I really enjoyed reading Subjects Matter Chapter 7 because it talks about all of the non-concrete factors that affect student learning, such as the classroom environment and attitudes towards learning itself. Something as small as an attitude change can have a massive affect on how a student feels about an assignment or a subject as a whole, and it is crucial as a teacher to lift your students up in order to make them want to succeed. I also appreciated the authors including the study about the meta-analysis on social skills training--the quoted 11% jump in scores shows that it's not always about teaching the test, but teaching success.
The strategies listed to help us make our future classrooms more inviting and build a stronger sense of community are extremely helpful, even to a current teacher--there is always room to improve. Feeling comfortable enough to take risks, to me, was the most important diagnostic in showing that students have a strong sense of community, and it directly relates to learning. If a student isn't comfortable trying new things, how are they supposed to learn new things? I believe that the two go hand in hand, and it is our job to create an environment that promotes students' own desires to push into new territory.
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