Relfection 2

It is important to build a sense of belonging in your classroom in order to help engage students. Teachers should strive to create an atmosphere that is safe, efficient, welcoming and effective. Much of our reading focuses on this characteristic of a classroom. It describes the importance of using positive nonverbal communication, and getting to know your students. Building a classroom community should be a priority to all teachers because students learn best when they feel safe enough to take learning risks. This semester I am working in a third grade classroom at Swift Creek Elementary. Swift Creek takes great pride in their students and the school’s mission statement reflects that, “provide a challenging learning environment that will enable students to become successful, confident, and productive citizens”.
Swift Creek uses interesting methods in order to create a community. Morning meetings are video-recorded or given over the speakers by the principle. He acknowledges students birthdays, what to expect for the week, and shows items from the lost and found. Every meeting is concluded with the schools’ behavior policy, “ROAR”. The principle spells out R-O-A-R and the students respond with: “R-Respect, O-On the Path to Success, A-Act Responsible, R-Remember Self-Control”. Finally, the principle ends with: “What year will you graduate?” I respect this method of community-building because it is easy, efficient, repetitive, and gives student’s a sense of value and success (even if it’s subconscious).
Swift Creek does implement their school-wide behavior policy, but my SBTE also has her own set of policies within her classroom. Third graders need to feel important and responsible in order to help ensure learning. Third graders are becoming increasingly independent and need to be trusted with responsibility. As important as this is, it could also prove disastrous. In the third grade class I am observing, there is a student with Aspergers syndrome whom has difficulty in many social situations. He often speaks out in class and makes it difficult to hold a disciplined classroom. However, our SBTE has helped this student make remarkable improvements in the simple procedures she demonstrates in her classroom. For this classroom management, she focuses namely on practicing self-control and proper listening skills. She has posters of their classroom contract hanging on the walls which state that students will treat each other with respect, use their inside voices, stay in control of their bodies, etc. Similar to the “ROAR” behavior policy, our SBTE has found this beneficial to creating an academic environment.
Our SBTE has also assigned various jobs for students throughout the school day. The student with Aspergers syndrome is assigned to reveal the word-of-the-day to his peers every morning. Students are very accepting of his situation and allow him this special job. Also during morning meeting, one student is chosen to pick the greeting for the day and allowed to bring in pictures for sharing. Two students are asked to be the door-holders throughout the week. One student is asked to pass out or collect the library wands when entering or leaving the library. There are many other small jobs that are assigned to students that help create a sense of responsibility and community within this classroom. Judging by the way the students carry themselves in the classroom, I can see that these students feel safe in their classroom community and would be willing to take learning risks, which is ultimately the goal.