Build a Positive Climate in the Classroom

Creating a positive climate in your classroom will allow your students to feel comfortable, safe and engaged. This climate give the students a special environment to learn.

Positive climate is a combination of classroom culture and teacher leadership. The classroom culture include many factors like teacher-student interactions, class room structure, Social and Emotional Safety, positive behavior management techniques and community building. Also, teachers play an important role to build a positive climate. Teachers bring cultural understanding and self-awareness to the classroom and they are a social justice leader. Being a teacher leader in positive climate means embracing the opportunity for ongoing reflection and growth.

As Robert Marzano specified in his book The Art and Science of Teaching “Arguably the quality of the relationships teachers have with students is the keystone of effective management and perhaps even the entirety of teaching.” (Marzano, 2007) the relationship teacher-student is fundamental to create a positive climate in the classroom. Know your students, build a sense of community and use a positive teacher language among others are the keystone in this purpose. To know more about teacher-student interaction, we recommend see the presentation about this topic in the following link: http://prezi.com/_dut7uxolfrn/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

In a positive climate of learning the structure of the classroom is student centered. Classrooms reflect the multicultural backgrounds of students and showcase the diversity of our society. For instance, some walls could show pictures of students or short phrases in different languages that students speak. The norms and expectations are clear, just as the students are encourage to participate. Also, in the class student and teachers use gender sing gender-neutral practices. A positive classrooms environment represent the diversity, the positives relationships, promote communication and dialogue between teachers and students.

Social-emotional learning, respect and safety are as important as literacy and critical thinking skills in positive learning environment. Students need to feel both physically and emotionally safe to learn. Teachers should include in the curriculum teaching of social-emotional skills, bullying prevention and community building. In a positive climate in the classroom, students understand and appreciate differences, also they know different forms to solve problems and conflicts with others.

Discipline and behavior management are central to positive classroom culture. Behavior management practices should support safe and build community. The discipline problems could use as an opportunity of growth. A positive behavior management reflect fairness, equity and cultural awareness.

Teachers are the role model to build a positive climate in the classroom. They need to develop skills and attitudes to build bridges between cultures, promoting empathy, flexibility, listening without judgment, appreciation for multiple perspectives and cross-cultural communication. Culturally aware teachers model how we can build a positive climate.   

Teachers can be social justice leaders modeling proactive responses to bias, discrimination, exclusion and bullying. They can sends the message that student safety is a priority and we need to speaking up and responding. For example, teachers can share live experiences that help students to learn their active role to build a positive environment of learning.

Building a positive climate in the classroom requires reflection and steady growth by teachers. Teachers can continue learning strategies participating in professional development activities, joining groups of study or research. Also, evaluate and follow up the strategies implemented in the classroom by teachers is a great opportunity to learn a build more effective responses. Teachers can create alliances that support new strategies, for example with NGO or governmental entities.

In conclusion, build a positive climate in the classroom require an action in the classroom and a commitment of teachers to ensure a comfortable, safe and engaged environment to learn.

By Jaime Solano Cardoso