Every year, as the new school term began, one of my
main goals was creating a community of learners where all of my students felt
completely safe and free to take risks.
The first step towards this goal consisted of having no more than five classroom
rules that were positively stated and composed with the class on the first
day. We always discussed the reasons for
the rules and even modeled how each one looked, and did not look, in class. By discussing the rationale for each rule they
made more sense, and the children were more apt to buy into following
them. We often revisited them together
throughout the year. Included with the
rules were a system of rewards and consequences. It was vital in creating an environment of
fairness that I consistently enforced the rules and rewarded and reprimanded
fairly.
I had a few guidelines that I followed in my
classroom that I verbalized to the students:
#1: I never disciplined a student solely based upon what
another child told me. I had to see it with my eyes and hear it with my
ears. If students were being bullied
behind my back (as is usually the case), I let everyone know that I would be
watching, listening, and investigating. I would NEVER simply dismiss what a student told me, but I would only
reprimand when I had the absolute proof. This often took lots of questioning other students privately.
#2: I made it clear, when going over the rules, that I
would never tolerate any student being shamed, embarrassed, humiliated, or
being made to feel guilty for anything - by other students….or by me. I
emphasized that this behavior would never be appropriate in my class or at any
time. Children needed to hear that it
was fine to make mistakes because everyone made mistakes, including me.
#3: It was important to me to make it clear to
students who had experienced a rough morning that they still had a chance to
have a great afternoon. Students needed to know that misbehavior did not mean
I did not like them. I would often speak
privately to them about why I was reprimanding and have them verbalize it to
me. They usually were able to tell me
the reason for the consequence. Many
times I would also ask if this meant I did not like them. Occasionally, they gave me a blank stare in
return, as if they did not know. I then
had to state that no matter what they had done, I would ALWAYS like
them. This was why I had to
discipline them, because I cared about them. Many of my students never had heard that at
home.
#4: I found that by acknowledging the behaviors of
positive role models, more students would exhibit appropriate classroom
behaviors. It also helped keep the classroom emphasis on positive
rather than negative behaviors and aided in creating a happy environment.
#5: Finally, it was imperative that along with consequences,
I utilized my own system of rewarding students who had followed the rules. In the
beginning of the year I rewarded often, along with consistently enforcing the
rules. I used many rewards: prize boxes,
lollipops, educational games at the end of the day on Friday, and lunch with
the teacher. Across the board, all of my
students LOVED having lunch with me in the classroom. For them, it was special having my undivided
attention and just talking about their interests and lives. They always received a special “treat” at the
end, too!
Creating a community where everyone was
valued and belonged was just as important as teaching my daily lessons. Everyone had to understand that we were ALL
learning together, including me. It was
each student’s job to help those in need and encourage them. In this way, coming to school was not only
coming to a safe place, but also coming to a place where they could attempt to
reach their fullest potential.
