Seven strategies for a happy classroom

 School-going children spend a greater part of their day in classrooms, and for teaching and learning to be truly effective, it is important that classrooms are safe, happy and welcoming spaces. Here are nine strategies that can help teachers create a positive classroom experience.

The ‘Whale Done’ response

Teachers often wait for perfect work or behavior to praise a child. Sometimes it may never happen by the teacher’s standard of perfection. Instead, what if one praises the little steps the child is making to reach the goal?

Taken from the book titled Whale Done by Ken Blanchard, the 'Whale Done' response empowers one to build positive relationships – teacher and pupils, parents and children or in fact any relationship. A beautiful line in the book says ‘Praise progress, it’s a moving target’. Here is the 'Whale Done' response:

• Praise students immediately, i.e. as soon as the behaviour occurs.

• Be specific about what they did right or almost right.

• Share your positive feelings about what they did.

• Encourage them to keep up the good work.

The 'redirection' response

This response needs conscious practice before it becomes a part of a teacher’s behavior.

• Describe the error or problem as soon as possible, clearly and without blame.

• Explain its negative impact.

• If appropriate, take the responsibility for not making the task clear (For instance, ‘I am sorry, I did not communicate the instructions clearly').

• Go over the task in detail and make sure it is clearly understood.

• Express your continuing trust and confidence in the student.

Ask yourself

When teachers embark on a teaching career, they need to answer some questions for themselves in order to be the kind of teacher they aspire to be. For instance, questions such as:

• What kind of values and attitudes do I need, to develop the right kind of values and attitudes in my students?

• What kind of skills would I require, to develop key life skills such as managing emotions and problem solving in my students?

• How will I maintain a balance between academic performance and emotional wellbeing of my students?

• Twenty or thirty years from now how will I want my students to remember me?

Answers to these questions will help teachers gain better insight on how they can excel in their chosen vocation.

Set healthy boundaries

Children need boundary lines within which they can operate and this applies to both classroom and home settings. It reminds me of a child who ran away from the house, and when found by the police, he explained, "I do not want to go home, my home lacks discipline." What the child meant was that there was no one who cared enough about him to give him the boundaries – the limits. Children need to feel secure and cared for and boundary lines help achieve this.

In the classroom, boundaries can be established in different ways. For example, in the lower classes, the teacher—with a little help from the students—can make a 'traffic light' for the class. The red light rules will be common for adults and children. For instance, "We will not use our hands to hit anyone." The amber light rules will be different for teachers and children. For example, "When at work you will not walk around in the class and disturb the others." The green light rules are the areas where children have freedom. For instance, the teacher could give them freedom to create a story, or an art piece or ask questions and share ideas and opinions.

In middle school and high school the students can be involved in the making of class agreements (for example, "We agree to be on time.") and the consequences.
 

Focus on the process

Teachers normally focus on the results or the outcome, and while this matters, the method or process is equally important. A seven-year-old child once said to her parents, "Going to school is like hurting a bird whose wings are not hurt." What the child meant was that learning was not fun as she had to do it the teacher’s way and there was no place for her way.

Children are happy when they can experience, explore, observe, communicate – in other words, when they are fully engaged in the process of learning. It is also important to remember that children learn differently.