What happens when I focus more attention on community building and a student-centered classroom?
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Church, E. (n.d.). Building Community in the Classroom. Retrieved December 09, 2017, from
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/building-community-classroom.
This article, from Scholastic, discusses what factors contribute to a thriving classroom community. Church talks about what can happen at the beginning of the school year to make your students feel welcome in the classroom. Some elements that she mentions are building community through identity, familiarity, warmth and beauty, trust, predictability, and family involvement. These ideas are great and I find that they could be beneficial reminders throughout the year. All students want to feel comfortable in their classroom. I think that the more they are able to share about themselves, the more they will be able to feel supported and secure in their environment. I also feel that if I am accepting of all of my student’s creative minds and I am showing them all support, that maybe they will reciprocate the behavior towards one another. I want my students to celebrate what makes them unique and celebrate how each of them is different from each other. In second grade, my students are working really hard on their group interaction skills and I believe if they expand their understanding of what it takes to build relationships, they could really become communicative beings. Being able to communicate with one another, in a safe and welcoming environment, leaves the door open to so many learning possibilities for the future.
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Responsive Classroom. (2015, April 17). Teaching Without Using Rewards. Retrieved
December 9, 2017, from https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/teaching-without-rewards.
Rewards are always tricky in a classroom. It is hard to find a balance between how often to give awards, what constitutes earning a reward, and what types of awards to give. This article talks about the troubles teachers go through when it seems that their class is more focused on the reward rather than the behavior it takes to earn the reward. In order to build a productive and consistent classroom community, it takes a lot of fine tuning. The article mentions how moving to words, rather than rewards, is much more powerful and motivating. The power of words, phrases, tone, and pace can help students develop self-control, build their sense of belonging, and gain skills and knowledge. In this article, it is mentioned how using language can help children envision their success. Using open-ended questions make students think critically and cause them to open up their minds to unlimited possibilities in learning. This article also mentions how to use silence skillfully as well as practicing good listening skills on a regular basis. I could really work on using my words in a more concise way as well as making my instructions more meaningful. Words are truly powerful and teaching my students how to use them properly can really make an impact on what kind of community we build inside our classroom.
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McKinney, A. (2017, August, 2017). The Importance of Building Community in the Classroom. Retrieved December 9, 2017, from https://www.teachervision.com/blog/morning-announcements/importance-building-community-classroom.
McKinney talks about how a positive community is not just something to work for at the beginning of the year. It needs nurturing and lots of care throughout the year in order to be successful. A strong classroom community has many benefits to the teacher as well as the students. This article mentions how students can learn to trust each other more, which leads to students taking more risks with their learning. There is a major decrease in behavior issues, which most teachers probably find to be one of the greatest benefits. The article also discusses how a classroom community creates an environment where students take pride in what they do and find a sense of ownership in what they learn. The relationships built in these types of classrooms, are long-lasting and make learning more of an exciting journey. Classroom jobs are a powerful way of helping your students take ownership of their learning environment and hold each other accountable. This article also quotes one of my favorite educators, Rita Pearson. Pearson once said, in a TED talk, “How powerful would our world would be if we had kids who were not afraid to take risks, who were not afraid to think and who had a champion? Every child deserves a champion: an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connections, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”
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Responsive Classroom. (2014, January, 3). Reinforcing, Reminding, and Redirecting. Retrieved December 9, 2017, from https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/reinforcing-reminding-and-redirecting/.
Language plays a critical role in building classroom community and guiding a student-centered classroom. The impact that my language has on my students is ultimately how they learn. The same goes for how students discuss with each other. This article, adapted from the new 2nd edition of The Power of Our Words, talks about how teachers need to highlight students’ skills, positive efforts and quality work so that they know what is expected out of them. Reinforcing positive language sets the standard for everyone in a classroom. These positive comments need to be specific as well. They need to specify exactly what someone is doing well so that student can build up off of that moment of success. When it comes to reminding language, I like how the author says to have faith in your student’s competence so that they can build their autonomy. It also states to be brief so as to keep students engaged in the lesson. When it comes to redirecting language, I realized that I find myself using questions for redirection, rather than statements. I might say something like, “Peter, could you please finish that assignment?” Instead, with a calm in control voice, I could say, “Peter, finish that assignment.” I have never really thought too much about the phrasing of what I say to my students. Sure, I self-reflect on what I say and realize, after the fact, that I could have said something a lot better, but these three R’s have never really been a key factor. I can see myself choosing one element to focus on and then slowly incorporating all of them into my daily routine. These R’s could benefit all my students as well as increase their communication skills with one another.
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Education Northwest. (2014). What is Project GLAD? Retrieved March 1, 2018, from http://projectgladstudy.educationalnorthwest.org/what-is-glad
GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) is an instructional model that aims to provide teachers with differentiated strategies to reach all levels of students inside their classrooms. It is a K-12 model that is specifically designed to help reach English Language Learners. The strategies guide conversations, build vocabulary, and increase students ability to understand key concepts within their grade level. It encourages all students to be able to read and write at grade-level. I have seen a lot of GLAD strategies and was able to be a part of a wonderful GLAD workshop. It is an incredible teaching model that can be applied to all subject areas. This model is big on color coding and helping students visualize their learning. This type of teaching is centered around the students and helping them be successful. Students are able to succeed with this form of teaching because of the hands-on, authentic learning experiences.
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Marzano, R. J. (2003, September). Educational Leadership. Retrieved from The Key to Classroom Management.
