Responsive Classroom

Responsive classroom

The langue we use matters

As teachers' we use words all the time to communicate feelings, ideas, concepts, attitudes, and thoughts to our little people. They absorb all of these words with our body language and respond in their own way to what was said. After reading this book and adapting the language to my classroom I have noticed a big difference in the responses from my students and the nature of our relationships at school. There is more trust and openness between us; that allows us to solve problems faster with fewer and fewer issues as time goes on.

Morning meetings

Routines provide a sense of security and peace for people. A big part of the responsive classroom is using our morning meetings as a special routine that sets us off on track for a great day!

The routine helps students to connect with all the friends in class and to feel a sense of belonging. They take on special roles and practice both academic and social-emotional skills.

Greeting- saying good morning in a variety of ways.
Sharing- it could be 1 topic for 1 week or a new topic each day.
Activity- short game
Message- a message they read as soon as they come into the classroom

Building relationships

Making students feel safe and giving them a sense of ownership in the classroom begins with building strong relationships between learners. Part of this is done by our morning meetings but a big part happens at the end of the day when we read the notes left by friends in our classroom bucket. Students write these notes throughout the day to someone that has filled their bucket. During our closing circle, they get to look at the friend who had filled their bucket and say thank you for the kind act that happened during the day.

Disagreements do happen and getting little people to start solving these issues early on in the year is important. Kelso's choices have been a big favorite when dealing with small problems and can be used independently when issues arise. This is also something that I share with my parents to use at home as an extension of our classroom learning.