Building a Classroom Community (Part 1)

Were you expecting a post about academic work in class?  Fear not, that will come soon!  But before our class could experience academic success, we had to find success with establishing a classroom community.  I briefly addressed this at Curriculum Night, but I’d like to tell you a bit more about my philosophies and how these look within our classroom.

First, notice that I said “our” classroom.  It’s not my classroom.  It’s the kids’ room.  And, yes, mine too.  But it’s your room too.  We all have a vested interest in what happens in the room, we all want EVERYONE to be successful in the class, and since the learning experience continues when kids go home to work on their homework, you, as parents, definitely count as part of our class.

Second, from the start of school, we look at what makes us whole.  We’re a class of 24 students and one teacher, which makes us a community of 25 learners.  I learn from the kids just as they learn from me (and from each other, too!)  We talk regularly about how we need everyone here in class in order to be a whole group, and that everyone plays an important part in making us a CLASS, not just a group of people in a room together for 180 days.

At this point, I’m sure many of you are jokingly wondering when I will start singing Kumbaya with the kids.  Building a close classroom community has always been important to me, because I know that when kids feel safe and comfortable and valued in class, they are better able to take academic risks, ask for help, make productive mistakes, and most of all, LEARN.  Over the years, I have implemented the Responsive Classroom approach, which highlights a positive start to the day with Morning Meeting, building a classroom community, and logical consequences.

This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to become trained in Capturing Kids’ Hearts, which is a separate approach that works in cooperation with Responsive Classroom.  Let me first say that Capturing Kids’ Hearts SOUNDS really cheesy and hokey based on its name.  I realize this, but I hope you’ll look past that.  CKH focuses on helping teachers to reach each student and to show students that we genuinely care about them, believe in them, and are willing to help them to be as successful as they possibly can be.  This starts with morning arrival.  I try to greet each student, personally, as they arrive in the morning.  Besides being courteous, it also lets me quickly see how everyone’s doing.  If  I can quickly spot a brewing problem, I can work to help address whatever is bothering the student and hopefully get the day started off on a good note.  Even in 12 days, I’ve seen what a big difference this makes!  It’s great to see kids now approaching me in the morning, hands extended, waiting to greet ME, rather than waiting for me to come to them.  Also, new to Morning Meeting this year is Good News, which allows students to share (you guessed it) good news with the class.  Good News can be big (such as “We’re getting a new puppy!” or “I won my first baseball game!”), but I really want to remind kids that Good News can be “small stuff” that seems less significant, such as “I woke up this morning without my mom having to nag me!” or “I was running late this morning, but I made it to school on time!” (That was my Good News last week.) This also helps the day to start on a good note, but it also helps to grow the sense of community in class (as kids genuinely share in each other’s excitement!)

This video will give you a brief overview of what Capturing Kids’ Hearts is, what it does, and why it’s a tremendous asset to teachers!

To be continued in an upcoming post!

Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss