Creating a Healthy Classroom Community in a Preschool Setting

Classroom community is a remarkable tool at the disposal of the classroom teacher. It

can be used to intrinsically motivate students to learn, to create a sense of connectedness,

competence, and contribution among students, and to foster teacher-student, student-student, and

teacher-home relationships. “A caring community of learners” exists when the full range of

students experience themselves as valued, contributing, influential members of a classroom or

school that they perceive as dedicated to the welfare and growth of all its members.” (Schaps,

Battistich, and Solomon, 2004) As cited in Jones and Jones, in The Responsive Classroom,

Wood suggests the following is true of a classroom in which social and academic learning are

fully integrated: the social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum, how children

learn is as important as what children learn, the greatest cognitive growth occurs through social

interaction, there is a set of social skills that children need in order to be successful academically

and socially, knowing the children we teach is an important as knowing the content we teach,

knowing the parents of the children we teach is as important as knowing the children, and

teachers must model the social and academic skills which they wish to teach their students.

(Jones and Jones, 2010, p. 143) These ideas very closely match my own philosophy about what

aspects are most important in cultivating a learning community and are embedded in the choices

I have made in creating a safe and healthy preschool learning environment.

Morning Meeting

Extensive educational research as well as recent brain research has shown that students

will learn more effectively and have more responsibly in classroom and school settings where

they feel safe, known, and valued. (Jones and Jones, 2010) Therefore, each morning I will begin

the day with a Morning Meeting. This time will be used to teach the children many important

lessons. This is something that pre-school aged students, who have never been in a classroom

setting before, could especially benefit from. They, in particular, need a strong sense of

community as it might be the first time they have been away from their parents for extended

periods of time. It is also their first encounter with other kids their age in a structured

environment in which everyone must learn to work together in order to achieve success and

harmony. This makes it very important that they learn how to respect and trust others.

In, The Morning Meeting Book, Kriete and Bechtel state 5 purposes for a Morning Meeting:

(1999, p. 9)

1. Morning Meeting sets the tone for respectful learning and establishes a climate of trust.2. The tone and climate of Morning Meeting extend beyond the Meeting.3. Morning Meeting motivates children by addressing two human needs: the need to feel a

sense of significance and belonging and the need to have fun.4. The repetition of many ordinary moments of respectful interaction in Morning Meeting

enables some extraordinary moments.5. Morning Meeting merges social, emotional, and intellectual learning.

“In order to learn, we must take risks…We must trust in order to risk, and Morning Meeting

helps create a climate of trust.” (Kriete and Bechtel, 1999, p. 11) It also provides opportunities

for students to share things that have occurred in their lives, assume responsibility, and to learn

about each other. Furthermore, it functions to “sharpen students speaking and listening skills.”

(Kriete and Bechtel, 1999, p. 17) Not only that but it will also help to strengthen students sense

of connectivity, contribution, and competence, as described by Jones and Jones. (2010)

Kriete and Bechtel suggest a set schedule for morning meeting. It should occur every day

and have a predictable format. They suggest the following format: Greeting, Sharing, Group

Activity, News and Announcements. (1999)

Greeting:

During the greeting, everyone is, “greeted by name, with a handshake and eye contact.”

(Kriete and Bechtel, 1999, p. 33) This greeting sets a “positive tone, provides a sense of

recognition and belonging, helps children learn names, and gives practice in offering

hospitality.” (Kriete and Bechtel, 1999, p. 34) There are many different ways to greet each

other. It is the teacher’s responsibility to decide which greetings are appropriate for the grade

level they are working with. It is an opportunity for the teacher to model warm and respectful

greetings. (Kriete and Bechtel, 1999, p. 43)

Sharing:

The purpose of sharing is to develop the skills of caring communication and involvement,

to extend the knowing and being known that is essential for the development of community and

for individuals’ sense of significance, to encourage habits of inquiry and thought important for

cognitive growth, to provide practice in speaking to a group in a strong and individual voice, and

to strengthen vocabulary development and reading success. (Kriete and Bechtel, 1999)

“Opportunities for children to participate in interesting conversation with adults are strongly

related to children’s reading success in school.” (Kriete and Bechtel, 1999, p. 55) This is an

opportunity for the teacher to model asking questions to clarify and to show a genuine interest in

the sharer and their news. It is also an opportunity for the teacher model making comments

about what students have shared because this requires seeing things from another’s perspective.

