It's bigger on the inside...

    As a teacher, it is my goal to create a classroom that is a caring creative community.  I want my students to feel safe (caring.) I want them to be productive (creative.) And, I want them to feel a sense of belonging and autonomy (community.)  These are the three C's of my classroom and they are related to one another.  For example, when a student feels connected to her classmates (community) she's more likely to feel cared about.  I have strengthened this classroom philosophy using the theories of Alfie Kohn (Burden, 2017.)  One of the ways to get across this feeling of community is by coming together for a community meeting.  In my classroom we come together for carpet time three times a day.  We have a morning meeting (this includes a reading lesson,) an afternoon meeting after lunch (this includes a math lesson,) and a short meeting at the end of the day right before dismissal.  During carpet time, we share, we discuss and make decisions regarding classroom issues, we plan for the coming lessons, and we reflect on the progress we have made. We have this discussion as a group.

     While I may not be a student, my students and I are part of the same team.  In my classroom my choices don’t have to have to be between being an inflexible brickwall or a spineless jelly fish.  I can find that appropriate mix that falls somewhere in the middle.  This is what Barbara Coloroso refers to as having a backbone (Kids Are Worth It! Inc., n.d.)  One of the things that distinguishes a teacher or parent with a backbone is that they send positive messages.  There are six critical life messages the kids should hear (in form or another) every day.  These messages are: I  believe in you, I trust you, I know you can handle this, you are listened to, you are cared for, and you are very important.​

    As a teacher, I am responsible for leading the class.  However, it is never too early for a student to take some ownership in their education.  They can learn democracy and leadership through experience.  Giving your students choice and a voice whenever possible, lets them know they are listened to and I trust them.  I believe in my students.  In my classroom, we cover citizenship in the first couple weeks of school.  My students learn about the qualities of a good citizen and then as a class we develop a list of classroom rules.  On Constitution Day we rewrite the rules and the students sign the paper with a quill, as part of learning about the constitution and reviewing the classroom rules.but 

    I'm comfortable with the idea of the students giving their input into the rules and how we decide to learn.  Our classroom motto is "we're here to learn," within the confines of this goal, there is wiggle room.  As long as we remember that we're here to learn and make decisions that work toward that goal, our class will progress in the right direction.  I believe that it's beneficial for students to apply their own thinking a problem solving to what will work for our classroom.  We've all heard the old proverb about teaching a man to fish.  Along those lines of thinking, I'm not in the profession of serving fish.  I'm creating future fishermen.

   Once the rules are determined it is important that they are clearly stated and the students learn them by heart.  In addition to our list of classroom rules, I developed a series of call backs for the students to remember my main rules (i.e. Listen when I'm speaking, be safe, be respectful to each other, and always do your best.)  The callbacks can be found Ito the right, in the side bar of the page.  In addition to reading them daily, I use them as reminders.  For example, if I overhear a student using a rude tone with a peer, I will say "be respectful."  The class will respond, "we're all friends here."

    There are many ways I teach behavior, but one thing you will find more often than anything else in my classroom is interactive modeling (Anderson, 2015.)  Especially in the younger grades, anything you want the students to do should first be modeled for them.  I begin this at the beginning of the year.  I model all routines for them.  Even something as small as the correct way to come in the room and hang your coat up in the morning, should be demonstrated.  The way this normally works is that I model the behavior first and then I have a student or students model the behavior as well.  You can't assume students just intuitively know how to behave.  It is my job as a teacher to show them how.  As students learn the routines, if a student doesn't do something properly, it is important to have that student go back and do it the correct way.  Taking extra time on this during the beginning of the year will save a lot of instructional time and save everyone a lot of frustration in the long run.

    For times when students fail to follow the rules that have been clearly established, there must be consequences.  In my classroom I use the acronym ESP to remind myself that the best consequences are (expected, simple, and purposeful.)  [This is my adaptation of Coloroso's RSVP consequences.]  If our rules and procedures are clear and the consequence appropriate, there should be no reason why the consequence should be an unexpected one (expected.)  There is also no reason the consequence should be exceptionally complicated (keep it simple.)  And of course, common sense dictates that a teacher does not hand out consequences without purpose. Following appropriate consequences a student can then be given the opportunity to demonstrate the correct behavior.

     Here is is worth making the important distinction between behavior and feelings.  I do not expect my students to be feeling-less.  And while I strive to correct and adjust misconceptions of the mind, feelings are not inherently good or bad.  So for example, while I encourage positivity in my classroom that doesn't mean "we aren't allowed to feel bad."  It is behaviors, not feelings, that are not allowed in my classroom.  So, while we are not allowed to hit, we may at times feel angry.  This is similar to the distinction between the student and their behavior.  While I may not accept certain behavior, my regard for each of my students (the person) is without condition.

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Anderson, M. (2015). The first six weeks of school. Turner Falls: Center for Responsive Schools.

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Burden, P.R. (2017). Classroom management: creating a successful k-12 learning community. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

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Kids Are Worth It! Inc. - Consultant, Bullying, Parenting, Teaching. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.kidsareworthit.com/home.html