Developing a Positive Classroom Culture

In this video, you will learn strategies for creating safe and culturally responsive classroom environments. You will have …

Developing a Positive Classroom Culture/a>

[Music] welcome my name is isabelle and i’m so glad you’ve joined me today as we continue our learning journey in our previous video understanding your students experiences we introduce you to the concept of flocking this is when relationships and interdependence become a pathway from stress to resilience this sense that we belong to one another has been a powerful counterforce to the stress loss and trauma we’ve experienced since the beginning of the pandemic educators have told us again and again that their relationships with one another with their students and with their families and communities have been central to maintaining hope and resilience throughout the unimaginable circumstances of the past months today we’ll expand the concept of flocking from educator student relationships to classrooms and communities of care we’ll explore a framework for building collective safety in both the remote and in-person classroom if you’re joining us for the first time please take a moment before you dive in to view the brief introductory video and the first four videos of the series on our homepage as a reminder whenever you see this symbol this is your invitation to grab some pen and paper throughout this series if you need extra reflection time just push pause and take all the time you need lastly to best engage we invite you to turn off other distractions and bring your full attention to the learning now let’s go over our objectives in today’s video we will understand a framework for the three s’s of supportive classrooms safe seen soothed and identify strategies for implementing safe seen and sued principles in the classroom let’s get started let’s warm up with some reflection first let’s define some basic terms first when we feel safe we can say most of the time i can relax and i can trust that most of my needs are going to be met in other words when we feel safe we are in the green zone more often as we learned in our video understanding your students experiences the green zone is when we feel just right relaxed safe and ready to connect second scene is when we can say i feel known i am accepted for who i am finally soothed is when i’m upset or distressed i know i’ll have help and space to calm down in other words i know that i have resources for returning to the green zone now think back to an experience either in a class or a group where you felt seen safe and soothed what were some of the characteristics of that group what about that group made you feel secure take all the time you need simply pause and restart the video when you are ready thank you for reflecting we asked middle school students across the country about a time when they have felt safe seen and many said i felt safe in a group when i never had to wonder what i was supposed to be doing my feelings were accepted and not questioned i felt like others were really listening to me and i knew that it was okay to take risks and try new things and that i wouldn’t be made fun of many said i felt seen in a group when we had enough time for everyone to talk and share we had projects and goals to work on as a team we were able to just have fun together and no one was left out and many felt soothed in a group when there was help to deal with hard days and the space felt welcoming and peaceful in other words students feel safe when boundaries and expectations are clear and feelings and experiences are validated students feel seen when there is space and scaffolding for shared purpose and shared joy and finally students feel suited in welcoming spaces where there is abundant support for regulating on difficult days now take a moment to consider how your class culture reflects the three s’s in what ways do students feel safe seen and soothed in your class where can your group grow simply pause and restart the video when you are ready as you know educators are in the relationship building business each school community is a web of relationships and as educators you play a pivotal role in weaving a strong web in your classroom in the words of education expert dr patricia jennings as human beings the most important factor for our survival has been supportive relationships inside of a supportive classroom community students brains are primed for learning exploration and cognitive growth on top of academic growth students also learn in supportive classrooms that they have a place to belong and that relationships can be reliable sources of comfort and joy today we’ll explore specific strategies for building supportive classrooms through the lens of three characteristics of secure relationships feeling safe seen and soothed first supportive classrooms are marked by feeling safe students need to be able to trust that the feelings or thoughts they bring to the community will be met with listening empathy and acceptance rather than their contrasts ignoring dismissing or shaming this kind of emotional safety frees students up to be who they are and to express their full emotional social and cultural selves without fear feeling safe also fuels growth promoting risk struggle and failure as empathy researcher brene brown put it those who have a strong sense of love and belonging have the courage to be imperfect it’s important to keep in mind that achieving a feeling of safety for some students may take a considerable amount of time if a student is not receptive to some of the strategies discussed here today give them time and provide consistency and predictability student jack describes his experience in mr lopez’s class when we had to answer a problem he said is anyone feeling froggy he meant is anyone willing to take a leap and to try to answer even if you get it wrong no one would laugh or anything and mr lopez wouldn’t make a big deal of it if you did get it wrong he would just guide you through the problem another student christy