Norms & Values

In room 204 we worked everyday to create norms and values where students were embraced and respected. We created a safe learning environment and welcomed each student into our community. By following the school’s S.T.A.R. expectations for behavior, students received consistent messages and guides throughout the building both in and out of our room. Jen and I made an overt effort to go over each expectation thoroughly at the beginning of the year and this laid the foundation for us to refer back to when we needed to remind students as the year progressed. Our overarching rule was to treat others the way we want to be treated. 

We built around this golden rule by following these norms:

• Students will begin the morning with the daily routine of writing in their conversation journals and participating morning meeting, to help build our classroom community and prepare for the day.
• Students should feel comfortable utilizing their tools around the room such as anchor charts, the word wall, and each other as resources they can use to do their best work.
• Students will be in control of their body, their things, and their learning to help create a safe learning environment.
• Students will take responsibility for their belongings, their learning, and their actions.
• Students will be actively engaged in their learning to become better readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, historians, and people.
• Students will be kind to others by showing respect to the person speaking, teacher, or peer.
• Students will be respectful of the classroom materials and use them correctly.
• Students will be held to high expectations and encouraged to be their best selves.

Equity & Access

In every classroom, each student enters with different backgrounds, abilities, and learning styles. Room 204 was no different. This was a place where sixteen wonderfully different and unique individual learners came to be supported with individualized instruction. I firmly believe that each student has valuable thoughts, questions, and experiences to contribute to the classroom experience and promote learning.  Over the pas year, I practiced implementing teaching strategies to personalize my practice and address the needs of all of my students in order to be successful and supported.  

The strategies I explicitly worked on to increase access and equity in my room were:

• To validate each student and their contributions to the class.
• To make sure students feel appreciated and supported to take risks, try new things, and fail.
• To differentiate teaching in learning activities as well as assessments to support individual students’ needs.
• To scaffold activities and directions by modeling, while being clear and concise with my expectations.
• To use and implement specific strategies to best support all students, especially those who are English Language Learners and students on IEPs such as turn and talks, anchor charts, visuals, vocabulary support, etc. 
• To provide opportunities for students to think, work through, collaborate, and share with peers in small groups or partners in low-stake settings.
• To interact with students one-on-one to check for understanding and to show each student they are valued and important to me and to the class.

Illustration

One way we built our classroom community that allowed us to differentiate and provide equity to all our students as well as create a routine in our mornings was through conversation journals. These journals meant a lot to me and my students throughout the year as it was a private and personal way to communicate and learn about one another. When the Covid-19 virus caused our school building to close, those notebooks were locked inside. Instead of abandoning this avenue for relationships with our students, Jen and I decided to incorporate conversation journals into our Google Classroom. Here are some examples of student entries that show this norm we created and maintained even after going virtual.