Connection is our #1 strategy to obtain cooperation and build community in our classrooms. As a motivator for positive behavior, it goes beyond short-term results to yield real, longterm change and impact. Explore a few strategies to build connection and cultivate a classroom community that reflects your values.
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How To Invest In Connection To Build Classroom Community
Connection is our #1 strategy to obtain cooperation and build community in our classrooms. As a motivator for positive behavior, it goes beyond short-term results to yield real, longterm change and impact.
Connection might seem like this big abstract concept, and you may be wondering, how do I get it? It’s actually pretty simple. In fact, you’re probably already a connection expert — you just don’t realize it! The same ways you connect with anyone in your life… that’s how you can connect with your students.
So what are some ways we can build connection?
Before we answer that, it’s important to consider two unique opportunities we have when we’re talking about building connection — we have the “in the moment” responses and we have the chances to “bank it.”
In this episode, we’ll be digging into ways to bank connection in order to create relationships in which cooperation comes easily. Banking connection is when we’re building relationships in calm moments, when we’re fully feeding into our relationship without asking anything from it.
And as we prepare to start a new school year, the importance of banking connection is at its peak as we encounter new students who don’t know and therefore don’t trust us. Investing in connection — creating opportunities to build connection and “bank it” — is so important as we start off the year — before we find ourselves in conflict with students and parents, before academic struggles create frustration and escalated feelings, before our classroom culture evolves in ways we don’t appreciate (which it can do, if we don’t step in with clear leadership and communicated values!)
So with that in mind, this episode shares a few ways to get you started — investing in connection, prioritizing relationships as a classroom value, and building your classroom community!
If you’re more of a reader, check out this post for all the details.
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