Marzano talks about how building teacher-student relationships is a major step for all aspects
of classroom management (Marzano, 2003). Teachers who exhibit higher levels of teacher-
student relationships had 31% fewer discipline problems in their class (Marzano, 2003). Teachers who are the most successful have characteristics such as exhibiting the appropriate level of dominance both on having a clear purpose and strong guidance, with both academics and student behavior. Another characteristic that teachers show is an appropriate level of incorporation and being aware of high-needs students (Marzano, 2003). Having students help build the curriculum by being able to set their own objectives for learning when a new unit starts can be very powerful (Marzano, 2003). I have my own objectives posted for both ELA and math, in my class, and I have found my students to be much more engaged with the lessons when we make it clear what the purpose is behind our learning. This article goes with my research question, because building relationships with your students build a positive community inside the classroom. Also, by allowing students to participate in what they are learning, should help the students to stay focused on topics that they are interested in learning. Helping students find subjects that interest them and getting them in engaged in the learning process, cuts down on bad or unwanted behavior. This article reinforces that having a clear purpose on the first day of school and setting your classroom expectations, will guide teachers to build a positive community that leads to a successful classroom.
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Cascio, C. (n.d.). Classroom Management: How to Make Kids Behave & Be Good. Retrieved from Classroom Management: http://education.seattlepi.com/classroom-management-make-kids-behave-good-3736.html
In this article, Cascio discusses four things that prove to be beneficial for teachers when it comes to having a positive classroom environment with limited behavioral problems. He talks about showing students respect, reducing idle time, positively reinforce rules, and implement progressive discipline. Some examples he gives of showing students respect is just by using their names and listening to students the way you want them to listen to you. We need to model what a good listener looks like for our students to reciprocate this same behavior. When there are problems with a student, Cascio suggests speaking to the student in private rather than making them feel embarrassed in front of their peers. He also suggests returning work in a timely manner so students are able to receive feedback while the material is still fresh in their mind. By minimizing idle time teachers promote good behavior and discourage bad behavior at the same time. This happens because we reduce the amount of time for them to have the opportunity to misbehave or make poor choices. However, students still need to be given opportunities to have academic conversations with students in order to share their ideas with one another. The main takeaway from this article, for me, is to reinforce the behavior that you want your students to exude. Encouraging positive behaviors and finding positive ways to spin behavior in the right direction, creates a cohesive environment for learning to occur.
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Schibsted, E. (2009, May 13). How to Develop Positive Classroom Management. Retrieved March 1, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/classroom-management-relationships-strategies-tips.
What I love about Edutopia is that it provides a variety of articles centered around effective teaching that has been gathered by teachers. In this specific article, Schibsted addresses how other educators have created positive classroom environments, which includes positive classroom management. One big point made is that the beginning of the year sets the tone and it is when the real work needs to be put in if you want a successful classroom environment. I have learned that reteaching cannot only happen at the beginning of the year, but behavior and expectations need to be addressed frequently throughout the year. Eventually students will learn to hold each other accountable in a respectful way, but that only comes with the hard work put forth and the expectations set early on. Along with expectations, comes consistency. All students need to feel appreciated and not constantly put down. That is why it is crucial to reinforce appropriate behavior because this keeps kids calm rather than on edge or walking on egg shells. One teacher even suggests, “Think four positives to any corrective feedback” (Schibsted, 2009). Building that trust in the classroom, comes with enabling them to feel successful and experience what it is like to feel accomplished. Positivity is the common element inside many successful classrooms.
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PBS.org (2013, May 7). Rita Pierson’s Funny and Inspiring TED Talk. Retrieved March, 1, 2018, from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ted-talks-education/speaker/rita-pierson/
“Every child deserves a champion—an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best they can possibly be” (Pierson, 2013). This is one of my absolute favorite motivational videos about teaching. Almost every word out of Rita Pierson’s mouth, is inspiring and resonates with most educators. She talks about the opportunity we have, as educators, to not only help the students learn but to be a positive force in their lives. We are one of the most consistent people in these children’s lives and they are depending on us. Pierson’s TED Talk calls out educators to build relationships with all their students, no matter how challenging the student is. She shares strategies and techniques she has used and gives great anecdotes that reinforce students’ self-esteem. Pierson understands teaching and came from a long line of educators. She was a wonderful source of information and seems to have been an amazing advocate for children. One of my favorite things she said she used to tell her students and have them say to her was, “I am somebody. I was somebody when I came. I’ll be a better somebody when I leave. I am powerful, and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here” (Pierson, 2013). That quote gives me goosebumps because of how powerful of a statement it makes. It is so empowering to students and I can only imagine how positive and incredible Pierson’s classrooms were. I love the idea of working with my students on a motto to empower them and remind them that they matter.
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Gibbs, J. (2001). Tribes: A New Way of Learning and Being Together. Windsor, CA: Center
Source Systems.
I use Tribes within my classroom and use it as a reminder to my students about what makes a good person as well as a good student. In order to achieve our specific learning goals, the four agreements that need to be honored are: attentive listening, mutual respect, appreciation/no put downs, and the right to pass/participate. With these agreements in mind, students learn a set of collaborative skills so they can work well together in long-term groups, hence the name Tribes. Tribes teaches students how to work in small groups, but also guides them through proper behavior in whole-group discussions, such as community circle. A classroom that incorporates Tribes, is able to focus on how to help each other work on tasks, set goals and solve problems, monitor and assess progress, and celebrate achievements (Gibbs, 101). Tribes provide the opportunity for student-centered learning, where students are held accountable to be respectful and demonstrate skills that create a cohesive learning environment.