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The rapport between students is just as important as the rapport between a student and her teacher. In today's classrooms, students come in many different shapes and sizes, and from different cultures and backgrounds. These differences can either make difficult situations arise in class, or they allow for students to form concrete relationships where they respect one another. In order to ensure that you have a classroom culture of respect, then you must use classroom management to build a culture that is respectful to all. Here are a few classroom management tips on how to create a positive classroom where all students feel comfortable and are respected.

The first step to creating a classroom culture of respect is to establish some rules on the first day that you meet your students. Model what a respectful classroom is, and looks like, so that students know and understand one another. Show students how they can respect one another and tell them why it's important. Establish some ground rules that will help create a welcoming classroom. Once you set the tone for the classroom with rules for being respectful, you can try playing a few icebreaker activities that will help to get the students mingling with one another.

Create a Welcoming Collaborative Environment

The next step is to create a welcoming classroom environment where students feel safe and comfortable to speak their mind and collaborate with their peers; a place where students are free to take risks and not afraid to make mistakes. When students feel comfortable enough to speak their minds, they will take risks and not be afraid to make mistakes. When you don't have a welcoming environment where students feel respected, then taking risks and making mistakes can be embarrassing for students.

Structure your classroom so that the desks are not in rows but in a circle or a U-shape. Position the desks so students are able to easily collaborate with their peers. If the desks are movable, then try changing the formation every few days or weeks to allow for easy communication and collaboration among students. Hang photographs and display student work throughout the room. This will make the classroom feel homey and welcoming.

Play Up Students' Strengths

When students feel good about themselves, then they are more likely to be kind and respectful to others. Try and play up your students' strengths to help build their confidence. If you know that one of your students is a natural-born leader, then put them in charge of the group. If you know that another student is a really great artist, then ask them to be in charge of the artwork for their group project. Whatever it is that each of your students do particularly well, play that up. When your students feel good about themselves, then they will pass that on to their peers, and in turn you will have a classroom where all is respectful to one another.

Don't Be Afraid of Competition

Creating an opportunity for a little competition among peers will not rupture the classroom dynamic or make it a place where students won't respect one another. Actually, it's the exact opposite of that -- competition brings students together faster. When students work together to meet a common goal, they are communicating and collaborating with one another, therefore they have to respect each other in order to meet their goal. Try mixing it up and putting together competitive teams of students who are completely different from one another. You will see how they must work together in order to reach and complete their task. Once the competition is over, you will see the dynamic in your classroom change. Students who may have never talked to one another will now have a newfound respect for each other.

Let Students Learn from One Another

To help break down the barriers in your classroom, find time to let students learn from one another. If one or more of your students is from a different culture, let them talk about their culture and share about their lives. The more that the students hear about their classmates' lives, the easier it will be for them to respect them. Find time to let students get to know each other. While you may have had students partake in getting-to-know you games in the begging of the school year, keep that going throughout the year. Find different ways for students to learn more about one another on a deeper level. The more your classmates get to know one another, the closer they will be.

Respect is the foundation of a successful classroom. When you create a classroom culture of respect, a place where students feel safe and respected, then you will not only decrease disciplinary issues, but you will increase students motivation. Students will feel comfortable to speak, participate, collaborate and share with their peers.
How do you use classroom management to build an environment of respect? Do you have any tips to share? Feel free to comment down below, we would love to hear what you have to say.
Janelle Cox is an education writer who uses her experience and knowledge to provide creative and original writing in the field of education. Janelle holds Masters of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is a contributing writer to TeachHUB.com, TeachHUB Magazine, and Hey Teach. She was also the Elementary Education Expert for About.com for five years. You can follow her on Twitter @Empoweringk6ed, on Facebook at Empowering K6 Educators, or contact her at Janellecox78@yahoo.com.

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building quality relationships with students

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Classroom Management to Create a Culture of Respect

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The rapport between students is just as important as the rapport between a student and her teacher. In today's classrooms, students come in many different shapes and sizes, and from different cultures and backgrounds. These differences can either make difficult situations arise in class, or they allow for students to form concrete relationships where they respect one another.

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I believe that Seganti's idea of copying down classroom rules and signing the bottom could be effective for some students. For some students taking accountability (signing the contract) could be a very effective measure.

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"Compassion as a Classroom Management Tool"

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"Compassion as a Classroom Management Tool"

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As the school year progressed, my interactions with my students changed. I became more comfortable with demonstrating my love and respect for them, and my classroom management strategies became centered on compassion instead of consequences. When my students could see that I cared about their lives and well-being, they were better able to trust me. And that meant I could request more of them, and expect more in return.

All of the pre-service pedagogy and theory I had learned about wrangling a class of twenty-three 14-year-olds for 90 minutes became infinitely more applicable once my students knew I had compassion for them. Here are some things I learned that first year.

