Over the course of an average five-day week of school, classes are spending about 37 hours together each week! Students and teachers are spending a majority of their day together approximately 170 days out of the year! At the beginning of the school year, first grade students talk about how our classroom is like a second family we spend a lot of time with. We clarify that we do not want to replace their real family at home, but our class is a safe and supportive team where we build trust and care for each other.
There are many benefits that these beginning of the year activities and this mindset can bring to students. First, it gives a sense of belonging. Each student knows that they have a special and important place in the classroom family. Second, it shows an immense feeling of support. It shows classmates are there to help each other and have each other’s backs. Lastly, when it comes to showing growth in our learning throughout the school year, our classroom family demonstrates constantly that it is a safe place to make mistakes and try again which gives comfort to those who may feel like they are struggling.
Not only does the “Our Classroom is a Family” mindset bring benefits to the students inside the classroom, but it also teaches the students valuable core lessons that they can use the rest of their life. Overall, the students learn teamwork. When students come into first grade, it can sometimes be challenging for them to communicate with others and figure out how to work together without guidance. As they grow in this skill, they are learning to stick together and help each other when things in the classroom get challenging. Another important core lesson they learn is kindness. We have many discussions throughout the year on how we can become better people by treating other students with respect and also treating them how we want to be treated.
To demonstrate a sense of community, we want students to be involved in how our classroom can be a family or how they can be a good classmate. Each student in our classroom had the opportunity to share their ideas. We put them on sticky notes and attached them to our chart. We display this chart in our classroom throughout the year as a reminder and refer back to it during the challenging times of the school year. Each student picked their favorite one and added it to their own school to hang in the hallway to display to students and teachers in other grade levels. Overall, we are not just a building full of students and teachers. Together, we are a family.
