Southern Utah University

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Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Motivation and the Management of Diverse Instructional Environments (Face-to-Face)

ELED 3570-01

Course: ELED 3570-01
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: TED
CRN: 30540

Course Description

This course examines multiple models and theories of classroom management, discipline, and motivation strategies for use in classrooms. Public school practicum included. (Elementary Block) (Fall, Spring) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Admission to Education Department required

Required Texts

Breaux, Annette, Whitaker, Todd, (2014). Seven Simple Secrets – What the BEST Teachers Know and Do (2nd Ed.), Routledge, San Francisco, CZ, ISBN: 978-1138013735

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Use an understanding of individual and group motivation, developmentally appropriate practice, and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation. 
  2. Plan instruction & management methods that are based upon knowledge of the subject matter, students, the community, and curriculum goals. 
  3. Adjust and differs your approaches to teaching and creating instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners and individual needs. 
  4. Create and maintain a positive classroom environment with consistent boundaries that allows students to feel safe.
  5. Continually self-reflect on teaching practices and set manageable goals to intentionally adjust instruction to improve classroom management and engagement strategies.
  6. Demonstrate professionalism, effective communication, and strive to uphold the policies and goals of the school system.
  7. Participate in service learning/practicum experience to develop hands-on, real-life classroom management experiences and provide valuable service to local school partners.

Course Requirements

The Big 8 of Classroom Engagement & Management

o   Identify each area of the Big 8, describe in, and give two examples of each that can be used in the classroom to both increase student engagement and classroom management.

Journal Entries/Reflection

o   Students will reflect on how their management approach went in the practicum classroom each week.  Included will be what went well, one area/skill could be improved or worked on, and how the improvement goal went from last week.  With the goal of small, intentional adjustments by the teacher, the journal is added to each week to help reflect on each teachers’ management growth and journey. Three times throughout the semester, students will reflect on if they are making intentional adjustments and where they might need to make a more concentrated effort and/or where more support from the professor or mentor teacher is needed to continue to improve.

Management Expectations in a Lesson Plan

o   Students will take one of the first lesson plans they planned and taught in the practicum and highlight where management expectations should be included, how those should be communicated, and the importance of planning for management when planning content, instructional strategies, and learning activities.

Procedures in the Classroom

o   Students will identify classroom procedures that would need to be taught to children, explain how those would be taught to children, and what the importance of those procedures would be in the classroom.

Classroom Rules & Consequences

o   Students will create a list of potential classroom rules and include what both the positive and negative consequences would be for those rules.

Classroom Arrangement

o   Students will plan and practice arranging the classroom in a way that would limit disruptions and increase the learning environment.

Attention Signals

o   Students will identify effective attention signals to use in their practicum classrooms.

Professionalism & Communication with Parents

o   Students will identify and plan for ways to communicate with parents in positive, transparent, and effective ways, with the goal to help each child succeed.

Team Building

o   Students identify and share different ideas to build a positive classroom climate through class team building activities.

Discipline Policy

o   Research what the discipline policy is in a district or school.

Motivational Activities & Engagement Strategies

o   Reflect on what motivates the students in your practicum classroom and plan specific engagement strategies that would be effective to both motivate and engage children in learning different academic concepts.

Management Plan

o   Student will compile what they have learned about effectively managing children in a classroom into one final plan.

Teaching Video Demonstration #1 and #2

o   Students film themselves teaching a lesson to their practicum classroom, review it for what went well and where improvement can be made, reflect on goals that can be set, and share it with their professor for further feedback.

Disposition Self-Assessments

o   Students fill out a dispositions report on themselves in the practicum setting with children at least twice throughout the course.

PLC Attendance

o   Students attend and participate in at least one professional learning community meeting with their assignment practicum grade level team.

Mentor Observations

o   Mentors observe and give specific feedback to students on lessons taught in the practicum setting. Students then reflect on both the lesson taught and the feedback and set goals.

Practicum Timesheet

o   Students submit a timesheet, signed by their mentor teacher, that shows how much time was spent in the practicum setting.

Practicum Lesson Plans

o   Students turn in and get feedback weekly from professors on the lesson plans submitted throughout the semester before teaching the lesson plans to children.

Final Reflection Paper

o   Students reflect on their experiences in the practicum setting, including management strategies and adjustments throughout the year, and reflect on what went well, what they could do differently to improve, and how they will use what was learned to improve teaching strategies/approaches in the future.

Course Outline

 | Modules | Topics
| Module 1 | Syllabus Introduction to Management, The Big 8 of Engagement
| Module 2 | Planning Management Expectations in a Lesson Plan, Small, intentional adjustments
| Module 3 | Procedures, Classroom Rules & Consequences
| Module 4 | Effective Classroom Environments
| Module 5 | Attentional Signals, Student Communication, Teacher Disposition 
| Module 6 | Professional Communication, Working with Parents
| Module 7 | Team Building, Positive Class Culture, Discipline Policy 
| Module 8 | Weeklong Practicum Experience #1, Management Reflection
| Module 9 | Motivational Activities, Engagement Strategies
| Module 10 | Management Plan
| Module 11 | Weeklong Practicum Experience #2, Management Reflection
| Module 12 | Reflecting on Management
| Module 13/Final Module | Practicum Wrap-up & Reflection

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Late Policy: All assignments are due on the due date. The assignments will be accepted for up to 10 days after the due date at a 10% per day penalty.  The assignment will be closed and no points given after 10 days.

Attendance Policy

Class attendance and participation are vital to your success and development as a potential teacher.  Attendance is mandatory.  If you miss one individual class session you can still receive an “A” for that course.  If you miss two class sessions in an individual block class a penalty of one grade will be taken from your final grade.  For example, you can still receive a “B”, the above-mentioned grades are possible pending the credit you receive on course assignments.  Professors must be contacted ASAP with an explanation for the absence. It is the block student's responsibility to get notes from a peer for any day missed.

Excessive tardiness may be counted as an absence.  A tardy will be given if you are more than 10 minutes late for class, 3 tardies = 1 absence.  All work missed because of an absence must be made up, and due dates still apply.

Course Fees

$7.50

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.