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By: R.J Palacio

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By: R.J Palacio

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Teachers have an important task at the beginning of each school year - to help the students in their classroom become a cohesive unit that can truly work together as the year progresses. It's important to me that my students feel like our classroom is a family, where they are loved and accepted, safe and respected. Developing a positive classroom community takes time, but it is time well-invested. Follow these tips to build a positive community in your own classroom this year!

BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT RELATIONSHIP BUILDING.

Research has even shown that a teacher's relationships with her students has a greater impact on student learning than the teacher's content knowledge! In other words, it doesn't matter how much you know if your students don't know how much you care about them. Relationship-building should be intentionally built into your classroom through lessons and activities. It can be tempting to think we don't have the time to "waste" on relationship-building, but that's just not true! It's so important.

FOCUS ON BECOMING A FAMILY.

All students (and people in general) have a deep, psychological need to belong. They need to know they are accepted and valued by the teacher and other students in the class. One of my favorite ways to help my classroom feel more like a family is to have Family Meetings at the beginning and end of the day. I bring students together in a circle in the mornings and afternoons to have group discussions, solve problems we may be experiencing, and share positive affirmations. Some people have these meetings only once a week, but my students are most responsive when I host them every day. We begin and end the day together on the carpet. I lead the meetings at the beginning of the year, but then teach students how to take over ownership. In time, the students learn the protocol for how a family meeting is held and are leading them out. This time is really cherished by the students!

TEACH STUDENTS HOW TO INTERACT AND BUILD AFFILIATIONS WITHIN SMALL GROUPS.

In order for students to truly work together in cooperative learning groups, they need to have time to get to know their team members more closely. This is why teambuilding activities are so important! Teambuilding Activities encourage students get to know one another better and develop positive peer affiliations. Teambuilding is truly the foundationfor cooperative learning tasks to be successful because it helps students learn how to interact within small groups. The first few weeks back in school are crucial for students to engage in teambuilding activities. Some ideas for teambuilding activities include:

TEACH STUDENTS HOW TO INTERACT AND BUILD AFFILIATIONS AS A WHOLE CLASS.

Teambuilding is a great way to teach students how to interact with one another in small groups, but Classbuilding intentionally teaches them how to interact with one another as a whole group. It is important to help your students build a class identity while still valuing the differences that make each student a unique member of the class. So often, they will form strong group bonds, so we need to get them out of their seats and interacting with people they don't always talk to! These activities are a fun way to mix up the class and get students building connections with new people.

Line ups - Line ups have students line up in order of shoe size, birthdays, number of siblings, from tallest to shortest, etc. Fold the Line Up for a fun discussion. Just have students at one end "fold the line" by walking back to the other end so each student is standing in front of another, then have them chat about a specific topic.

Four Corners - Assign each corner a statement, such as Strongly Agree, Somewhat Agree, Somewhat Disagree, Strongly Disagree. Then read out statements and have students self-select which corner best describes their opinion on the topic. They can chat with members in the same corner about what they have in common or share out why they identify with that statement.

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Teachers have an important task at the beginning of each school year - to help the students in their classroom become a cohesive unit that can truly work together as the year progresses. It's important to me that my students feel like our classroom is a family, where they are loved and accepted, safe and respected.

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It has been widely accepted that incorporating social and emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom can positively impact student behavior and outcomes. In fact, a growing body of research has shown that incorporating SEL competencies into teaching can result in improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance. So in what ways can teachers implement good SEL strategies?

In this fourth installment of our five-part series on the SEL competencies, we're going to take a look at how you can incorporate relationship skills into your classroom.
Relationship Skills in Your Classroom
When your students move on to career and college, being able to work well with others will become a crucial life skill, which is why it's important for students to develop good interpersonal skills early in life. Give students the opportunity to work together on projects in groups or with partners. When assigning partners, try to pair students who are less confident, shy, or insular with students who are more social and self-confident.

When conflicts arise, use it as an opportunity to have students reflect on how their actions affect others. Serve as a mediator and help students communicate constructively, actively listen to one another, and come to a compromise that works for everyone. Foster friendship and kindness in the classroom-set friendship goals-but also be sure to teach students about leadership and responsibility so they will think about the consequences of their actions before caving to peer pressure and unhealthy choices in order to "fit in."

It's also important for students to learn how to form relationships with their teachers so they can self-advocate, but speaking with a teacher directly can be too intimidating for many students. Foster communication by providing students with multiple avenues of contact, such as by phone or e-mail, and encourage students to reach out to you for help.

Source: " SEL Outcomes." CASEL. Accessed June 1, 2015.

Source: Durlak, Joseph A., Roger P. Weissberg, Allison B. Dymnicki, Rebecca D. Taylor, and Kriston B. Schellinger. " The Impact of Enhancing Students' Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions." Child Development: 405-32.

Source: " SEL Competencies." CASEL. Accessed June 1, 2015.

Source: " Teach Relationship Skills." PBIS World RSS. Accessed June 1, 2015.

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Relationship Skills: Applying SEL in Your Classroom

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It has been widely accepted that incorporating social and emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom can positively impact student behavior and outcomes. In fact, a growing body of research has shown that incorporating SEL competencies into teaching can result in improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance.

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Start your year off by showing students that their family, culture, and traditions matter in their new classroom!