Tips to Help Teachers Create a Community in the Classroom
It is difficult to know where to start as a teacher in your given in your class. Having those little souls staring at you and expecting that you would be able to give them the best level of training not only educational but socially is quite difficult. School is an opportunity in having to inculcate a lot of discipline, stability and even draw feelings of safety in students who have been living in trauma or even leaving important conditions. Students, therefore, need more than just the knowledge that you’re able to impart to them educationally but that they want the message of love, belonging and value in how you treat each and every child. It, therefore, goes that the time that you would put in building community is quite is important that the time that you would use to help them go through the books and get the best grades. Here are some of the tips to help teachers create a community in the classroom.
Morning meetings are always a great introduction to the school routine and it is capable of bringing the feeling of community. Having to create a sense of community has to have been consistently and therefore being able to introduce such routine meetings before any other activity goes on in the day, is able to bring such a sense of stability. You could be able to maintain the culture in many creative ways such as having students come up with an anchor chart or even a poster that they could display somewhere in the classroom. Dedication of almost half-an-hour usually to this important social-emotional activity is able to build solid relationships.
Establishing rules together with the students is also able to bring that sense of community. You could be able to discuss with students after a substantive time in their learning schedule to develop the rules and expectations of the classroom. You should also come up with ways in which students would be reminded of such procedures and rules in such a way that they can practice them daily. You will discuss with them and let them know why the application of such rules is important so that they can respect one another, stay safe and also how it can enhance their learning and care for another. Providing positive affirmations and even awards for students who keep to the classroom rules would be able to be a motivation towards these.
Greetings students each day that they enter the classroom also works. Standing at the door, playing some music or even writing a daily quote on the board only work as an initial point of contact before students start their day in school. Regardless of the methodology, you should be able to make your students know that you care before any day of school starts. Such gestures make the students know that they are acknowledged by their teacher and it can enhance positive moods as they start the day.
Also, being intentional about relationships from the first day is important. You should be able to have students get the opportunity to voice their concerns and experiences with each other right from the first day. This would help you to know your students better and that your students can also note each other. In response, they can guess the feeling that they are respected, safe and also supported.