10/29/2017 0 Comments An Environment of Risk-Taking"We are a risk-taking, mistake-making class!" I saw this on Pinterest and knew I had to make it part of my classroom. Easier said than done. How do you get students to try new things, step outside their comfort zone, and be willing to be wrong in order to learn? How do you bypass grades as "right-or-wrong" feedback and get into real learning? From my 13 years in teaching, the only answer I have is... TRUST.
So, how do you build trust? This seems so theoretical, but it all comes down to how you interact with them and how you set up your classroom expectations. What follows is a list of things that works for me. I hope it also works for you. Classroom Expectations
Personal InteractionsWhen teaching, the most important thing you can do it work with students and develop a relationships where they feel valued. Although I never explicitly set out to do this, I have created a few "non-negotiables" of my relationships over the years. Here are some of mine:
Classroom ChoicesI spoke about this briefly in my last post about creating a comfortable classroom. I am HUGE on choice. That and respect are my two big foundational concepts to teaching. When students have a say in what or how things are done, you can make an inch last a mile. When I'm working with students and giving them options to process or show what they know, they will often ask me what I want them to do or how they should do it. This is the same from students with IEPs to my TAG Honors kids. They want to please me. They want to be right. So when I turn it back on them and say things like, "Do what you think is best." or "You're the author. What do you want to do?" Or "It's totally up to you, as long as you..." The looks on their faces when an adult gives them ownership is priceless. They really don't know how to handle that sometimes. But the underlying respect, risk-taking, and comfort that comes along with that is indescribable. For years my student teachers and colleagues asked me how I got my students to do all the things I asked of them. For years I didn't really know what my answer was. But now I know it comes back to that relationships, the respect, the ownership, and the comfort they had with me. It's been the best unintentional effect I've ever created in my classroom. Hopefully, now that I've verbalized it, it's something you can use too. My next post will be about creating resilience. This mentality, connected with Growth Mindset and Mindfulness, is something educators need to leverage to get the most out of education. This is where the science of education meets the art of counseling that is so prevalent in teaching young adults. My background is psychology has helped me, once again, to accidentally foster a comfortable classroom for my students. Check back next week to see how to create resilience, or "grit" in our students.
~Peace The Comfortable Classroom
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10/18/2017 0 Comments What makes a classroom comfortable?Imagine one of your favorite teachers, past or present. What make them so memorable? My most memorable teacher is a wonderful woman who never yelled at us (although we deserved it). She knew us as people; she knew when we were having a bad day and helped us problem solve in all areas of life and school. She was an encourager, a challenger, and a mentor. As I work with professional development, student teachers, and teacher preparation programs, one of the main questions is, "do they have what it takes?" What is that "it" factor? Though others may disagree with me, I believe that "it" factor is the ability to connect with another human being in a respectful, comfortable way. This includes actively listening, encouraging with positive and accepting body language, and using positive, growth mindset based dialogue. One of the most important things that creates a comfortable classroom is the climate you create with and for your students.
This is my final note to you: if you respect them enough to let them make little choices along they way, they will follow your big choices wherever you want to take them. This will tie into creating that risk-taking environment that I will talk about next time. If they don't trust you or each other, they will never try new things or be willing to learn from their mistakes.
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AuthorA midwest teacher in love with creating awesome opportunities for students to think, communicate, and produce. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Comfortable-Classroom
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