Show You Care

I began teaching under the incorrect assumption that my students would somehow naturally know that I cared deeply about their success and livelihood. Many students, especially ones who are prone to behavioral issues, expect the exact opposite from teachers, and it's important to establish that you're different from their expectations.

The simplest way to demonstrate to your students you care and have compassion for them is to tell them often and in different ways. Genuine praise for tasks, asking questions about their day, and sharing with them tidbits from your life are excellent ways to show students you care.

Another way to do this is by attending extracurricular events when your students are involved. Making the effort to support your students in a non-classroom environment can be extraordinarily meaningful.

Assume Students' Lives Are Complicated

When a student acts out, it's often a reflection of problems in their lives outside of the classroom. It's key to be compassionate to these students as they learn to face tumultuous issues in their everyday life.

Teachers can show compassion by avoiding classroom management techniques that humiliate students or force them to address their behavior in a public setting. Speak to students in private, and always ask them how things are going.

Behavioral issues in the classroom should cause teachers concern for their students' well-being, and we should work to understand what's going on in their lives. Even as adults, when we have disruptive life events it's challenging to maintain a cheerful attitude at all times.

Each Day Is a Clean Slate

Forgiveness is critical to classroom management through compassion. If a student feels as though they're constantly reminded of their past errors, they'll feel as though they are permanently labeled a "bad kid."

When we forgive students for making mistakes, realizing that there are many factors in their lives that lie outside the school, we can make each day a little better than the one before.

And holding grudges against students who have made poor or hurtful decisions is tiring and wastes time. For the sake of your own happiness, it's crucial to forgive and forget student behavioral issues.

The Difference Between Compassion and Friendship

Demonstrating compassion for your students is not the same as wanting your students to like you. Many new teachers fall into the trap of desiring their students' approval, especially when teaching older students who are close to the teacher in age, but that can lead to a lack of mutual respect.

To show compassion to students is to take the time and effort to understand their perspective, while continuing to make choices that are best for their learning experience. Showing compassion does not mean you're a student's friend-it means you care about their progress and are invested in their future.

By itself, compassion is an important life skill. As a part of classroom management, compassion can enhance the effectiveness of any strategies you would normally put in place. Compassion gives students an opportunity to trust your choices and have faith in the requests you make of them. Classroom management procedures and explicit instruction are important, but students who know you're invested in them are more inclined to respect you and follow your lead.

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Compassion as a Classroom Management Tool

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As the school year progressed, my interactions with my students changed. I became more comfortable with demonstrating my love and respect for them, and my classroom management strategies became centered on compassion instead of consequences. When my students could see that I cared about their lives and well-being, they were better able to trust me.

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Article "Keeping Hard Rules to a Minimum"

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Article "Keeping Hard Rules to a Minimum"

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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10 Easy Classroom Management Hacks | That Teacher Life Ep 47

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"The Science Behind Norming a Classroom"

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"The Science Behind Norming a Classroom"

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Blogger Todd Finley explores the value of Classroom Norming to help learners.

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"Compassion is Key in Effective Classroom Management"

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"Compassion is Key in Effective Classroom Management"

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Writing for Edutopia, second-year teacher Andrea Marshbank shares the lessons she has learned about including compassion in classroom management.

Striving to understand the daily challenges that students face can improve relationships between teachers and students and help students see that teachers teach because they care.

However, demonstrating compassion is not the same thing as seeking the friendship of students, a situation that can lead to a lack of mutual respect.

Dive Insight:

Striking the right balance between being an authority figure and a friendly mentor can be difficult, especially for beginning teachers. Some come across as strict or coldly dispassionate, while other teachers lose all effectiveness when they become student-pleasers.

Some people argue that compassion is not only a desirable trait in a leader, it is a necessary one. With all the focus on social-emotional learning in the classroom, it is easy to forget that teachers are the best models of such behavior. And it benefits not just students, but teachers as well.

Patricia Jennings and Mark Greenberg, leading scientists in the field of social-emotional learning, claim teachers who possess social-emotional competencies (SEC) are less likely to experience burnout because they're able to work more effectively with challenging students - a leading cause of burnout, according to an article in Greater Good magazine.

Principals and other school administrators can apply these lessons, as well. In the past, a principal may have commonly been seen as a fearful figure in the front office who punished offenders. Today, principals are better served by building relationships with students. This relationship-building allows students to feel more invested in the school and more engaged in the process of their education.

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Compassion is key in effective classroom management

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Writing for Edutopia, second-year teacher Andrea Marshbank shares the lessons she has learned about including compassion in classroom management. Striving to understand the daily challenges that students face can improve relationships between teachers and students and help students see that teachers teach because they care.