Group Activity:

The purpose of having a group activity is to contribute to the sense of community culture

by building a class repertoire of common material – songs, games, chants, and poems, to foster

active and engaged participation, to heighten the class’s sense of group identity, and to

encourage cooperation and inclusion. (Kriete and Bechtel, 1999) This is an opportunity for the

teacher to model constructive behaviors such as voice level, physical controls, taking turns,

making mistakes, problem-solving, and cooperative play. (Kriete and Bechtel, 1999)

News and Announcements:

In a pre-school classroom, News and Announcements are a time in which to teach the

days of the week, the months, the weather, and other important vocabulary we use to describe the

world around us. The purpose of News and Announcements according to Kriete and Bechtel, is

to ease the transition into the classroom day and make children feel excited about what they’ll be

learning, to develop and reinforce language, math, and other skills in a meaningful and

interactive way, and to build community through shared written information. (1999) For pre-

school kids this might be a good time to introduce a letter of the day or to ask a question whose

content is drawn from the day’ activities or curriculum.

Classroom Organization for Maximum Learning

“Well designed physical space prevents a wide array of potential behavioral problems.”

(Sprick, Garrison, and Howard, 1998, p. 54) As cited by Jones and Jones, Wolery, Bailey, and

Sugai (1998) described four environmental categories a teacher can assess when considering

factors that may be influencing children’s behaviors in a preschool: (2010, p. 212)

1. Instructional dimensions (e.g., are materials and activities too easy or difficult, or have they been used too repetitively so children have tired of them?)

2. Physical dimension (e.g., are sound, light, and movement factors influencing student behavior?)

3. Social dimension (e.g., are there too many students in one area? Is student behavior being influenced by the manner in which adults are responding to students?)

4. Environmental changes (e.g., are transitions or interruptions to the environment influencing student behavior?)

Sprick et al., make 5 useful suggestions as to how you can control the physical space in

which you teach:

1. Arrange student desks to optimize the most common types of instruction tasks that you will have students engaged in.

2. Make sure you have easy access to all parts of the room.3. Minimize the disruptions caused by high traffic areas in the class.4. Arrange to devote some of your bulletin board/display space to student work.5. Arrange for a “time out” space in your classroom that is as unobtrusive as possible.

Jones and Jones suggest that, “In a preschool setting, the teacher may want to arrange some

materials so students will need to use language to request the materials. Other materials that can

be used for cooperative play may be placed near each other to encourage this type of play.”

(2010, p. 213) Positive Behavior Support for Young Children suggests increasing child choice-

making by using verbal models, objects, or pictures. (2001)

With this research in mind I have developed the following plan for my classroom

environment:

Students will sit at tables because the work we will do will be mostly whole group and

partners. There will be no more than 4 children seated at one table. Most supplies will be located

in baskets on each table to minimize traffic in the classroom. There will be a small basket for

each student for their personal supplies and one larger basket in the middle of the table for

community supplies to be shared. The front of the room will be facing away from the doorway.

In the front of the room there will be a whiteboard. The amount of furniture in our room will be

kept to only the necessities. There will be a large bulletin board where student work will be

displayed and changed each week. A time out desk will be located the back of the classroom. A

second room will be used for games, arts and crafts, and energizing activities. A daily schedule

will be kept. Signs will be posted around the room to remind them of behavior at that location.

For example, a sign indicating students standing in line quietly will be hung up next to the

classroom door.

Developing Classroom Behavioral Expectations

In, The First Six Weeks of School, Denton and Kriete suggest that, “Enlisting children in

the process of generating rules is an essential part of the work of the first six weeks of school.

Children are more apt to understand and respect rules they help make, and it’s important that

everyone has a voice and say in the construction of what it means to be a safe, caring, and

respectful community.” (Denton and Kriete, 2000, p. 19) Before discussing rule and

expectations for behavior, Denton and Kriete suggest discussing “hopes and dreams” for the

school year. The classroom rules are then developed directly from these hopes and dreams.

