I am excited to introduce this week’s guest blogger Angela from Spedtacular Inclusion! Angela is here to talk all about how to make the classroom a safe space for students!
I am SO excited to be Heather’s guest blogger this month. I get to talk with you about one of my favorite topics ever! Making the classroom a safe space for students. If you don’t know this already, I am a middle school behavior teacher. I am also the head teacher of my buildings ED (emotional disturbance) unit.
In a nutshell, making my classroom a safe classroom that is welcoming to my students is one of the foundations of my job. Of course, I teach all subjects, provide behavior support, and everything else. Making a safe area is a priority for me!
In this blog post, I am going to talk about some tips for teachers to establish that safe space. I will cover the physical environment, academic and behavior
supports, perspective taking with our kiddos, and more. These tips have truly revolutionized my teaching and have made my classroom a great place to learn!
Put yourself in their shoes and remember that they are children. The main thing when it comes to making students feel safe is to put yourself in their shoes. I believe it is so important to remember that our students are children who are going through unimaginable circumstances. Some things that we find to be “small” are the biggest part of their life at this moment in time.
We can get so caught up in our day worrying about the daily expectations that us teachers have such as teaching the standards, test scores, grades, etc. (Which I am just as guilty of!) However, these students are children. When it comes to their situations, most of the time they do not know how to process them, don’t have the skills to find an appropriate way to cope with them, and honestly just don’t know what to do.
I know that if I were a child, I would struggle inside the classroom if I had any of the situations I talked about going on in my life. I know for a fact my first priority would not be getting my homework done and that I would likely behave in a way that would be me attempting to tell adults that I was not okay.
Our students do not say, “I have some big emotions and things going on and I don’t know how to cope.” They communicate this to us in different ways and it is our job to know that. As we always say, behavior is communication. Put it into perspective: they are children. We expect so much from the tiniest learners. Give them grace and be understanding. Keep the classroom safe for your students.
This can be so hard to remember when teachers have so much on their plate to begin with. It is so easy to get caught up in it when you feel so much pressure to increase engagement or test scores. However, our students will learn literally nothing if their basic needs are not met.
Basically, it is very difficult to go through your day with a positive attitude when basic needs are not met. With that being said, why do we expect our students to participate in class and willingly complete all their work when they haven’t eaten since lunch the day before? Why do we expect our students to sit down for class and be ready to learn when they were
taking care of their siblings all night?
If your students are hungry, feed them. When your students are tired, have a rest space for them to relax. If your student is angry, allow them to take a break and return to work when they are calm. When your student comes to you and says they want to talk with someone about something, let them. If we don’t allow basic needs to be met, the rest of the day (and even beyond that) will be a struggle. The classroom needs to be safe space for students.
Students with trauma likely experience inconsistency in their lives, whether it is an inconsistent adult, living situation, food source, etc. Having them come into your classroom, knowing what to do and expect daily is huge. Obviously changes in routine happen, but having a consistent day-to-day routine and sticking to it as much as possible will help students feel so much safer.
For example, in my classroom, my students know that every morning they walk in, greet their teachers, make their feelings choice, then either choose a choice activity or ask one of their
teachers for a quick walk before class starts. We do this each and every morning and it allows us to get to class time quickly and efficiently. If we notice a student not following routine, we direct them to our agenda on the board that lists the steps or a staff member redirects them.
We also put our curriculum on a consistent routine so we do basically the same thing every day/week, which has been a game changer in our classroom because the students know the expectation and what the day is going to look like. Knowing what to expect and knowing the procedures that goes along with that goes a long way and also promotes independence. It also allows the day to go so much smoother, which is great for all teachers out there!
With the students that have so much going on in their lives that they cannot control, allowing them the opportunity to have choice in their learning is one of the greatest tools you can have in your teacher toolbox. I notice some teachers have a hard time relinquishing control in their classroom, but the choices you allow the students to have do not need to be things that completely change your lesson plans. Some common ones in my classroom include:
These are things that do not affect me or the way I teach at all, but allows the students to feel a sense of control in what they do or how they do it. This increases buy-in and usually makes students more willing to work. Aren’t you more willing to do something you choose to do rather than something someone is forcing you to do? Giving students choice is such a powerful tool that I use often.
This goes along with consistency, but students who are struggling with feeling safe in the classroom likely have some sort of trust issues when it comes to adults, which makes following through on what you say extremely important. If you don’t follow through, it can ruin any relationship you have built with the student.
This one is simple, but if you say you are going to do something, you have to do it. If you don’t follow through on what you say, students will have a hard time with the trust factor and it won’t contribute to making my classroom a safe space for students. This will allow your students to trust you and feel more safe being with you overall.
I’ll be honest, kids don’t learn from people they don’t like. – Rita Pearson
They especially do not feel safe with people that do not take time to get to know them. Get to know their likes and dislikes, what they do on the weekends, what sports they play, their favorite music, their family lives, the names of their pets, anything.
Also, share things about yourself! Students like to know that their teacher is an actual human with interests and hobbies, not just someone who assigns them work in class. When they notice you making an effort, they realize that there is an adult who cares. They realize that this adult wants the best for them. Students realize that this adult is safe and will be there for them on the good days and bad days. They realize that their teacher is a human and has feelings too.
Some of my favorite ways to build relationships with my students is to take them on walks and talks (one on one walks in my classroom), individual conferencing, playing games, going outside, asking them questions about the things they like, telling them about things that are going on in my life, and overall just being silly with them.
These are overall my top trips/strategies for making my classroom safe for students. I am so passionate about this topic and love creating an environment that my students feel welcomed, safe, and comfortable in.
Read more about SEL in the classroom here!
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