Characteristics of Effective Classroom Culture

• Teacher and student interactions are respectful and conducive to learning.

• Teachers provide clearly-stated high expectations and opportunities are provided for students to engage in a rigorous and challenging curriculum.
  

• The Literacy Habits of Mind are the established norms for students’ and teachers’ approach to literacy in the literacy classroom.
  

• The Literacy Habits of Interaction are established norms for how students and teachers communicate and engage in the literacy classroom.
  

• Teachers explicitly teach and model classroom procedures and routines that are conducive to learning.
  

• Teachers and students are individually and collectively accountable for the learning process.
  

• Teachers plan and create opportunities for students to collaborate in the purposeful tasks to gain understanding.
  

• Teachers create an environment that is print and text-rich. Classrooms contain libraries with an assortment of resources.
  

• Teachers use flexible seating and scheduling in order to provide opportunities for best practices such as Socratic Seminars, partner work, small group, etc.
  

• Teachers are reading/writing role models for students by reading/writing with students and discussing their personal reading/writing habits and passions.