Three Ways to Reset Your Classroom Community in the New Year

Does any of this sound familiar? You've been striving to feel a strong sense of community in your classroom where students get along, but it seems like no matter how hard you try, nothing seems to get through to them. 

All your colleagues think that you’ve got it all under control but to you, you wish things were still better.

We all know how important community is in the classroom so when it feels like that is lacking, it is easy to spiral. You may feel out of control and like there is no hope for the class to actually come together and get along.

There are so many academic things that we need to teach our students, but building a strong classroom community should also be a priority. I like to start building my classroom community at the beginning of the school year, but no matter where you are in the school year, you can always take the time to reset and revive your classroom community. 

Ready to learn all about how to reset your classroom community, and step into the new year with a great sense of community within your classroom?

Let’s get into it!

Throughout my many years in teaching and teacher education, I have learned a thing or two about why teachers seem to struggle so much with community in the classroom. 

Pssst, Want to uplevel as a teacher? Click here to join the waitlist for my best-selling online programs, The Heart-Centered Classroom Instructional Toolkits.

Approach 1: Teach Mindfulness

In the past year alone, there have been so many changes that it can be difficult to stay present. 

We definitely feel that as adults and teachers. But the same goes for our students.

For many of them, the changes are very challenging for them to process. Leading them to be more anxious and act out at times. 

By teaching mindfulness, we are teaching our students how to live in the present moment. Practicing mindfulness also helps students with social emotional skills including self-regulation and self-awareness. These two skills teach students how to recognize their thoughts, emotions, and actions and react to different situations in positive ways.

A quick mindfulness activity you can do with your students is to practice breathing and recognizing their surroundings using their five senses. This is a great way to ease into mindfulness practice in the classroom.

Mindfulness is a lesson that will follow them forever. If you can be a part of teaching this lesson to your students, it is a huge accomplishment. 

Approach 2: Conduct Community Builders 

Community-building activities are a great way to include your students in the process of forming a strong community. These types of activities help them feel like they are a part of something bigger than just themselves. It will also help to solidify the bonds they are making within your classroom. 

A great way to build community in your classroom is giving your students roles in the classroom. This will show them how important they are to the success of the classroom community. 

Another activity that will build community is celebrations. We all love celebrating, and if you really look at it, there’s always something/or someone to be celebrated and recognized. Creating an environment of celebration where you are constantly encouraging your students while also encouraging them to celebrate their classmates, this is creating a positive and uplifting environment for everyone. 

Related: There's a nifty little freebie that you can download called Social-Emotional Awards Freebie that celebrates individual students for their social-emotional growth in the classroom.

Approach 3: Revisit Routines Often

This step is always so important. It should be expected that students will need reminders about classroom routines and conversations surrounding how and why our routines are necessary. 

Routines provide structure, consistency and predictability, which we know our students need especially post pandemic. Routines also promote responsibility and independence within students as they know what to expect and how to transition from one activity to another. 

The one thing I have learned about having a strong community in the classroom is that it takes consistent and repeated practice with my students. 

We hit routines hard at the beginning of the year, but we are always revisiting these strategies. This ensures that our classroom foundation will stay strong throughout the entire school year.

Consistency is key. When you feel community slipping away, a great way to get it back is implementing back routines that you know set your class up for success.

Key Takeaways

Pretty simple right? With these three things, mindfulness, community building activities, and routine, we can get our classroom community back on track in the new year. 

Taking it one step and day at a time, you will get to the other side of creating a great community within your classroom. 

Want to know more about addressing social-emotional gaps in your classroom? Setting yourself up for success in the new year can be so beneficial and I’m here to guide you through that.

Helping students understand and implement important SEL skills can be challenging. That's why I love using picture books to teach about them! Picture books are a great tool in any teacher's classroom and it is no different when it comes to teaching SEL skills. Download this free guide to see what my top choices are for picture books you can use to teach SEL skills to your students.

 >> Click here to access my SEL Picture Books Guide: SEL Freebie

Want to uplevel as a teacher? Click here to join the waitlist for my best-selling program, The Heart-Centered Classroom Instructional Toolkits.