How have we been conditioned to think what an effective classroom is? For many, it is a vision that includes tables of students sitting quietly, working diligently while the teacher walks around or gathers small groups. But when I reflect on my own childhood and what I learned in my career as a paraprofessional, it becomes clear that the most effective classrooms are not necessarily those that are quieter or still, but those that prioritize relationships and community building.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot for educators and students. Many existing gaps and disparities became even greater during the height of the crisis and in an effort to recover from these losses. many districtsincluding mine, have implemented new tests and curricular mandates which have put immense pressure on educators. This has left less room to focus on the things we know are most important, like building relationships, social-emotional development, and building a respectful and inclusive classroom community. It has been difficult to find a balance between focusing community development and meeting these demands.
As a teaching assistant for eight years, I have had the unique experience of being in multiple classrooms. I have seen how different teachers build classroom communities and those who have been most successful have focused on creating lively spaces where children and staff are allowed to be themselves.
Although each classroom is unique, a common thread I have found is a focus on relationships, but that takes time and capacity, which has become more strained in recent years.
New mandates focus attention on what is most important
The most effective teachers I've worked with spend a lot of one-on-one time with students, whether it's supporting them through a lesson, bonding with them over a shared interest like the latest video game that's out, or learning more about them. for example, hearing what a recent family outing was like. They also spend time getting to know their colleagues. For me, that part is important because I collaborate better when I feel like I can relate to the people I work with beyond the work we do together.
A telltale sign of a classroom community built on strong relationships is when a teacher is able to set aside an academic lesson to address events happening within the classroom that could be impacting students' social-emotional development.
For example, I remember one case where we were working on a lesson, but some of our students were fixated on a situation that occurred during recess. A basketball game became too serious and the word “bullying” began to be used. I remember we were able to take the time to sit down and talk about it. We paused everything else to define bullying, discuss what our students could do (as individuals and as a collective) to intervene or report cases of bullying, and talk about how to build a community of people who care for each other.
I remember thinking how much I admired the teacher for recognizing that it was imperative that our students feel like that conversation took priority. They wouldn't have been able to concentrate on anything else. When we resumed that lesson the next day, they were attentive and participation was greater than usual. There are many moments like this that arise throughout the year. Staying alert and figuring out which ones to address with a full group discussion versus which ones to address in a small group or with an individual is part of the job.
I have also witnessed how crucial it is to be able to step back and say “let's pause our work” to a student who has a behavioral problem in the classroom, and take the time to get to the bottom of it. what feelings they have and where the behavior comes from. To do my job well, sometimes I need to be able to step away from work, have space to simply talk and connect with the student I am supporting. When I can connect with a student and understand what is causing a certain behavior, I can better support them. And more often than not, I have found that moments outside of school, perhaps something that happened at home the night before or on the way to school earlier in the morning, contribute to students' behavior in class.
It is very important to be able to set aside a lesson to bond with a student or have a conversation about something non-academic that is impacting the class. But the freedom to do so is slipping away.
In my district, the recovery from the pandemic has prompted a series of transitions that require great focus and drive. The start of this school year brought with it a list of new mandates, including a literacy curriculum review and a series of new reading and math assessments to administer to students in the first three months. And in September, our school administrators created a suggested pacing calendar to give us an idea of where we should be for each subject throughout the year. It was full and left no reservation days between September and June.
My time is limited and I feel like I'm being pulled in twenty different directions all the time. Incorporating new curricula and assessments into our already busy schedules has created a rigid and stressful environment that, I fear, may cause harm to our students as they continue their educational careers.
At my school, these changes have brought increased stress, fewer opportunities to pivot when our students need to, and have led to a shift away from social-emotional learning, which has changed the way our classrooms look and feel. One question I keep asking myself is how much will this change cost our students and staff in the long run?
In effective classrooms, relationships are a priority
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to an effective classroom. I've seen several of them and they all had a different vibe. But one thing I do know for sure is that relationships come first. Those of us who work directly with students have a responsibility to push back when certain mandates are not beneficial. When education becomes too focused on testing and data collection, we begin to lose bandwidth to get to know our students more deeply and flexibility to change topics when necessary.
Before the pandemic, my school created enriching learning environments where students and staff could be themselves. Now we are all so worried about the multitude of deadlines, rapidly changing requirements and new mandates that we have lost our way.
We're only in November, but I'm already at March level of exhaustion. It's time to reflect on how these changes are shaping teaching and learning experiences. Yes, we need solutions that address the losses we face, but not solutions that increase our already overwhelming workload or take away time from getting to know our students and building relationships with them.
