Unique Features of Elementary Classrooms

Question 1

A typical classroom is never devoted to just a single activity, like perhaps a restaurant or post office (reading stations, morning work, make-up work, worksheets, etc. can all happen in one day or one lesson)
Instead, most classrooms play host to many different activities nd events, some of which appear somewhat incongruous with the purpose of a school (recording students’ lunch choices)

Answer 1

Multidimensionality

Question 2

As the name implies, many of the activities (referenced in multidimensionality) in a classroom occur at the same time!
Teaching, managing, students’ behavior, recording lunch choices, assessing student learning - all of these activities (and many more) often take place congruently

Answer 2

Simultaneity

Question 3

Refers to the rapid pace at which things happen
Teachers must respond quickly, they will not have an opportunity to think through every possible scenario

Answer 3

Immediacy

Question 4

The events in the classroom cannot be fully predicted
Despite teachers’ best efforts in planning, there are times just the instructional activities will not go according to plan
But remember that classrooms are never devoted to just one activity
All those “other” activities may not go according to plan either

Answer 4

Unpredictability

Question 5

The students’ behavior can be observed nearly all of the time, students are almost always “exposed” to the prying eyeballs of their classmates and teachers
Yet, the teachers are always on stage too!
Teachers’ body language, facial expressions, and gestures are clearly visible to nearly all students, for nearly eight hours a day, five days a week

Answer 5

Lack of Privacy

Question 6

Teachers and students create a shared history, which means that students remember the events of yesterday, last month, the school year and what happens in the classroom today has implications for tomorrow, the nest day and the rest of the year

Answer 6

History