Classroom Community

 This week I noticed something special in my cooperative class. The teacher I observe moves the students desks around almost daily. She does this for a few reasons. The first reason is obviously because sometimes students get to sit next to each other who distract one another and moving their desks is best. Another reason is because the teacher sees students who struggle with feeling isolated. Moving the students to new tables is her way of finding students who may connect better in an attempt to help them feel more accepted. Sometimes she may keep students near each other who help another student feel part of the group. This was a great example of encouraging a positive classroom community. 

I walked into the classroom one morning to witness the teacher spending a good amount of time loving tell her students she loved them and they were needed in this world. I'm in a 5th grade class and being this age can bring a lot of anxiety for children, since they are going through puberty and awkwardness. I really appreciated the time she took to sincerely and almost fiercely telling her class they were each important to her and to the world. She made sure to let them know they should fight thoughts that bring them down and remember they are needed and can succeed in life. This was a great example of making the students feel safe and loved. 

When the students have subject switches, they are directed to quietly get up, find their cubbies, locate their workbooks, sharpen pencils if needed, and return to their desks and wait quietly until everyone is ready to move on. Witnessing this procedure is really interesting. The class has been taught and practiced doing this procedure with total silence and structure. There is no giggling, chatting, running into each other. The class moves smoothly and efficiently. This is very helpful for the productivity of learning because switching subjects and moving about the classroom in this way could lead to big distractions and waisted time. Making sure they follow the structure of efficiently helps the kids stay in the learning way of thinking and move quickly. This was a great example of the established routines and their effectiveness in the classroom. 

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