occurs, we get an accumulation of displays and resources over an academic year. I hope that you have found this strategy useful, and I would be interested in hearing whether or not you would consider using this in your classroom as an inclusive strategy to try and reduce some of those environmental barriers to learning. The Exceptional Humans Podcast is written and recorded on Kabi Kabi and Jinibara lands. We would like to pay our respects to their elders past, present, and emerging, and pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening today.