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Preparing for The Learning Environment Projects
PREPARING FOR THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT PROJECTS
This assessment has two components submitted as one project, so the instructors can see how your plan supports your vision. You must use the Response Template Download Response Templateto complete the project.  
You must score at least 64 points out of 80 points to pass this assignment.
Please allow 3 – 5 business days from the date of submission for scoring.
PROJECT MATERIALS AND DESCRIPTION
COMPLETION AND EVALUATION
FEEDBACK
SUBMISSION
STATEMENT ON THE USE OF AI
CITING ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Component 1:
You will explain your vision of the ideal learning environment for the age and subject you intend to teach in a professionally written and typed paper using correct grammar and spelling.  Use the response template Download response templateto respond to each question.  Your submission should be 3 – 5 pages.  (12 point font, double-spaced)  
How do you create and maintain a mutually respectful and collaborative class of actively engaged learners? Include how you respond to student needs and incorporate student strengths and personal experiences.
What strategies will you use to build relationships with your students?
How will you physically organize the classroom to ensure flexibility and accommodate the learning needs of all students, including those with disabilities?  Consider the wide range of disabilities you might encounter: vision impairment, autism, a physical disability requiring a wheelchair or other assistive device for mobility, hearing disability, attention-deficit/hyperactivity, or others.  A “Proficient” response should include physical accommodations for at least three different disabilities.  Consider things such as Fred Jones’ three Zones of Proximity and furniture.
Explain how your behavior management plan (see below) supports this vision.
Support the strategies you choose with research. For example, you could say something like “According to the work of Dr. I.M. Authority, primary students need structure to feel secure.  Therefore, our day will be structured in the following ways…”  Please note that you will not pass the project if you do not properly cite your research.  You can use any recognized style format (APA, MLA, Chicago) with which you are comfortable.  
Component 2:
After fully explaining the environment you wish to create, you will consider how you will accomplish this. You will create a behavior management plan using the template provided. Your behavior management system should help create and maintain the environment explained in the paper. The behavior management plan must include the following:
Three to five positively worded rules that you can consistently enforce.
Expectations (3 – 5) that encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning and instill a culture of individual and group accountability.
Procedures for at least 3 common classroom tasks (Examples: handing back graded work, turning in make-up work, handing out materials, going to lunch, sharpening a pencil, etc.)  Once you are teaching, you will have more than 3.  These should be fully explained and able to be followed by the target age group.  Include the expectations for student behavior.
Teachers of Tomorrow recognizes the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as a ground-breaking tool for research.  With focused queries, it can fill in knowledge gaps and reveal vital connections.  It can also reflect societal biases and generate incorrect responses.  Generative AI searches can and do create false citations, contradictory statements, and offensive statements. They also incorporate copyrighted text without citing it. As information consumers and learners, it is imperative we are able to critically analyze the material it produces to determine the value and appropriateness of it to our work. 
The performance-based assessments in Teachers of Tomorrow coursework are designed to help you hone skills that make you a more effective teacher.  You need to be able to design a lesson and align all instructional materials and strategies, along with formative and summative assessments, to the learning objective.  You must be able to create a productive classroom environment that both aligns with best practice and creates a safe space for you and your students.  You will need to know how to differentiate, accommodate, and modify curriculum for students with varied learning needs.  These are foundational concepts in our field.  If you cannot successfully do these things, you will not be an effective teacher.  This work is designed to have value to you in your development as an educator. 
In this context, appropriate use of generative AI might be asking for examples in order to spark your own creativity and thought process.  You might use it to precheck assignments for feedback suggestions or to summarize an article you are considering using to support your work.  It is not an appropriate use to copy the response you receive and submit it as your own.  You are responsible for the caliber of content you submit, and AI is not an acceptable substitute for your unique and original work.  Submissions that are inaccurate, fail to correctly attribute others’ work, contain offensive material, or are plagiarized will not be considered to be proficient. To use generative AI in lieu of original work is a violation of our Academic Integrity Policy. 
Teachers of Tomorrow instructors have been trained on AI-generated material and may reach out to you if they suspect your work is disproportionately composed of material found by using AI tools.  To keep your work above suspicion and your academic integrity intact, it is your responsibility to carefully consider and edit any research done with generative AI.  In addition, you are expected to cite your sources in a recognized format (APA, MLA, or Chicago).   
As a future teacher, this is an opportunity to think about what you will find acceptable from your students and how you will address these issues.  Assessments should reflect what a student knows and is able to do; that is not possible if the work submitted is copied wholesale from an AI query. We encourage you to research the issues surrounding the academic use of generative AI to set boundaries and guidelines in your own classroom. 
Some work is flagged as plagiarism due to improperly cited sources.  It is a program expectation that you know and understand how to use and cite research appropriately in your academic work.  If you paraphrase an idea from an article, you must attribute the idea to the author of the article.  If you use the exact words of an article, you must use quotation marks and correctly cite the source. 
This project requires you to conduct thorough research and apply it in your project, with proper citation. We understand this can be stressful and have provided some useful tools below to help guide you along the way.  We do not require a specific style but do ask that you choose and use one consistently.  Most educational research uses APA, but MLA and Chicago are fine, as well.
We recommend Purdue Owl Online Writing Lab for assistance regarding paraphrasing, research and citation resources, and how to use citation generators responsibly. 
Paraphrasing – Purdue OWL® – Purdue UniversityLinks to an external site.
Research and Citation Resources – Purdue OWL® – Purdue UniversitLinks to an external site.y
You can also visit Grammarly for a free citation generator:
Free Citation Generator – APA, MLA, Chicago | GrammarlyLinks to an external site.