Classroom Culture. WHAT? WHY? HOW?
What is classroom culture?
Building Positive Relationships
Procedures / Expectations
Norms
Rules/Principles
Meaningful Systems
Mission Statement / Purpose
Culture is….the heart of everything we do as educators!
Why does culture matter?
A strong and well defined classroom culture is essential to set the foundation for working, learning and building transformational relationships.
It’s important to have systems that are specific to academics, like grading policies and assignment guidelines of course. However, I’ve found that none of those pieces mean anything if students don’t feel a sense of belonging.
How do I build a strong culture?
By asking yourself the following:
What is your classroom vision? What do you want to be true for your students?
How do you want students to engage in the work? Why is student engagement important? (for whatever content you teach)
What are your classroom norms and principles? (Think about your non negotiables?) What is the reasoning behind the principles? Are you deciding the norms before students enter the learning space or will these be something you and your students work to build together? (maybe even a combination of both) Why?
RESOURCES TO SUPPORT YOUR CLASSROOM CULTURE WORK:
Things I try to remember, if I’m hanging something in my classroom:
Why does it matter?
Do students know what it means? How do I know?
Is it referenced? (throughout lessons, discussions, etc)
Culture is NEVER “done.”
teachergram: @classroomderollins
