The Classroom as Community Created by Brooke Kull, Lela Jacobs, Lori Henderson and Samantha Haga

Introduction As teachers, it’s important to instill a sense of belonging among our students. Building and managing a community within the classroom enhances student’s learning abilities and avoids some of today’s common school issues such as bullying and sexual harassment. As the chapter unravels, we gain knowledge on how to create a strong classroom community including communication, collaboration and culture.

Classroom Management vs. Classroom Community Classroom Management: The method of teachers ‘managing’ a classroom by creating an environment that is both efficient and effective for student’s learning. Classroom Community: When the teacher and students come together as a whole and share common values when working together to learn. The atmosphere has essences of trust, care, and support.

Students on Fire When a teacher describes students as “on fire,” they mean they are in action to learn. Students who are on fire are enthusiastic about a specific topic, project, experiment, paper, or story. They show passion about what they are doing.

Students on Fire Continued When I was in the ninth grade, I experienced being “on fire” in my Spanish class. Each student had to pick a Hispanic country and give a presentation on it in Spanish. I was super excited about this project. I made a very detailed and colorful presentation, and even went as far as cooking authentic food from the country I picked. It was my teacher that contributed to the experience. She was so passionate about teaching Spanish and making sure it was fun for her students. She would share pictures from her personal trips and really put effort into her teaching. That is why I wanted to return the favor when it was my turn to present to her my project.

Safe Classroom A safe classroom involves: Physically safe Fire exit Electrical sockets Desk arrangement Emotionally safe Treat others with respect Everyone is accountable for what happens Fairness Consistency with rules and guidelines Function like a community

Morning Meetings A morning meeting is a meeting that takes place usually on the rug in a classroom and helps build the sense of community with the teachers and student. Four benefits: Greetings The sharing Announcements The news

Bullying Bullying is repeated cruelty, physical or psychological, by a powerful person toward a less powerful person. Homophobia, the fear of and intolerance toward homosexuals, is very much part of the culture of secondary schools. Cyber-bullying or harassment through electronic means such as , website postings, text messaging, blogs, mobile phones, or papers; also called online bullying.

Responsive Classroom Approach Responsive classroom is an approach to teaching and learning, developed by the Northeast Foundation for children, that seeks to bring together social and academic learning. Activities found in a responsive classroom: The morning meetings Academic choice, a term that highlights the importance of activities in which the students make their own choices, solve problems, and work collaboratively

Seven Principles The social curriculum and the academic curriculum are equally important. How children learn is as important as what they learn. Social interaction facilitates cognitive growth Children need to learn cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control if they are to be successful socially and academically. Knowing children’s individually, culturally, and developmentally is essential to good teaching. Knowing children’s families is essential to good teaching. The working relationships among the adults in a school are critically important to students’ learning.

Classroom Community Guidelines Teachers can never be over prepared. The first key to a successful teaching experience is to plan, plan, plan, and plan! Understand your expectations for the students’ behavior and share those with them Show them and tell them what you are hoping for. To build a sense of community, develop rules collaboratively with your students, and be very clear about these. Establish both continuity and consistency. Keep rules to a minimum but enforce them. Always have clear consequences for breaking a rule, and never threaten to take a particular action if you are not willing to carry it out. Be prepared to admit your mistakes. Use humor when appropriate.

Classroom Community Guidelines Continued Monitor students frequently so that unacceptable behavior is detected early and can be addressed before it becomes a serious disruption. Redirect students’ inappropriate behaviors by asking them to do something constructive at that moment. Make respect central to your classroom culture. The only way to hold students to high expectations is to gain their respect by making it clear that you care about them and that your classroom will lead to real learning that will benefit them. Minimize the power differential in everyday communication. Keep calm in all situations. Calmness allows you to make rational decisions. If a student is confrontational, it never works to react with anger. Let the situation cool down; wait, and then approach the student calmly. Whenever possible, connect your classroom discussions and curriculum to students’ lives, communities, and culture. Learn as much as you can about your students and make connections to their lived experiences.

Classroom Community Guidelines Continued Build students’ confidence in their own intelligence and creativity. Talk about multiple intelligences, if appropriate, and how people can be smart and creative in many ways. Have engaging activities prepared for the students when they walk into the classroom. You may play a piece of music, put an appropriate puzzle on the board, or have materials available for students to explore. Keep lecturing to a minimum. Engage students in group projects, centers, presentations, discussions, or role plays. Place the students at the center of the learning experience. Make the classroom about them. Remember, the best and most appropriate consequences for students are positive ones-the intrinsic joy that comes from success, accomplishment, social approval, good academic performance, and recognition. Create experiences that enable all students to feel good about themselves.

Sexual Harassment Sexual Harassment is unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other physical and expressive behavior of a sexual nature that interferes with a person’s life. 2 Categories: Quid pro quo sexual harassment - This is when a school employee causes a student to believe that he or she must submit to unwelcomed sexual conduct to participate in a school program or activity. It can also occur when a teacher suggest to a student that educational decisions such as grades will be based on whether the student submits to unwelcome sexual conduct. Hostile environment harassment - Occurs when unwelcome verbal or physical conduct is sufficiently severe. Persistent, or pervasive that it creates an abusive or hostile environment.

Conclusion Chapter 9, we learned the importance of not only recognizing academic proficiency in our students, but the social and emotional goals as well. When students work in groups, develop their own strategies for problem solving and apply their concepts to the real-world it’s beneficial for their growth as an individual and for the growth as a classroom community. We learned: Tips and guidelines on how to create and manage an efficient classroom community The Responsive Classroom Approach How to ensure our classroom is a safe environment for students How to prevent bullying and sexual harassment

References Textbook: Koch, Janice. So You Want to Be a Teacher?: Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Print Web: Classroom community. N.d. Yahoo images. Online image. 19 Nov Community. N.d. Yahoo images. Online image. 19 Nov Fire. N.d. Yahoo images. Online image. 19 Nov Excited to Learn. N.d. Yahoo images. Online image. 19 Nov Morning Meeting in Classroom. N.d. Yahoo images. Online image. 19 Nov Bullying. N.d. Yahoo images. Online image. 19 Nov Bullying. N.d. Yahoo images. Online image. 19 Nov Bullying in Schools Graph. N.d. Yahoo images. Online image. 19 Nov Sexual Harassment in Schools Graph. N.d. Yahoo images. Online image. 19 Nov Build a Community. N.d. Yahoo images. Online image. 19 Nov Books. N.d. Yahoo images. Online image. 19 Nov