Help your classroom grow from a space for learning to a community of mutual support and growth.
This is the third and final installment in our Rethinking the Three Rs series
We all recognize that special feeling in a classroom when students are working productively together, the teacher seems at ease, and there is a tangible sense of trust and engagement.
This is not easy to accomplish. In fact, in a classroom with 25 or more students, we may never achieve complete engagement and a sense of trust with every single learner — but we can strive for it. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about what actually holds a classroom culture together. So much goes into it — hours of thoughtful planning, choosing or adjusting content, offering clear instructions, established routines and rituals, and so much more. However, I think that relationships are the superglue that holds together the ecosystem of a productive classroom environment. Classroom relationships are a complex web of trust — we, as the teacher, have a relationship with the class as a whole, students have relationships with each other individually, in groups, and also, teachers have relationships with individual students. I won’t go so far with the web analogy to say that we as teachers are the spiders building the web, but we kind of are! This beautiful and complex web is not to be underestimated. Laying the foundation for relationships
Establishing key routines and rituals to keep our classrooms organized and managed every day is foundational for strong classroom culture. I learned the hard way that for all students to “buy into” procedures and routines, it takes trust — students need to trust you and you need to trust them.
These include routines that create clear and consistent procedures that communicate classroom expectations to students, whether those are related to starting and ending lessons, entering and exiting class, transitions, bringing students back to attention, managing materials, or more. (For considerations and examples of effective rituals and routines, take a look at the first article in this series: Revisiting Classroom Routines.) Relationships with the class
From the minute students walk through the door into your classroom, you are establishing your persona. Your confidence and positivity will set the tone for the classroom and its climate. Simply staying calm and using consistent approaches to bring the class to attention reinforces your approach and helps students trust you and respect your expectations of them. The clearer you can be about what you expect, the more you can help students learn to trust you.
Don’t be afraid to strategically share yourself with students. As the adult in the classroom, you may want to only share parts of your life, but if you can share your interests, passions, and aspects of your personality, students will relate to you more as a full human being. Expert teachers C. Peterson-Snyder and A. Anderson at the Brooklyn Environmental Exploration School affirm that brief daily check-ins at the door have had a positive impact on their classroom culture. Greeting students at the door always sends a clear message that you are in control of the space and that you also care about each individual student. A personalized greeting, a word of support, or a follow up question can go a long way. Connecting with students as they leave the classroom is also a great way to maintain ongoing connections and accountability with each student. The imprint of a brief affirmation, reminder, or fist bump as a student leaves your classroom may set the tone for how they walk back into it. Consistent, caring interactions can foster trust, and over time, relationships that build an engaged classroom community. Acknowledging students as individuals
Finding ways to recognize each student as an individual and valuable classroom member is a key element of relationship building.
A range of research shows that acknowledgement and recognition has an impact on helping students feel confident and positive about themselves, which can lead to more participation and engagement. Don’t we all thrive on being acknowledged and recognized? Connecting with students goes beyond acknowledging each students’ presence and state of mind on a daily basis; it may include offering students ways to express their feelings about the course and topic at hand. This can be offered through exit tickets, journal entries, or short letters to you. Asking students to “pick an emoji” on the SMARTboard as an SEL activity is a starting point; however, I caution us about “checking off” the SEL box, rather than asking students to identify how they are feeling as a meaningful exercise. If you ask for students’ feelings or feedback, be prepared to acknowledge or address it — being responsive is a key part of caring. Using humility and humor
I always notice that when we as teachers can make fun of ourselves, it humanizes us and creates space for students to make themselves more vulnerable. A silly example from my own teaching is that I am terrible at drawing, yet, I never hesitated to grab the marker or chalk to offer students a visual (since I believe that images are key to support learning.)
Whenever I would try to draw, we would all laugh at my attempts, and invariably, students would jump up to help me draw, or I would ask for artistic support ahead of time. I learned that I could be honest and vulnerable with my students once I had established some classroom procedures and norms. Student-to-student relationships
Besides greeting our students and checking in with them individually, there are many wonderful activities that can be used to offer students opportunities to get to know each other while simultaneously letting you get to know them.
Learning each other’s names is a natural starting point, but positive partner and group interactions during activities such as Turn and Talk, 4 Corners, 4 As , Socratic Seminar, and group discussions can help build a sense of community as students practice active listening, articulate their ideas, and develop empathy by engaging with their peers' viewpoints. When structured thoughtfully, these interactions create an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and heard, ultimately enhancing both social and academic growth.
In the end, relationships truly are the foundation of our classroom culture. Students, like all people, thrive when they feel acknowledged, connected, and cared for — in short, when they are in meaningful relationships. From my experience as a teacher and coach, I am convinced that intentional strategies and mindsets can foster these connections, transforming relationships into the cornerstone of a positive, engaging, and productive classroom environment. Building these connections isn’t just about compliance — it’s about creating a space where genuine engagement flourishes.
RECENT READS FROM CPETLoading... |
|