Making your classroom your own
Making that horseshoe, I was seeing my classroom as my own. When I closed my door at the beginning of each period, it was about my students and I being together, to know each other, to care about each other, and yes, to learn.
You choose to make your classroom about your students and who you are with them. You can make relationships your priority, second to what you teach. You have them feel they belong and are safe. You make it clear you know who your students are and what they bring with them counts. You choose to sit amongst them when you can. You put desks in a circle or in other ways they can see one another. They then realize that class is more than having to digest what the teachers says. It becomes a learning center, everyone sharing and learning.
You design your teaching for students to learn. When you present, you invite them to process at several intervals either by themselves or with others. You watch and listen to make sure they leave class understanding what you’ve shared, and that their homework, if you choose to give it, will relate. You want to stimulate thinking and for them to come the next day with ideas and questions.