shared a powerful experience that shaped her even years later on the first day of first grade i didn’t realize that all my friends from kindergarten were not going to be joining me in the same class in first grade after seeing those friends in the early morning gathering we were divided into our new classes to head to our new classrooms as i walked up to my first grade classroom the tears began to well up in my eyes i remember not knowing what i was going to do my precious first grade teacher miss wong standing at the door of her classroom as we all walked in noticed those tears welling up and just opened her arms with empathy on her face i walked right into a comforting hug words not said but it was communicated you are safe it will be okay there are many ways to help students feel safe in their school communities but here are three key practices that can be integrated first build a culture of empathy empathy is when we tap into the internal experience of another this is different from sympathy which is more like pity or feeling sorry for someone as the leader of your classroom you set the tone for a caring culture by modeling empathy when a student shares a personal experience feeling or story model bringing your full presence to interactions while mirroring and avoiding the empathy pitfalls of judgment downplaying fixing or trying to cheer up let’s practice imagine you’re in a morning homeroom check-in and a student is sharing with the class about her stress around her math grade she says my mom and i got into it last night she says i’m slacking on everything but it’s not like she’s helping me she’s not working right now and things are stressful let’s explore first what an empathy pitfall might sound like in this case fixing might sound like you just need to get it together at home do what she asks and things will get better with your mom down playing might sound like moms get upset i wouldn’t make too much of it cheering up might sound like it will get better soon just stay positive you’re such a great kid and finally judgment might sound like to be honest i’m not surprised given your attitude lately now being careful to avoid the four empathy pitfalls think of an empathetic statement that communicates that you are present and listening sentence stems that might help you include it sounds like i’m hearing you say that and it seems like you’re needing simply pause and restart the video when you are ready great work here are some more examples of empathetic statements i hear you it sounds like you feel misunderstood and need more help i’m hearing that things are very stressful and you’re overwhelmed about your grade on top of all that is going on or i can see you’re really upset about this you’re not feeling seen and you’re fighting with your mom you’re worried about your grade and you need more support although on the surface empathy is a simple concept most of us struggle with one or more of the empathy pitfalls as humans we naturally want to stop pain or fix and change feelings paradoxically though when you are able to model radical acceptance of emotions and experiences students begin to feel safe and as safety increases students begin to collaborate and solve problems with increasing independence and creativity second provide guidance around disrespectful behavior when it comes to creating safe trauma sensitive environments respectful behavior among students and teachers is essential be proactive by collaborating with students to develop norms for respectful and caring behavior working as a class start with the behavior you don’t want to see such as criticism and name-calling instead of saying no criticism or name-calling craft a statement that describes the positive behavior that you do want to see for example instead of no criticism and name calling you can say use kind words depending on the age of your students this should include two to five positive and simple statements for example instead of no name calling use a positively stated norm such as use kind words instead of don’t make fun of each other’s work use encourage and support each other through hardship risks and mistakes instead of don’t disrespect one another’s words use listen to and accept one another’s words and feelings and finally instead of don’t hold a grudge use we collaborate to solve problems check out this clip of a texas educator walking through norms for respectful behavior when i say eagles you say sore eagles eagles welcome back team i hope you’re having an exceptional day sixth grade ela is going to expect a lot from you this year your brains are about to expand did you know that the best way to learn is by trying well that’s why we celebrate taking risk in our classroom what does that mean well that means we try even when we don’t know because that’s how our brains grow but miss lyons what if i mess up or i get it wrong no worries that’s what our community is for to support celebrate and help each other to learn throughout this school year so let’s norm what risk-taking looks like in our classroom one when a teammate takes a risk we snap them up no matter if their answer is right or wrong we’re celebrating that they tried two we always disagree respectfully i appreciate what devin said but i believe the author’s purpose was three we always give our teammates an opportunity to learn and to try again devin can you tell us the author’s purpose now and four we always in class with shout outs i’d like to give a shout out i’d like to give a shout out to devon and anaya for showing teamwork as they analyzed our text today great teamwork guys keep up the good work these norms can become a part of the language of your classroom and visuals of these norms should be incorporated into your classroom whether in virtual or in-person settings when a student violates a norm of respect and care educators can call out the norm in a kind but firm voice reminding the student that you are there to help protect the group culture by preventing disrespectful critical and shaming behavior as much as possible this