Promoting Positive Classroom Interactions
It is important to foster a positive relationship with each and every student in your classroom, and to foster these relationships among students as well. Taking time at the beginning of and during the year to get to know what your students value is time well spent.
Students value teachers who value them. Even students who are living in seemingly intolerable situations, but have an adult who cares about them outside of their home environment will adjust their behavior by taking care to safeguard that relationship. In doing so, many students begin to internalize the value system of the caring adult. For that reason, bonds with adults are essential for a student’s healthy social and emotional development. By showing students that you care about who they are, you can foster positive relations with them. By encouraging other students to care for one another, you can foster positive relations among each and every person whom you teach.
Did you know?
Teachers develop positive relationships with their students by constantly exhibiting respect, courtesy, fairness, caring, and understanding (Mawhinney & Sagan, 2007).
High teacher expectations regularly foretell positive student goals and interest in class, and negative teacher feedback is correlated with low academic achievement and inappropriate social behavior (Wentzel, 2002).
Teachers encourage the development of a sense of community in their classrooms when they model interpersonal concern, nurture student autonomy and self-direction, encourage student thinking, and facilitate student collaboration (Watson & Battistich, 2006).
“The most important thing you have to offer your students is your own humanity. When you give of yourself, you give something that is real, something that no one else can offer. You offer you.”
— Chick Moorman, Our Classroom, 1983
The information below is based on ideas in the PLS courses Building Communication and Teamwork in the Classroom ®, Classroom Management: Orchestrating a Community of Learners ®, Classroom Management: Orchestrating a Community of Learners® Online , and Designing Motivation for All Learners ®.
Read on for strategies designed to promote positive relations in the classroom.
The Name Game
Early on in the new school year, print or type a list of student names with a blank line next to each. Pass out the list of names to each student and challenge them to find out a noteworthy fact about each student in the class. Encourage them to share something that will make them memorable. “My dad is a rodeo clown” or “I walked across hot coals while barefoot” is more unique and memorable than “My favorite color is blue.” Students are to jot down the unique fact next to the person’s name and collect as many interesting facts as possible in five or ten minutes. You should participate too—learning about your students is an excellent way to make connections.
The Three-Step Interview
The Three-Step Interview allows the opportunity for students to learn from, listen to, and value what their classmates have to say about a given topic. Before starting The Three-Step Interview, have students choose a partner and decide who is Partner A and who is Partner B. Provide specific questions they are to discuss.
The Three-Step Interview itself is composed of these three steps:
1. Partner A interviews Partner B by asking questions the teacher provides.
2. Once Partner B has responded to the questions, the roles are reversed and Partner B interviews Partner A by asking the same set of questions.
3. Partners A and B interview another pair of A and B partners by asking the same questions and sharing their responses.
You can use the Three-Step Interview as a getting-to-know-you activity or as a way to actively engage students with the content all year long.
Time Capsule
Early on in the school year, come up with goals to accomplish by the end of the semester or end of the year. You can have each student come up with one, have them create goals in small groups, or work as a class to create the goals. Open the time capsule at the designated period and celebrate your accomplishments. Set new goals at various intervals and always celebrate achievements.
Taking It Further
Classroom Interactions and Achievement
The Key to Classroom Management
References
Mawhinney, T. S., & Sagan, L. (2007). The power of personal relationships. Phi Delta Kappan, 88(6), 460–464.
Watson, M., & Battistich, V. (2006). Building and sustaining caring communities. In C. M. Evertson & C. S. Weinstein (Eds.), Handbook of classroom management: Research, practice, and contemporary issues (pp. 253–279). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Wentzel, K. R. (2002). Family, school, and community: Are effective teachers like good parents? Teaching styles and student adjustment in early adolescence. Child Development, 73(1), 287–301.