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.