Community+Building

Community within the Classroom:

Building community within the classroom is essential for classroom success. Students need to feel welcome in the classroom and a part of the class. Getting to know students and students getting to know you will help build community to make the class feel like a whole and not just a group of individual people. [|Teaching Resources]is one site that provides various ideas of how to promote community in the class as well as different team building ideas that teachers can use. [|Scholastic]gives teachers information about what areas to focus on when creating community in the class and how to best build a caring classroom for students. [|Teach HUB]is another site that focuses on six ways to create a caring classroom with community. Below are examples from other sites of ways to build community within the classroom for students.

At the beginning of the year, there are three key ways that teachers can build community: 1) Share who you are with parents and students 2) Learn about students 3) Build a positive relationship with parents and let them know you care

Use things such as welcome signs so students walking into a classroom can tell they are welcome:

Display throughout the classroom the idea of community:

Lead the class in an activity in which they come up with what they want the class promise to be; allows for focus on importance of actions and let them contribute to the classroom beliefs

Create common areas, such as dream boards and memory jars, where all students can contribute and share with one another:

Promote student encouragement of their peers with things such as a "student shout outs" box (the compliments can be read every Friday to encourage students):

Encourage community within the classroom by emphasizing the impact that one's actions can have on someone else

Be sure students believe that you do have their best interests in mind and that what you do is because it is what is best for them.