“A Place for Students”

By Carrie Hooey

 

As a teacher, one of my goals each year is to create a classroom where my students want to come.  I think I’m fairly successful at this because just the other day, one of my students said to me “out of the blue” that he looks forward to coming to class everyday because I’m one of his favorite teachers.  Overhearing him, another student piped in and said that she was so happy to have me ninth period because she loves ending the day in my class.  Now, I realize that I’m not the only one who has discovered the secret to connecting with one’s students, but these comments made me reflect.  I wondered what it was that made my students feel that way.  So, of course I was flattered, and I enjoyed the comments so much, that I didn’t stop any others from throwing out their positive thoughts about our class.  To end the delightful discussion, I told the students they had made my day and possibly week, and that I too absolutely loved ending the day with them as well, so the feeling was mutual. 

            As a result, I thought I’d make a list of all of the things I do, sometimes daily, weekly, etc.  in order to make my room a place that kids want to be.  Hopefully, if you are reading this, you will recognize yourself in some of my ideas, and even more likely,  you could probably add to them.  If nothing else, pat yourself on the back, if you too have created an atmosphere that your students can enjoy, and perhaps maybe I can give you something worth trying.  So, here goes, in no particular order, some of the things I do during the school year to “energize my classroom”.

*Humor!  I use humor almost daily, whether it’s in the beginning, middle, or end of a lesson.  I don’t plan on it, but I use it to make my kids feel more at ease, and who doesn’t like a person with a sense of humor?  If nothing more, I tend to make fun of myself whether I just tripped over the overhead cord or misspelled a word.  I know everyone says not to use sarcasm, but sometimes I think it’s okay.  I do agree that you have to be careful, careful not to hurt anyone’s feelings because if that happens, then your classroom is not a place that some students want to be. 

*Making mistakes.  I pride myself on making mistakes because I don’t want the students to see me as someone who is untouchable or thinks they are “pefect”.  Many teachable moments can be found in my mistakes.  Since we all make mistakes, and that is how a lot of us learn, mistakes allow us to feel comfortable at taking risks and they build a bridge between us that makes us realize we are all alike in some ways.  Mistakes show our human side.  So I think students enjoy coming to my class because there isn’t a lot of unnecessary pressure and they know it’s okay to make mistakes.  Actually, at the beginning of the year, I tell them that one of my expectations is that they will all make mistakes.  

*Variety.  My students never really know what to expect in terms of what we will be doing in class each day.  This keeps things fresh.  We might do the same type of activity two or three days in a row.  Then the activity will change because I don’t want the students to become bored, so they like coming to class just because they don’t know what to expect. 

*Rewarding hard work.  If my students have been meeting or exceeding my expectations, and we have finished a major unit, test, or project, I will spend a period the next day with each of my classes playing a game, or something that they see as fun.  I have a book of cooperative learning games that they love.  When they play these games, they remind me of how fun and silly they can be, and it reminds me how important it is to laugh and have fun sometimes.  They like knowing that I recognize and appreciate their hard work enough to give them a day of play, so they look forward to these days especially.

*Decorating the room.  I use artwork, poems, posters, pieces of writing, etc. to display around the room.  The students get excited to see if I’ve hung their work up, and it makes them feel good about themselves, and gives them another reason to like coming to class.

*Anecdotes.  I constantly weave little stories of my own life into teaching.  The students really look forward to hearing about things that were difficult for me as a kid, or embarrassing etc.  By the end of the year, they know an awful lot about me, and I think they enjoy learning a little about me each week.  This allows them to see that I play more roles than just teacher. 

*Be honest.  Just like we can see through the excuses of our students, they can see through us if we are not telling the truth.  If you’re in a bad mood, it’s okay to tell them, and if you are disappointed or proud of them, it’s okay to tell them.  I find this to be incredibly powerful, and the students really appreciate this “realness” in an adult.  I think they’d rather come to a class where the teacher is real with them whether it is good or bad news.  I have found that they can’t really argue with this kind of honesty.  It also is good role modeling, and one of my favorite mottos to use with the kids is “Practice what you preach”.  You should display the same behavior that you want back from your kids.  This makes for really strong connections and students respect this kind of behavior, so naturally they want to be around it.  

*Choices.  Whenever you can, give them choices, so that they can have some control over their learning.  For example, sometimes the choices I give them are as simple as… you can work on this by yourself or with a partner or when taking notes, use whichever note taking method works best for you.  I always teach them several ways and expect them to try them all at least once.  Then they get to decide which to use through out the year and on tests.  Classrooms that give simple choices give students power over their learning and it helps them to be successful.  Again, they want to be in classrooms that give them control rather than control them.  

*Voices.  Listen to your students.  Sure they say a lot of things that you may choose to ignore for whatever reason, but many times they have good ideas for how to do things like structure an activity.  Some teachers would be surprised at what creative and innovative ideas students have.  I always say, “Two heads are better than one.”  When you don’t like their ideas, you don’t have to use them.  This helps them to invest in the learning.  Also, if you listen to them, they will be more likely to listen to you as well and it helps to earn their respect.  The last place a student wants to be is in a place where their voice is stifled and doesn’t matter. 

*Learning.  Of course learning is always the cornerstone of everything we do, and it doesn’t always have to be fun, but it should be challenging and stimulating.  I almost always explain to kids the reasoning or purpose behind everything we do, and as a result, most of them “just do it.”  Sometimes I feel like a salesman because I sometimes have to “sell” the activity, but it’s natural for kids to want to know why they have to spend their time doing something, and if you don’t have a good enough reason, perhaps you shouldn’t be doing it.  Students want to be in classes where they are learning.  They just want it to be meaningful. 

*Praise.  I praise kids often, and I think they really like it because they know I care and genuinely want them to do well.  Again, if I can make them feel good while they are in my presence, then they will want to come to my class.

*Attitude.   Act how you want your students to act.  If you want them to be positive, be positive.   Optimism, as well as pessimism, is contagious.  Which do you want your students to be?  Most students are attracted to optimism because, unfortunately, pessimism is readily available. 

*Personalize it whenever you can!  Be observant.  If you notice a student got a haircut, mention how nice it looks.  If a student was out for a few days, ask them how they feel.  When a student’s work really catches your eye, praise it, and use him or her as an example in all of your classes.  At any level, word travels.  This is probably one of the most important things you can do because it shows students that they are not just part of the crowd, and that you see them as an individual.  This doesn’t take much effort at all.  A balance between the class as a team full of individuals is key.

 

            I could go on and on because there are more things I do in order to make my classroom a place that students want to be, but I think I have listed many of the important ones.  Remember though that a classroom without consequences or discipline is a classroom that only a few want to be because that’s a classroom that isn’t safe either physically and/or emotionally.   But if you are able to fill your classroom with laughter, risk-taking, variety, hard work, honesty, good listening, learning, praise, optimism, high expectations, firmness, and personalize it all at the same time or more realistically, a few of those things at a time, during a full school day, your classroom is probably a place where students are happy to enter, happy to stay, and happy to remember.  So ask yourself, or even better, ask your students if they look forward to coming to your classroom and why?  Because in my opinion, a great teacher always makes time to reflect.

 

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Carrie Hooey

Broadway Middle School, Elmira New York

English Teacher

chooey@gstboces.org