Building Classroom Community

At this time of year, the tone of your class is easy for anyone to see.

Have you created a warm, caring classroom community where your students feel free to take risks and are consistently motivated to do their best work?

Conversely, is your classroom teetering on chaos, with only your constant authoritarianism preventing overt rebellion from taking place?

More than likely, your classroom is somewhere between those two extremes.  Here’s a suggestion: use these last few weeks of school to try some new community-building activities, all with the goal of broadening your expertise in this area before next fall rolls around.

Here are some simple ideas to try, most likely in a class meeting format:

1.  Sharing: Every Monday, give your students a chance to have a structured conversation about things going on in their lives.  Younger students can sit in a circle and take turns in a clockwise fashion.  Students who don’t wish to contribute may simply pass their turn.

2.  Class discussions: Once a week, have a conversation about a hot topic in your students’ world.  You could discuss the end-of-year concert your students are putting on, or you could talk about whether Webkinz is better or worse than Neopets and why.

3.  Team-building games: Spend a few minutes playing a non-competitive game designed to give everyone a chance to have fun together.  Avoid games with winners and losers, and avoid games that focus on just one person at a time.

 Want more ideas on improving your classroom climate?  I’d suggest checking out The Responsive Classroom.

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