Creating a community of learners
By: Russell Kelly

Students feel comfortable to be themselves

The class is unjudgemental

Students have freedom to do what they want, while being respectful

Making class more enjoyable for students

Classroom layout

No seating plan

Teaching in various different ways: Kinaesthetic, Verbal, Auditory, ect

Communicating with students to understand how they effectively learn

Teaching using multiple techniques at once; Verbally and Visually while incorporating other specific types of teaching depending on how my students learn

Self reflecting to see which of the techniques I use work for my students

Individually focusing on the topic the student is struggling with, and teaching them in the way they learn best to help them understand

Allows students who struggle with verbal instructions the chance to grasp a topic fully

Makes the student feel important

Shows Students that you care about them as individuals

Music

Sports

Movies

Goals

Adjusting my teaching techniques in order to help students learn to the best of their abilities

Understanding the different speeds student learning progresses at, and accommodating for these students

Learning from students

Showing students that I care about them and the things they are experiencing.

Putting in extra effort to encourage success and hardwork in life

Asking questions about the day to day life of students, growing my understanding of their lives

Becoming an adult figure that students can look up to

Finding and expressing joys of life

Showing students the positives of individuality

Using humour in the classroom

Having boundaries

Patience

Accepting who my students are

Showing students how I expect them to act by visibly and verbally displaying it through my actions

Always reflecting positivity through a smile and a happy persona

Expressing confidence and comfortability with myself

Treating all peers with respect

Allowing others to speak and share their opinions without judgement

Expressing the importance of individual success, creating responsibility for learning

Students come to class ready to learn

Students treat each other with respect

Students work together and are open minded working with anybody in the classroom

Not picking favourites

Giving equal opportunities and attention to all students

Treating ALL students with respect

Encourages student success

Verbally communicating the success of the individual

Leaving positive feedback on student work

Boosts the confidence of the student

Allowing students to learn from their mistakes

Explaining to students why what they did was wrong

Understanding that students at home situations could be causing misbehaviours

Avoids potentially unnecessary conflict with students

Avoiding potential embarrassment

Having one on one conversations in private to address the problem and check on the well-being of the student

Addressing the student one on one instead of infront of the class shows that you respect them and cae about them

Creating positive relationships with students is the most important aspect of teaching. In order to successfully build these relationships, communication is extremely important. Having conversations with students and learning more about them allows the teacher to create strong bonds with the student. These conversations show the student that you genuinely care for them. The more invested you are in your students the more invested they will be in your classroom. Becoming a positive role model is something I strive for and treating these students with respect and care will allow me to be a positive role model that many children lack.

Discipline is an important part of the classroom, it allows students to learn from their mistakes. A lot of learning comes from mistakes, and they are made by everyone. Learning how to effectively discipline with dignity will take some time for me to fully understand, but as of now my ideas are to separate children from their friends from a short period of time. During this separation I will talk to the student individually and explain to them why their actions weren't acceptable. After this conversation and some time to think about their actions I will give the student another chance. The opportunity to show that the individual learned from their actions is very important to me because like I previously mentioned we all make mistakes. If the student continues to be a distraction, then instead of moving just that specific individual I will move all of his friends. Peer influence can change behaviours more effectively than the teachers influence at times. My goal in doing this is for their peers to influence the student to focus more in class. It is also important to be understanding with students, the home life could be negative on the student already causing these outbursts. My goal is never to make the classroom a negative place also, for students with a difficult home life, my classroom will be a stress relief and a safe place.

At the start of every school year I plan to go over my class expectations. I will make it clear to my students what I expect of them while also addressing what they can expect from me. Creating a system of trust and respect in the classroom is extremely important to me and I will make that clear to my students. The most important expectation of my class will be that the students must treat each other with respect, no disrespect will be tolerated in my class. My goal is to create a community that gets along very well with each other. Through my teacher observations I have seen how students will separate into their friend groups and sometimes not interact with other groups. This is something I plan on changing by creating comfort and trust among all students. Constant interaction with students that don't typically interact will cause the classroom to become unified.

My dream classroom would have rows of desks in pairs of two. Students would be able to decide who they sit with. I believe in the idea that students learn better when they are with friends, it increases the overall moral of students. In front of the desks having a white board would be perfect. Having decorations throughout the class would create a more of a home feel. Ex: Posters, Great student work, Funny pictures, ect.