kind of clear and strong leadership using predetermined norms will be more easily accepted by most students and when inevitable ruptures happen between students guiding students toward repair will reinforce the idea that relationships can weather storms and that there are safe ways to express frustration and work through problems one caveat though if a student is currently navigating significant trauma or has unresolved trauma he or she may be focused on basic needs such as hunger thirst and making emotional or physical pain stop this student may struggle to accept norms because his or her attention is focused on more basic safety and survival if a student does not have access to nourishment and physical safety at home meeting these needs will be a priority in the classroom keep this in mind if a student is resistant to efforts to create an atmosphere of belonging and respect finally make space for sharing and listening students need time and space to practice sharing and listening and giving and receiving empathy this can be incorporated casually into spaces like classic morning meeting or end of day checkouts or into group discussions throughout class time in addition you can create more intentional spaces for students of all ages to build a sense of safety with one another as much as possible have students help design and implement these spaces this will increase a sense of autonomy and choice for example provide time for storytelling circles to strengthen connections try using prompts such as what is your most vivid memory from the last year tell us about your family or tell us about the time you felt the most nervous or excited to increase safety set boundaries by staying away from topics or questions that are too personal intense and always provide the option for a student to pass on answering in addition make sure you provide plenty of time for sharing match the topic or question to the amount of time you have for processing you could also provide time to respectfully discuss and share about significant issues such as the pandemic or other current events impacting the world this will help students digest hardships and worries the opportunity to safely wrestle with and process difficult topics will also communicate to students that they are not alone in a sometimes anxiety-producing world finally provide space to grieve collective events like the pandemic or other losses through verbal sharing or creative projects such as shared paintings or collages this will give students the opportunity to bond over common experiences and feelings as a reminder all past today should always be an option and sharing should never be forced make sure the groups are supervised and empathy is reinforced let’s review in this chapter we identified characteristics of a classroom culture where students feel safe and we identified strategies for building a culture of empathy and respect including modeling empathy providing guidance and creating space next we’ll dive into strategies for building classrooms where students feel seen students need to feel seen inside their communities being curious and intentional about celebrating students strengths gifts differences and identities will further deepen a sense of belonging among students in addition noticing when a student is off is being marginalized or needs help to connect to the community is essential to classroom safety especially when there has been trauma or toxic stress a student may be vulnerable to sensing rejection or criticism through subtle cues such as a misinterpreted look or laughter this is related to a scientific concept called the interbrain interbrain is the scientific term for the constant intuitive communication that occurs between humans inter-brain communication consists mostly of eye contact vocalization and shared feelings the inter-brain connection is like a relational wi-fi connection between all the members of your classroom community being able to observe the inter-brain activity in your class helps you to tune into who is off needing something being left out or not connecting well observing where there are wi-fi disruptions in the group helps to ensure that students don’t go unnoticed and unseen and being attuned to this invisible landscape will allow you to promote positive connections and of course making sure your own wi-fi connection is strong with warm voice soft eye contact and affirming words will model relational safety and positive behavior for students a student named charlotte described a powerful interaction when she felt seen many years ago my chemistry teacher mr parker told me that i seemed less anxious in a really kind and encouraging way one day after class when i was asking him about chemistry stuff he said he had been worried about me the previous few weeks but that i seem more relaxed and less anxious on that day this was before i had a language for mental health or a framework for mental health now i know i was suffering from anxiety even though i didn’t know what was going on in my mind and body i felt seen and known by him he might have been keeping an eye on me in case i got worse i don’t know but that has stuck with me for 25 years and i will always appreciate mr parker saying that to me a student named jenny also shared a story of being seen in third grade my parents were separating and i remember feeling like life was just really hard my teacher miss wilson must have seen it because one really terrible stormy fall day it was time for recess and she asked if i wanted to stay in and just relax with her she put on some music gave me an extra snack and we decorated the classroom for halloween and were silly and danced and sang she said sometimes you just have to find a way to make your own happiness in the storm i will always remember that day and the way she created a little piece of joy for me it was a really small town so i’m sure she knew what was going on in my life but i don’t know if she knew just how much i needed that space to just let go and be a kid for a moment so what strategies can