Positive Classroom Interactions Notes

Positive Classroom Interactions Notes

·         Slide 1: Introduction slide.

·         Slide 2: The most important part of creating a positive environment is to start out with a positive action. Smiling when students enter the classroom lets them know that you are excited that they are there. Smiling is infectious and transfers easily. If you start out feeling good and prepared for your class, exhibiting enthusiasm, and showing a good demeanor, then your students will also feel that way. You are excited to be there, and they will be too if they see your smile!

·         Slide 3: I like to start the school year with a “quiz” for each of my classes. I always tell them it is the easiest quiz they’ll take in my class. It is basically a piece of paper asking personal questions about their favorite foods and drinks, their family and friends, their hobbies, and what they would like to be included in the curriculum for the year. I then project my quiz results on the board so they can see my answers as well. In the past, it has helped us get to know each other and created a good start of relationship.

·         Slide 4: While it is necessary to have healthy relationships with each student, it is also imperative to create a welcoming and supportive classroom community. Each group of kids will be different, but it doesn’t matter how different they are as individuals as long as they can work in unison harmoniously. My homeroom was known for having a code word each week to come in the class in the morning before first bell. It made my kids feel like they had a safe space that was all theirs. It made them feel like a special group, and it strengthened us as a class. They looked after their own.

·         Slide 5: This kind of harkens back to Slide 3. Kids will initially be hesitant to share, but that fear can be crushed by sharing your life with them too. I think that open communication leads to mutual respect and a solid relationship between student and teacher.

·         Slide 6: ALWAYS TALK WITH YOUR STUDENTS. It is imperative to make sure to communicate clearly about assignments, classroom rules and regulations, behavior, and other issues. If you talk to them, then they will talk to you.

·         Slides 7 & 8: Poems by DC slam poet and English teacher Christ August. Both are about being wacky or inspiring in the classroom. Very powerful stuff. He’s my favorite spoken word performer.

·         Slides 9 & 10: Being open to new ideas and experiences in the classroom refreshes and reinvents the material for you and for the kids. It helps to put creative spin on old favorites like making a rap song about the vocabulary words or playing charades to go over verb conjugation. Since these activities usually involve the class communicating as a whole, they build respect and learn to acknowledge each other’s strengths and weaknesses. This will help them grow in the future when they are looking for a classmate that is able to aid in the explanation on a peer level of understanding.

·         Slides 11 & 12: One thing that teachers and students must remember is that, no matter how fun it is, school is still school, and learning is supposed to take place there. Teachers are preparing students for their future endeavors and bettering them as a whole in order that society will be able to function. Obstacles to overcome are just a part of life. The sooner the students are able to trounce and conquer any and all tasks, the sooner they will be ready to be on their own elsewhere. It the teacher’s job to teach and the student’s job to learn, and that should never be forgotten. Defeating challenges leads to a fuller life with more accomplishment and more to be proud of, so as teachers, we should ultimately want that “I can do anything if I put my mind to it” attitude for each of our students.

·         Slide 13: Students should obviously interact with each other on a social scale, and it should be in good faith. It is the first step to promoting social skills and collaboration that students learn from each other and learn to depend on each other.

·         Slide 14: Student input and opinion is important, but it is also necessary to remember that you are the teacher so you will have to make the final call.

·         Slides 15 & 16: Begin preventative measures against bullying before anyone gets ideas. Express positivity and mutual respect for their classmates and their teacher as a necessary fixture in the classroom. Tell students to problem solve solutions to dilemmas beforehand in case of something going wrong in the future. Using their collaboration, they will be able to talk out any problem that may arise. If they cannot do this alone, then a counselor, a teacher, or a peer can regulate as a neutral party in the discussion. Place emphasis on all the actions done correctly, and then rectify the negatives. They can apply the correct actions in the future.

·         Slide 17: Great anti-bullying poem found on Edutopia.

·         Slide 18: Golden rules for preventing and stopping bullying.

·         Slides 19: Poem about overcoming bullying by Christ August.

·         Slides 20 & 21: Wrap up and notes.

Special thanks to my students for letting me use their pictures!