Throughout my many observations of lessons of various subjects in this classroom, I have learned about many factors that affect the teaching and learning process in this class, both positive and negative. Availability of technology, scheduling, and classroom rules and routines are some of these factors. Firstly, the availability of technological equipment has a strong positive effect in this specific classroom and throughout the school. This class has a Smartboard that is used in the vast majority of lessons, as well as a digital presenter/video camera system that allows books and other physical items to be streamed to the Smartboard. There are also classroom computers and tablets for additional options. These options, and the software that the school has supplied to go with them, provide a lot of flexibility in the classroom. I have seen the difference they make in holding student attention by teaching a traditional direct instruction lecture alongside touch screen graphics, visual aids, virtual models, and different things. Rather than passing around a book with virtual aids, those images can be projected on a very large screen that students can interact with, that the teacher can highlight parts of in real-time. It allows easier integration of internet resources especially because anything a teacher wants to bring up on a computer, it can be projected in front of the students, easily visible to anywhere in the classroom, and the teacher can also draw on the screen to highlight specific parts. Another aspect that affects teaching and learning in this classroom, particularly in the context of a social science lesson, is scheduling. In this case, scheduling can sometimes be a negative factor that has to be planned around in advance when designing social science lesson plans for this class. The social science period is within the last hour of the day, following immediately following an hour that includes both recess and their daily creative arts or gym lesson. In this period of the day, student attention begins to wane because they are tired or looking forward to going home, so specific planning has to be taken to make sure the lesson is extra engaging, encourages their participation, and uses interactive features or includes interesting visual aids or activities. 
Another classroom factor that impacts teaching and the learning process are the class’s rules and routines. One of the major rules is that participation is considered one of the most important things. When a discussion question is asked, it is expected that nearly every hand will go up to answer it. Mistakes are encouraged and never criticized, and it is a mantra in the classroom that mistakes are just opportunities for learning. To be able to make meaningful contributions though, it is also expected that everyone is paying respectful attention at all times. Wherever the speaker is, whether it’s the teacher or another student, all eyes will be on that person, and if called upon, students will be able to make a meaningful response to whatever was being discussed. There are also extrinsic motivations established for this. Entire tables that show evidence of respectful attention and participation receive regular points from the teacher, and those points add up to additional leisure time in the classroom. Students work very hard for these points, both for themselves and because their shared table members expect it. Evidence of these methods working can be seen in the classroom, and most students work hard to pay attention, making it easier to teach and easier to see evidence of learning. 