we use to strengthen the inter-brain connection of our classes and help each student to feel seen first keep an eye on the classroom dynamic part of being a secure attachment figure is helping students connect with others educators who regularly take time to step back and observe the social networks in their classroom are more attuned to who needs guidance in building a stronger sense of belonging in the class ask yourself is anyone being left out who’s leading the pack is anyone being picked on what groups have formed is there a way to join two groups who seem at odds with one another during remote instruction it may be more challenging to observe group dynamics but applying this mindset even during online instruction will prepare us for the inevitable difficulties kids will be facing when making social transitions back to in-person school from this place of being attuned to the group educators can take steps to facilitate peer connection for example by setting up lunch buddies in the remote or in person classroom or by reducing status extremes by providing leadership and partnership opportunities to all students in the remote classroom consider setting up phone pals where students call one another on the phone twice a week to discuss prompts or for in-person instruction set up processing pairs to encourage peer support i noticed that howe was often sitting alone during unstructured times i took this cue and created a buddy system pairing howe at first with an easygoing student named channing i also invited each buddy pair to have a snack or complete a special task with me every few weeks this seemed to disrupt some of the status issues and created more connections next celebrate the unique story of each student when we honor diverse student experiences we up the chances that students will feel seen and will even begin to value difference in one another you can begin to do this first by using inclusive language for example to honor different family structures you can say your family your caregivers your grown-ups or your guardians next it is crucial to provide representation for different student experiences stories art music curriculum and play materials used in class should integrate diverse racial linguistic and cultural experiences and should include positive representations of students with disabilities and diverse family identities each and every student should be able to see themselves in some of the stories and materials used in your class in addition it is just as important to make space for each student to share his or her personal story paradoxically when we provide intentional space for each student to share their unique life story and identity in a fun and positive way we promote a sense of belonging among students these types of experiences can be incorporated into writing assignments presentations creative projects or just through casual discussion and sharing finally take a trauma-sensitive and strength-based approach to identity negative narratives about a student’s history can subtly impact the way we view or talk about a student as a teacher shared with us one morning i heard a ruckus happening over in the dress-up corner i had already had a long week and starting off the day on a stressful note put me in the red zone i raised my voice from across the room asking what’s going on over there a few students yelled jared’s doing something jared has a history of trauma and struggles every day to stay in the green zone at school exasperated i started walking toward the corner and with a stern voice started calling jared out when i got to the corner though jared was nowhere to be found it turned out he was sick that day and wasn’t even at school this was a wake-up call for me because i realized that in my exasperation with jared’s behavior i had modeled a negative approach to him and my students had absorbed this since then i’ve prioritized taking a more sensitive approach instead of reacting with what’s wrong with jared i ask what does jared need finally provide opportunities for interdependence and a community oriented approach to learning being intentional about incorporating an interdependent worldview into your classroom is important you can begin doing this by incorporating oral traditions and storytelling across the curriculum using stories as learning tools honors different ways of knowing and learning you can praise and reinforce the group not just the individual providing reinforcement to collective efforts teaches interdependence you can assign collaborative projects and tasks with an emphasis on group cooperation this will give students a shared sense of accomplishment and purpose last it is important to build shared joy and identity into group experiences this includes shared games class symbols names songs or mottos to reinforce belonging some of these strategies will be more challenging in a remote teaching environment but a community-oriented approach is all the more important during times of physical distance let’s review in this chapter we discussed elements of being seen such as honoring individual differences and identities and staying tuned in to the social needs of the group and we reviewed strategies for strengthening connection and care between students next we’ll explore the final s of supportive classrooms being sued supportive classrooms help a student to feel soothed a calm and predictable environment across all school spaces including the library cafeteria and even the virtual classroom creates a sense of comfort for students and a classroom with abundant options for co-regulation helps to create an environment where practicing co and self-regulation is normalized and practiced first provide soothing rituals and routines whether in remote classroom or in person a daily guided group meditation or breath practice gives students nervous systems practice with calming in other words they get to practice the green zone remember that learning doesn’t happen when students are too activated or in their downstairs brain and so taking time to