Classroom culture and community are the cornerstones successful teaching. When students feel safe and valued, they are more likely to engage in difficult content and to try new skills. Learning requires risk taking, and feeling comfortable in the classroom is one way teachers can encourage students to take some intellectual risks.
In pandemic instruction when classroom mobility and flexibility may be limited, classroom culture and community are that much more important. Building classroom culture and community happens in Big Ways and Small Moments. Some of the Big Ways teachers build classroom culture and community include:
- Classroom Procedures
- Employing Seating Charts
- Using Learning Management Systems like Google Classroom
But today I want to focus on the Small Moments that can build classroom culture and community. In the past, I’ve written about the value of hallway conversations and teaching in “between” spaces. While these remain important parts of building classroom culture and community, we’re going to have to be creative about our approaches. How do you have a private hallway conversation with a student when you’re standing six feet apart? And how will “between” spaces like assemblies transform in an era of social distancing?
I don’t have the answers to all that. But I do have 3 small adjustments teachers can make to their practice to improve classroom culture and community. These are free, efficient, and and high-yield adjustments every teacher can make right now.
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The Assumptions that Harm Classroom Culture
Relationships are key to classroom culture. As a teacher, you may be making two small assumptions that harm your relationships with students. I have made both of these mistakes in the past. And I’ve seen my relationships with students improve when I stop making these assumptions.
Firstly, avoid assuming a student’s gender. As a new teacher, I knew very little about gender identity. Over the years, I’ve learned more. This includes learning how harmful it can be when anyone, but especially an authority figure, misgenders you. One way to avoid misgendering students is to offer your pronouns up front and to learn students’ pronouns on the first day of school. When you make a mistake (and you will; I will), correct yourself (every time) and move on. A quick way to help yourself remember pronouns is to write them on your seating chart.
Secondly, do not conflate students with their siblings. Often times, when teachers meet new students, our first connection is to say, “Oh, you’re Past Student’s younger sibling.” On one hand, these kinds of connections can help teachers more quickly remember new students. On the other hand, comparing students to their siblings is unfair. This kind of connection can create a bias in instruction or can create an expectation of bias. For this reason, I’ve stopped referring to students as Past Student’s younger/older sibling. Instead, I let students offer that information themselves. Frankly, with common last names, I don’t always make the connection.
Build Trust Instead of Breaking It
Feeling safe, welcomed, and valued in a classroom is an important part of helping students take intellectual risks. For this reason, it’s important that teachers employ instructional strategies that build students up. Choose instructional strategies that build trust rather than break it.
For example, when I was a student, it was common in school for teachers to “cold call” on students, especially those that were not focused. This tactic causes students to feel embarrassment and can damage your relationship with students. Here are three alternatives to the cold call:
- Prepare students by telling them directly, “You’re responsible for question 5. We’ll discuss it in 2 minutes.” This strategy lets students confer with classmates, work out quick misconceptions, and lets students prepare. Students may still offer a wrong or incomplete answer, but no trust has been broken and they’ve taken an intellectual risk in a safe manner.
- Establish expectations clearly at the beginning. When students know what to expect, there is little chance that they will feel betrayed. For example, my World Literature students are asked to read a journal each week. This is how we prepare for the speaking portion of our cumulative presentations and how we practice responding to diverse perspectives. Letting students know this expectation at the beginning of the week gives students a chance to choose how, when, and what they want to share. This way they have control and feel entrusted with their success rather than like their back is against the wall.
- Finally, when a student is asleep, unfocused, not attending the lesson, etc., a cold call is not going to engage them. Something else is happening there, and a cold call is not going to help you get to the bottom of the problem. Instead, try a finger tap on the desk to wake a student. Try a sticky-note asking the student if they need to walk to the water fountain or if they need a snack. Humiliation is not going to help this student, so any creative method you have is better than a cold call.
Classroom Culture is Precious
Building classroom culture and community is a tremendous undertaking and one essential to the success of any classroom whether digital or in-person. With these 3 small adjustments and strategies, teachers can build relationships rather than sabotage them. Teachers can use these high-yield, no-cost, and simple adjustments to build the buy-in, engagement, and relationships crucial to classroom culture and community.
