My first week into school, I received an email from a former student teacher. The question was, “How do I build Classroom Community with three different sets of classes of students?” My answer is two-fold. First, implement a Three C’s Classroom Approach with each set of students taught. Secondly, understand within each set of classes, a different Utopia may exist.
You may want to refer to the original post for suggestions about setting the stage for Classroom Community. This post is a follow-up to the original.
Click here to read the initial post: CLASSROOM COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS COUNTS!
Teachers with good Classroom Management may give the illusion they have the perfect classroom. Reality check: NO ONE HAS A PERFECT CLASSROOM COMPOSITION OF STUDENTS.
Do you know of a classroom where students appear to be learning and thriving? Does there appear to be a sense of order to the chaos? If so, it’s likely the teacher employs a 3 C’s Classroom Community Approach to learning.
Good classroom management is vital.
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Lack of acceptable classroom management skills weaken the learning experience of each student.
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Lack of acceptable classroom management skills sabotage a teacher’s overall academic effectiveness.
Unfortunately, teachers who struggle with maintaining acceptable classroom management skills are more often than not found to be ‘putting out fires’ instead of teaching core content.
Implement a 3 C’s Classroom Community and begin reaping its benefits, namely in the form of keeping one’s sanity. Truth!
There are always exceptions to the rule. Some situations are out of a teacher’s control. As an elementary student back in the 1970’s, I recall being in class with a fellow primary-age student who suffered from emotional outbursts. He once easily threw a desk across the room and verbal outbursts were the norm. Other than those incidents and the fact that we had a revolving door of teachers, I recall nothing else. Chances are not much learning took place that school year. Instances such as this may require assistance from outside professionals before you can begin developing a thriving Classroom Community of Learners.
Here’s a peek into our Classroom Community. It’s a general recap our FIRST SEVENTEEN DAYS OF First Grade.
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After Labor Day, it will mark our eighteenth day of school. The first two days of school were on a Thursday and a Friday. We began cultivating our co-created Rules, Routines, and Procedures. We continued to focus on CITIZENSHIP for the next two full upcoming weeks. By now, my first grade students have had twelve days of constant role play with reminders these were practice sessions. Students were gently but consistently reminded soon-to-follow accountability would become the norm in the form of a ticket. (Below is a sample of one similar to the actual one I use in my own first grade classroom.)
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The first twelve days were PRACTICING CLASSROOM COMMUNITY with CONSTANT Role Play with Teacher Reminders. The past five days have been of implementing CLASSROOM COMMUNITY with No Teacher Reminders within reason. There have been some tears on more than one occasion.
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Most of our infractions have been procedural in nature like forgetting to write one’s name, disorderly walking while in line, blurting out, not raising one’s hand, and leaving the classroom without permission. There have been some instances of not treating each other with kindness in the form of hollering, verbally disagreeing to the point of tears, and coping with being wrong.
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We have survived tears and tantrums from dealing with the stress of having to follow norms. We’ve survived random acts of disorderly behavior in the classroom with the likes of rocketing Play-doh across the classroom (LOTS OF LAUGHS) along with running in the classroom to misbehaving in the restroom. I am sure given enough time I could name a several more shenanigans!
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Instances of not treating each other with kindness have been the biggies so far. Our first grade classroom culture personifies no BULLYING in the form of words or actions. Yelling at friends, verbally arguing to the point of tears, and learning to cope with being wrong have taken center stage. These instances didn’t happen singularly, but multiple times and with different sets of children. As the year ensues, although I expect these episodes to decrease in frequency, I by no means expect them to disappear entirely.
Let’s guide students to acceptable forms of communication while they learn how to agree and disagree with peers within acceptable boundaries.
Below are some characteristics of young learners.
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Six and seven year olds are not programmed knowing how to argue with aplomb. Doing so takes practice.
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Knowing how to disagree without making your friend feel inferior because they were wrong is an art.
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Learning how to be right without acting pompous can be hard for a young child.
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Knowing how to accept being wrong without feeling like your world is coming to an end all comes with practice.
All situations are learning opportunities not only for the students involved, but for the entire classroom community. Make use of teachable moments; there will likely be many!
Students are learning to behave in acceptable ways daily. If you expect your class to one day become the PERFECT CLASS, you are likely going to be disappointed. Expecting perfection from any age is expecting the unattainable. If you want and need this type of work environment in which to be a productive teacher, you may be setting yourself up for a difficult school year. Regardless, you can still have a happy, thriving community of learners, but with a few bumps along the way here and there.
CHARACTERISTICS of an ever-evolving 3 C’s Classroom Community:
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Teachers are continually modeling acceptable and non acceptable manners of social interaction.
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Students are beginning to understand how they can act at home with their HOME TRIBE is different than how they should act with their SCHOOL TRIBE. Hollering at your sibling in a playful manner while at home, is different than hollering at your friend who didn’t follow procedure while at school. Your sibling likely takes your comments in stride, while a friend may feel embarrassed in a group setting.
Use novel social situations in which students can practice social skills. For example, on the last day of August, we celebrated Summer Birthdays with special OWL cookies.
Participating in activities that aren’t the norm allows the brain opportunities to practice social skills in unique situations. From my experience, they always prove to be good learning experiences.
For example here are just a few new lessons we learned just from that hour long SUMMER BIRTHDAY BASH!
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Learning how to behave and act appropriately when you aren’t the BIRTHDAY KID can be hard. One birthday student began hammering on their cookie and several others joined in the moment.
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A couple of students pouted because they weren’t the focus of attention.
ANY TIME YOU DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN YOUR CLASSROOM, expect the unexpected. The good news is that the brain loves and learns through novelty. These social interactions are preparing students for the times when they will have to cope on their own without teacher guidance.
Let’s make the world a better place, one classroom at a time.
Every student should feel safe and secure with sense of fairness and equity felt amongst the classroom of learners.
Every student should follow the same rules, routines, and procedures within reason. Yet, students know and understand that there are sometimes exceptions to every rule.
Teachers should know their students and act accordingly.
In conclusion, let us all remember, first you must first establish a community of willing learners before you can effectively teach your students academic content.
Remember, if you haven’t read the first installment from the original blogpost, CLASSROOM COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS COUNT! you may want to consider doing so.