“Through this process, children come to understand and appreciate rules as a social necessity, a

necessity that protects their classroom community and makes their hopes and dreams possible.

(2000, p. 19)

Jones and Jones suggest the following steps in developing classroom behavior standards:

(2010, p. 178)

1. Discuss the value of having behavior standards2. Develop a list of standards (3-6)3. Obtain a commitment to standards4. Monitor and review the standards

Discuss the value of having behavior standards

It is important to have the discussion about why rules are needed. Students must

understand that rules are there to “ensure a safe, caring environment”. (Jones and Jones, 2010, p.

178) As cited in Jones and Jones, in his book, Judicious Discipline, Forrest Gathercoal (2004)

argues that students have to understand that they cannot violate certain rights of other students.

He believes that other students cannot violate the following rights of the majority: Health and

Safety, Property Loss and Damage, Legitimate Educational Purpose, and Serious Disruption of

the Learning Process. (Jones and Jones, 2010, p. 179) In the case of pre-school aged students, I

think that some simplification will be needed as to what responsibilities we have as members of

the same learning community. Denton and Kriete suggest that for young students, categorizing

the rules as either, caring for others, caring for ourselves, and caring for our environment best.

(2000, p. 90)

Develop a list of standards (3-6)

Standards for Students:

Students must describe “the way we want to act in our classroom so it is a good place for

everyone to learn” (Jones and Jones, 2010, p. 180) With an understanding of their hopes and

dream and their rights and responsibilities, students might then create several rules to ensure

them. As Denton and Kriete suggest, I can then use all of their suggestions to rewrite 3 basic

rules for our classroom that encompass the three categories mentioned above. (2000, p. 90)

Standards for Teacher:

I think it is important for students to discuss what they expect from me as their teacher. I can

show them my commitment to contribute to our safe and caring environment by agreeing to

certain behavioral expectations as well. I might suggest that I should be fair, be kind, be

consistent, and listen to their ideas.

Obtain a commitment to standards

The commitment has to be unanimous. Every rule must be agreed to by every student.

Not only that but involving parents in the rule-making process will add to the effectiveness of

this activity. Jones and Jones state that, “The fact that everyone responsible for the student’s

behavior understands the rules and consequences can have a positive effect on their behaviors

and can minimize the confusion and tension associated with instances when parents must be

contacted about a student’s inappropriate behavior.” (2010, p. 182) Once our rules are finalized I

believe that sending home a contract for parents and students to discuss and sign is a good way

of obtaining a commitment to those standards.

Monitor and review the standards

Young children have to be taught and reminded of the rules frequently. It is not enough

to list and post the rules. They will be forgotten! During the first week, as Jones and Jones

suggest, rules should be reviewed every day. During the second week of school they suggest

reviewing the rules three times and once a week thereafter. (2010) We will spend some time each

morning reviewing our classroom rules in order to refresh and recommit. Denton and Kriete

suggest periodic role-playing of the rules when the teacher has observed an issue arise. (2000)

This is a good idea, especially for preschool children, who will most likely need to see what the

rules look like.

Developing and Teaching Procedures

It is essential to teach children procedures for operating in each environment and in each

situation that they will encounter while at school. Like the rules, these procedures must be

revisited each day for several weeks and practiced if they are to be effective. Jones and Jones

suggest four steps in successfully teaching a procedure: (2010, p. 189)

1. Discuss the need for the procedure

2. In some cases, ask for student ideas

3. Have students practice the procedure until it is performed correctly

4. Reinforce the correct behavior

Here are some of the procedures that my preschool children will be taught:

1. Classroom during learning time

a. Entering the room

b. Participation

c. Group work

d. Signals for student attention

e. Out of seat policy

f. Activities when finished

g. Leaving the room as a group

2. Classroom during an interruption

3. Bathroom

a. Asking to go

b. During use

c. After use

4. Lunch time

a. Waiting for your lunch

b. Eating

c. Cleaning up after lunch

5. Morning Meeting

a. Getting ready

b. Participation

c. Finishing

6. Ending Class

a. Cleaning up your area

b. Cleaning up the classroom

7. Outside Activities

a. Backyard

b. Walks

c. Park

Developmental Recess and Developmental Lunch

Because recess and lunch time can considered unstructured, I believe that additional attention

needs to be placed on developing pro-social skills in these situations. Therefore, my preschool

children will be introduced to such activities with a developmental recess and a developmental

lunch. During these sessions, I will model and guide them through positive social behaviors.