relax together is important and promotes learning one simple way to teach group mindfulness is with tools such as a hoberman sphere let’s try it breathe in breathe out breathe in breathe out breathe in breathe out students can also lead breathing as they develop this skill and for younger students it can even become part of rotating class leadership roles with time and repetition group mindfulness helps students to develop a skill they can rely on in times of dysregulation it’s almost like installing an emergency break for when students need help slowing or calming down at the end of class or at the end of the day you can also take a few minutes to turn lights down or ask students at home to turn their lights down close your eyes together and wind down from the day ending in a calm relaxed nature will help students to transition more smoothly finally calming music can be used at any time of day and with any age to set the tone for safe relaxed interaction and learning in addition create small structured groups that give students practice in both giving and receiving care students can sharpen social skills through warm safe and playful group connection for younger students conduct circles with fun games that require eye contact back and forth exchanges or shared songs and nurturing activities such as giving band-aids for both physical and emotional hurts this will give students time and space to bond and to experience nurture within the class for older students form empathy circles in which students can choose to regularly share concerns hurts or problems and simply receive mirroring and empathy which is modeled by the teacher this will provide a regular practice in the art and science of empathetic listening in remote learning you can also use online tools such as flipgrid to share encouraging messages and build community next provide co-regulation spaces and supports in person provide calming areas with pillows books and fidgets and adjust lighting smells and noise or provide headphones for students who are overwhelmed by too much sensory stimulation in the remote classroom provide visuals of calming options either posted to the chat or on the class homepage finally introduce a shared language around calming and regulation and use visuals to support you can use the language of green blue and red zones or some other language that works for your group the point is to give practice noticing naming and addressing dysregulated sensations feelings and behaviors here’s a story from an educator who has been modeling mindfulness one day my student kiara started to have a meltdown during a transition i started to intervene but amazingly another student darius beat me to it he picked up the hoberman sphere and handed it to kiara he then began to breathe with her and calmly count i guess all the practice we’ve done is becoming second nature i also realized that instead of reacting to kiara’s reactivity i can focus on supporting and praising the whole group’s efforts to help each other calm down before we close out this chapter you might be wondering how you can assess and monitor students experiences with feeling safe seen and soothed in your classroom you can use regular surveys to ask students to complete sentence stems such as i feel safe in our class when i feel seen in our class when or i feel soothed in our class when in addition students naturally provide powerful messages about how safe seen and soothed they feel through their body language and non-verbals safe seen and soothed often looks like bright eyes a relaxed body and a soft face combining explicit feedback from students with regular observation of non-verbal signals will help you assess how your class is doing let’s review in this chapter we learned about the markers of a classroom where students can feel soothed and practice self-regulation and we also explored group strategies for promoting the practice of calming and soothing as we close out we want to remind you of a principle we learned earlier in this series biography becomes biology in other words what we experience in the world often becomes embedded in how our bodies and nervous systems function as illustrated by the many stories we shared today repeated experiences of being safe seen and soothed inside a classroom community can become a powerful experience that teaches powerful skills and embeds security into our students biology let’s review key concepts from this video we explored a framework for the three s’s of supportive classrooms safe seen soothed and we identified strategies for implementing safe seen and soothed principles in the classroom let’s finish this video with a closing reflection take a moment to consider what new ideas or strategies you are taking away from this video what shifts in mindset are you making what new practices will you put in place simply pause and restart the video when you are ready welcome back we hope you discovered some new ideas for creating a soothing classroom environment our next video will give you the opportunity to reflect on building strong partnerships with families here’s your action step for this video compose a short written thank you note for an educator that helped you to feel safe seen or soothed in the past if you have a way of sending this note send it off this will help you reflect on the power of your work as an educator dear miss juarez hope this note finds you well i just finished a training video on the importance of feeling safe seen and soothed in the classroom and i immediately thought of you i remember you always checking in on me each day after school during my first year of teaching i always felt listened to and always appreciated your empathy before we moved on to solving the challenges of the day i remember feeling soothed as i walked to the parking lot and it was all because of the time with you look forward to catching up in person soon sincerely trevor finally before you leave us go ahead and complete this check for understanding to solidify your learning today we’ll see you next time [Music] you