It’s back to school week here in South Florida and I have spent the last month redecorating, relearning, and revamping my classroom vibes and engagement skills to prepare for my new kiddos to come back this past week! So if you’re trying to plan out what you think your students need, what you need, and how to improve your skills to get life long dedicated students, take a seat and let’s chat about how I get my kids engaged from day one!
Read more: Comfort and Joy in a Marine Science ClassroomBuilding a safe and inviting environment
One thing that starts a sense of excitement and engagement in the classroom is a place that invites all the senses. Government funded classrooms have become a meme for the fact that they expect every teacher to go build their room out of nothing, which is unfortunate because I have never met a student comfortable in a classroom with only the fluorescent lighting above and the beige tiles below to look at. Building your classroom to be inviting doesn’t have to cost your whole salary either. It involves community and planning. Thinking about comfort and also giving students something to relate to. My classroom is built to be an ocean of color with things to look at on every wall and blue lighting to ease the harsh florescent light and give the room the hue of the ocean. While some of these choices were things that I bought and decided on my own, I was given many decorations from my local library, from student artwork, from prop pieces, and even from conferences I went to! I even have beach themed air fresheners in the back wall to help ease students into a sense of calm.
These are implements I have added to or made over the last five years that have created a sense of wonder, delight, and engagement in my classes. When my students walk in the door, I want them to feel like they stepped into a new world where they can discover something new everywhere they look. I once attended a professional development that frustrated me so much because their creed was focusing on not making a room “distracting” with decorations and personality to help students focus, but I have seen the benefits of what caring about how your room looks can help students learn and I will continue to stick with the idea that making your classroom unique and homey will give your students more of a reason to be excited to come to class and in some cases even gives them a reason to come to school that day.
Being more than just a teacher
This may sound weird at first… But creating an environment that is conducive to learning comes also from the idea that you are more than just a background character, more than just a teacher. You have a personality, so show it off! Being real about who you are makes you someone that your students can look up to and understand without feeling like they aren’t enough or would never make mistakes.
Some teachers are bound by this idea that they must always be correct in everything that they do, and when students correct them they double down and humiliate to keep their “control” over a classroom. Being wrong is part of life. Showing students that mistakes and weirdness happens is how students learn that they can try things and be wrong and LEARN from it. Part of building a relationship with your students is not just learning about them, but also showing them what being a person is like. In today’s world kids are utilizing social media as a way to idealize life styles and celebrities, so a healthy understanding of what being an adult is really like is so beneficial to helping your students become more than just the vision they see on TikTok and Instagram.
Subject centric, Student centric
Another thing I love about my classroom and highly recommend for all teacher of ALL subjects is making your room subject centered enough that it makes what your teaching, but also just off kilter enough that student’s make have to really think about what they’re looking at to see that there is a benefit to every bit of decor in the room.
My room is filled to the brim with student artwork, posters, stuffed animals, models, specimen, basically anything cool and marine students have given more or I have found. The amazing part is, I have so many things set up to give students help or ideas throughout the room that are like a secret. Posters that are set up next to my TV screens talking about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch or Marine Debris, food webs for different marine ecosystems, and many identification posters for local animals. All of these decorations are subtle enough that a glance wouldn’t help a student but someone who is interested and reads the posters would see the benefit of them.
While seating is talked about plenty in most every single classroom PD ever, collaborative learning is one of the most useful, sometimes chaotic, ways to get students active and engaged in their own learning. I have my lab tables set up in groups of four and actively encourage students to chat about material and make connections to their lives.
All these pieces are important to creating a space where students WANT to be and are excited to learn because they are immersed in the subject and in the personality of the teacher. Designing your classroom should not just be for you or for your students, but for how you want your relationship to be WITH your students. Working together, building connections, and creating a space of joy and learning creates a classroom that is both exciting to be in and full of opportunities for learning.
