麻豆传媒入口

Building positive community starts with the first day of school -- actually, it starts聽beforehand. You can reach out to your students with a welcome letter聽to let them know how excited you are for them to be in your class and what appealing projects you plan to do over the coming year.

Once they show up, students crave a sense of being a part of the community.聽Here are four groups of ideas to help them feel welcomed and comfortable.聽They are not one-shot deals. Rather, they benefit from frequent (i.e., almost daily) repetition, particularly during the first six weeks of school, and then regularly thereafter as ongoing reminders.聽Thanks especially to my colleagues at the Northeast Foundation for Children and 聽who have thought and written about these matters extensively.聽Most of these ideas can be adapted to your age groups.

Getting to Know You

In small groups, have students answer one to three questions from those below --聽or similar ones you聽create.聽Use a timer to give them 30-45 seconds to respond. Have groups share out one of the answers, or the most common answer.聽After the first round (which should have only one question聽to enable them to get started comfortably), help them learn how to keep track of time聽and to listen to what their classmates have said.聽Repeat other rounds over the next few days, or have students share the same things with different peers. Here are some sample questions:

• What kind of music do you like?
• If you could travel anyplace for free, where would you like to travel?聽Why?
• What is a place that you have visited that you like the most?
• When is your birthday?
• Where were you born?
• Who were you named after?
• Where do members of your family come from?
• What languages do they, and you, speak?
• What holidays do you enjoy, and how do you celebrate them?
• Have you ever been to a park, zoo, museum, or a farm?聽Pick one, and tell us about it.聽
• What is a movie or a book you have seen or read lately that you really liked?聽Why?
• If you could be any animal that you wanted as a pet, what would you pick? Why?
• If you became the principal, what is one thing you would change about this school if you could?

Take a Stand and Stand

Too often, students can be classmates, but feel disconnected from聽one another.聽Here is a way to help lower barriers.聽For each question, have all students stand if it is true for聽them.聽At any point, you can ask students who have areas in common to move to a spot in the room and share in more detail.聽

Stand up if you:

• Were born inside/outside聽the United States (In the north?聽South? East? West?)
• Were born in this state/on聽an island (Someplace south of here? East of here?聽A聽map will help with this one!)
• Play an instrument (Percussion? Strings? Winds?)
• Play sports (With a large ball? Small ball? Soccer?)
• Like to read (Non-fiction? History? Fiction? Mysteries? Vampire stories? Sci-fi?)
• Know a quote from a book,聽poem, or lyrics from music聽(Who is the author or聽composer?)
• Like pizza聽(What kind?聽With mushrooms? Pepperoni?聽Olives? Onions? Extra cheese?聽Other toppings?)
• Like to eat dessert聽(Cold? Hot? Sweet? Creamy? With dough? With fruit? With chocolate?聽With peanut butter?聽Anyone with food allergies?)
• Can stand on one foot for five seconds (On the other foot?聽For 10 seconds?聽Longer than that? Ask for demonstrations!)
• Like hot/cold聽weather (Being in the sun? Being in the rain? Thunderstorms?聽Windy days?聽Temperatures in the 90鈥檚? In the 20鈥檚?聽Anyone ever been in a tornado? Hurricane?聽Typhoon?)
• Know someone with a disability (Physical? Communication? Behavior?聽Cognitive? Other?)
• Have ever been part of a team (In school? Out of school?聽Music聽related?聽Sports聽related?聽聽Academic聽related? Other?)
• Have ever been to a concert/play/show/sports event聽indoors (Outdoors? At night? Did you sit near or far away?)

Small Things Teachers Can Do Every Day

All of these make more of a difference to students than we typically appreciate.

• Use students' names often.
• Establish shared agreements and聽rules with students.
• Enforce ground rules and聽agreements consistently with the help of students.
• Model behaviors of respect, caring, self-control, and fair decision-making.聽
• Use energetic, enthusiastic, and receptive body language聽and words to convey interest and respect.
• Use a respectful quiet down聽signal to gain class attention.

Be a Role Model for Positive Community

Dr. Joanne MacLennan teaches future teachers about social and emotional learning (SEL)聽at the College of Saint Elizabeth in New Jersey.聽鈥淧robably the most powerful thing that the teacher can do right away is to model what he or聽she wants in terms of positivity and聽community, along with unconditional positive regard for each child.聽The other factor is a genuine passion for what the teacher is doing regarding subject matter and an understanding that his or聽her emotional state (expressed verbally and non-verbally) can bless or curse classroom climate.鈥�

David Eisenstein, who teaches a general education population of urban sixth-grade students, believes in modeling plus:聽鈥淚n my class, the students work in groups, and points are awarded to the group for completing tasks and getting problems correct. Most importantly, points are also awarded for being polite, having good manners, and praising fellow students in class.聽All these positive behaviors must be modeled by me in class -- always -- so the students understand what these concepts mean and can use my examples as a template for their positive behavior.鈥澛�

For those wondering about whether rewards are necessary if the modeling is powerful, David says, 鈥淚've been teaching over four decades, and I've watched the children's intrinsic motivation go down over time.聽The old methods aren't working as they once did, so why not use something different?聽Points help motivate students into a desired outcome. If not enough students are finishing their homework, then a large,聽100-point bonus for all members of every group who finishes聽their homework may help.聽Points must have value.聽For instance, 500 points can buy a group a one-night homework pass.鈥�

Creating a positive community can no longer be considered an option. It is essential for promoting a climate for collaborative, lasting learning.