RAFT / Affect and Learning Environment

Anne's RAFT
Role: Anne
Audience: Miss Brinn
Format: Letter
Topic: What it'd take to make it okay in here...

Dear Miss Brinn,

I need you to take the time to understand me. I am different than many of the other students. I do not think that I am better than them, or deserve more attention, but I know that I am different, and I need your help to fit in. It's not my fault that I am ahead of most of my classmates; trust me, I wish I wasn't. I am not trying to make trouble in your classroom, I just want to learn and to fit in.

Here's how you can help me:
- listen to me
- allow me to explain myself when you get angry
- give me different work than other students, or at least more work so that I don't get so bored
- don't call the attention of the whole class to how different I am
- I just want to fit in...please help me.

Thank you,
Anne

Thinking about the student you chose for your RAFT and articles you read for class…

What role does affect and learning environment most likely play in a student’s success in school?

More than anything, it is pivotally important as a teacher that you get to know every student. You have to make the classroom a home for your students so that they can be completely comfortable. Also, it is very important that a teacher be aware of the individual strengths and weaknesses of their students, both so that they can foster the learning of the student and so that they know what students will feel most comfortable with and what they will find challenging. Students are very sensitive, and it can be very damaging to your relationship with the if you wound their self-esteem in front of the class.

In addition to forming trusting relationships between teacher and students, you must also foster a trusting relationship between students in your classroom. Students will not feel comfortable expressing their needs or concerns in class if they're not comfortable with their classmates. There is only so much you can do to make your students friends, but teachers should foster as much community in the classroom as possible.

A classroom without trust and understanding will not be nearly as successful as a classroom in which every student feels accepted and understood.