Jones and Jones suggest three steps in carrying out a developmental lesson: (2010, p. 195)

1. Teach the pro-social skills in a small group just prior to the actual activity.2. Monitor student choices during the activity3. Conduct a positive debriefing with the students immediately after the activity.

Normally this type of activity is used in cases where the child has already misbehaved.

However, since the children I will be teaching are unaccustomed to operating in a school setting,

it is my belief that all of the children will benefit from such direct instruction on social behavior

during unstructured activities.

Meeting the Needs of Every Student

“Understanding the research on motivation and its relationship to student academic needs

enables teachers to implement instruction that results in virtually all students’ obtaining feelings

of worth within the school setting.” (Jones and Jones, 2010, p. 225) Jones and Jones present

several key academic needs that when met increase student motivation to learn. (2010, p. 228)

Below, I have listed the needs that Jones and Jones have identified on page 227 and how I plan to

meet those needs in my classroom. Many of my ideas come from Jones and Jones Chapter 7.

Understand and value learning goals

-Explain the objective of the learning task

-Give one or more reasons why it is important

-Ask students to identify reasons why it might be important

Understand the learning process

-Start the school year by asking students to define what a learner looks like and sounds

like

-Model and guide students in asking questions to gain information

-Model and guide students in identifying prior knowledge on a topic

-Model and guide students in making connections to prior knowledge

Be actively involved in the learning process

-Encourage student participation

-Encourage student interaction

-Encourage cooperative learning and group activities

Have learning goals related to their own interests and choices

-Find out what interests the students have

-Connect the content to student interests and to their lives

-Use hands on activities

-Plan for group work

-Involve students in sharing their ideas, planning and making choices

Receive instruction matched to their learning styles and strengths

-Adjust the environment as needed to enhance student ability to learn

-Incorporate several different learning styles into the daily lessons

-Incorporate “personal application” into daily instruction whenever possible

See learning modeled by adults as an exciting and rewarding process

-Model interest

-Model enthusiasm

-Model problem-solving

-Model inquiry

Experience success

-Consider students needs, interests, abilities, and the delivery of instruction as possible

adaptations

-Alter instructional strategies, the ways that learners can demonstrate understanding, the

length of assignments, the time that students have to work on an assignment, the level of

difficulty, and the amount of assistance a student gets

Have time to integrate learning

-Avoid rushing from one concept into another

-Encourage students to summarize learning after a lesson

-Encourage students to relate new knowledge with previous knowledge

-Encourage students to relate new knowledge to questions they still have

-Ask students to connect new knowledge to their own lives

Receive realistic and immediate feedback that enhances self-efficacy

-Give students immediate, positive feedback

-Provide specific feedback about progress

-Share knowledge with students about ways in which they can improve

Be involved in self-evaluating their learning and effort

-Collect and display data that shows student progress

-Help students establish personal goals

-Help students identify strategies of meeting their personal goals

-Aid students in evaluating their success at meeting their goals

Receive appropriate rewards for performance gains

-Stickers on assignments where effort is shown

-Group celebrations for completion of a clear classroom goal

Experience a supportive, safe, well organized learning environment

-Have clear classroom rules, procedures, and expectations for learning

-Provide consistent consequences

-Maintain a comfortable, clean, aesthetically pleasing environment to learn in

Handling of Misbehavior

Pre-school aged children don’t always know how to act, what to do, how do it, or how to

manage their own behavior. “No matter how well you have organized you classroom and no

matter how effectively you have communicated your behavioral expectations to students, a

certain amount of misbehavior is still bound to occur.” (Sprick et al., 1998, p.275) Because this

is true, it is important that teachers have a back-up plan in mind. “When teachers know in

advance how they will respond to misbehavior, they are much less likely to get annoyed and

frustrated and are much more likely to be effective.” (Sprick et al., 1998, p. 276)

Positive Behavior Support for Young Children suggests that early childhood professionals

need to consider the following Positive Behavior Support strategies when thinking about

behavior concerns: (2001, p. 25)

Teach the desired behaviors and program rules; teach often throughout the day and

throughout the year.

Teach replacement skills, such as socially acceptable ways to get adult attention and

assistance.

Teach social skills using peers and adults as models of behavior expectations.

Provide concrete, visual examples of positive interaction and play—role playing,

puppets, pictures (Hodgdon, 1999).

Be consistent and genuine with immediate and frequent reinforcement and

encouragement (Rhode, Jenson, & Reavis, 1992).

Alter learning environments by considering room arrangements and traffic patterns to

support age-appropriate expectations.

Increase predictability and ease of transitions by teaching the child cues that allow the

child to anticipate transitions and change.

Make curricular adaptations such as adjusting the difficulty of the task, reducing the

length of time of the activity, reducing the number of steps involved, or changing the

method of presentation.

Use incidental teaching strategies.

Use redirection as an early strategy in responding to a behavior concern.

Provide opportunities for one-to-one time with an adult to establish a secure relationship.

Provide and support children’s social-emotional responses to each other.

These ideas have helped me to develop a plan for understanding and handling misbehavior that

occurs in my classroom.

Infrequent Problem Behavior:

It is important to have a clear hierarchy of consequences so that students know what will

happen if they choose to break a rule. Jones and Jones suggest the following steps in responding

to students’ violations of rules and procedures: (2010, p. 320)

1. Nonverbal cue2. Verbal cue3. Indicate choice student is making4. Student moves to a designated area in the room to develop a plan5. Student is required to go somewhere else to develop a plan

In my pre-school classroom students may not be able to write a plan so numbers 4 and 5

might need special modifications. However, they can draw a picture of the behavior that they

believe they should be demonstrating as their plan. For example, if a student repeatedly forgets

to raise their hand to share, they can draw a picture of a hand up in the air for number 4. For

number 5, they may have to do this outside of the classroom, in the hallway where there is no

opportunity to continue to interrupt others.

Frequent Problem Behavior:

“Positive Behavior Support philosophy defines a behavior concern from within the

learning environment rather than just from within the child.” (Positive Behavior Support for

Young Children, 2001, p. 1) What needs aren’t being met through the environment that the child

is learning in, for example. They suggest asking questions about when, where, and with whom

the behavior occurs. (Positive Behavior Support for Young Children, 2001, p. 3) Sprick et al.,

provide Misbehavior Recording Sheets for teachers to use to illustrate the answers to the above

questions. “When you monitor what is actually going on in your classroom, you are able to

make adjustments to your Classroom Management Plan that will increase student success.”

(Sprick et al., 1998, p. 233)

“When you treat student misbehavior as an instructional opportunity, you give students

the chance to learn from their mistakes.” (Sprick et al., 1998, p. 275) This requires first an

understanding of the many reasons that students misbehave. Students might misbehave because

they are unaware of the expectations, because they are unaware of their misbehavior and how

disruptive it is to the class, because they lack the knowledge of how to exhibit the appropriate

behavior, to seek attention, to gain power, or to avoid class work. (Sprick et al., 1998) Once the

behavior is understood, correctional procedures can be put into place to respond to the

misbehavior.

Depending on the nature of the target behavior, the corrective consequence chosen will

vary. Most importantly, it needs to work to decrease the behavior in the long term. Once the

corrective consequence is given the behavior must be monitored closely to determine if the

corrective consequence is effective. Sprick et al. suggest monitoring the behavior for two weeks,

making modifications if necessary after that period of time. (1998, p. 324)

I think that corrective consequences such as “time-out from a favorite object” as

described by Sprick et al., is developmentally appropriate for pre-school aged students and is one

that I will use in my classroom. When using this consequence, the student is asked if they would

like to bring in a special toy or stuffed toy animal to watch them “behaving responsibly”. If the

student misbehaves the object is taken away and returned when the student’s behavior improves.

(1998, p. 326) A second developmental appropriate corrective consequence that I will use is

“Time-out in class” as described by Sprick et al. They recommend placing the child in a chair

away from their classmates where you can still monitor their behavior. For primary students, “a

two- or three- minute time-out is best”. (1998, p. 327)

Class Wide Motivation System:

Sprick et al., explains the circumstances in which using a class wide system to enhance

motivation may be necessary: (1998, p. 339)

The behavior of many students in your class is challenging in many different ways

Students are, for the most part, responsible, but quite a few students have a problem with

one specific behavior

Your class behaves responsibly enough but students have grown somewhat apathetic

The first step, according to Sprick et al., is deciding if your class requires a reward-based

system or a non-reward-based system. If students exhibit intrinsic motivation to meet the

expectations they have learned, there isn’t a need for a structured extrinsic reward system. In

this case, goal setting should be enough to motivate students to work harder. Sprick et al.,

suggest three ways of goal setting: the teacher can set goals for individual students, the teacher

can guide students in the process of setting their own goals, or the teacher can guide students in

setting class wide goals. (p. 364)

However, if it seems that the majority of students are showing lack of intrinsic motivation for

achieving the classroom expectations, then it may be necessary to employ a structured reward

system. (Sprick et al, 1998). If my class needs a medium level of structure I will employ the

“Mystery Behavior of the Day” as described by Sprick et al. I will choose a rule from our list

and write it on a card which will be placed in an envelope labeled, “Mystery Behavior”. I will

watch the class and record the students who I observe following that rule throughout the day.

Because of the young age of my students I might have to reward them more frequently such

every hour. Every student who has displayed the behavior during that hour will receive a special

sticker that they can place on a chart. An individual chart for each child will allow them to

evaluate their own behavior. Did they earn a sticker for every hour of the day? At the end of the

day the mystery behavior will be revealed. If a particular student didn’t earn many stickers then

I will know that they need some practice with that particular rule or classroom expectation.

If my class needs a high level of structure, I will employ “Whole Class Points” as described by

Sprick et al., on pages 384-386. This will allow me to provide frequent feedback to the entire

class. The intervals will be set to small amounts of time, such as every 10 minutes. “The less

mature your class is the shorter the intervals should be” (Sprick et al, 1998, p. 385) After each

interval we will stop and discuss whether the whole class earned the points or not. The points to

be earned will be predetermined based on what I believe they are capable of earning. I will offer

prizes, such as extra time outside, free choice activities, and game-time that will have a cost

associated with them. Points that the class earns can be used to “buy” these prizes. The class

will be allowed to suggest prizes that they value. Sprick et al., suggests using some sort of

graphic representation. Our class could use a simple chart and stickers to keep track of progress.

The charts could be kept up for one week to see if the class, as a whole, had improved on their

behavior over the course of a week.

Conclusion

Through meeting each students needs, teaching rules and procedures, conducting morning

meetings, and approaching misbehavior as an opportunity to teach, I hope to provide my students

with a sense of community in the classroom. I hope that I can create a sense of connectivity,

competence, and contribution in each of my students by encouraging them, valuing their ideas,

and learning about who they are. If these goals are met I believe that the children in my

classroom will find learning to be enjoyable and will be ready to advance to a kindergarten

setting.

Bibliography:

Denton, P., & Kriete, R. (2000). The First Six Weeks of School. Greenfield, MA: Northeast

Foundation for Children

Jones, V., & Jones, L. (2010). Comprehensive Classroom Management: Creating Communities

of Support and Solving Problems. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Kriete, R. & Bechtel, L. (1999). The Morning Meeting Book. Greenfield, MA: Northeast

Foundation for Children.

Mueller, F., Larson, M. (2001). Positive Behavior Support for Young Children.

http://www.michigansipsig.match.org

Schaps, E., Battistich, V., & Solomon D. (2004). Building academic success on social and

emotional learning: What does the research say? New York: Teachers College Press.

Sprick, R., Garrison, M., & Howard, L. (1998). CHAMPs: A Proactive and Positive Approach

to Classroom Management. Longmont, Colorado: Sopris West.