Promotes Equity
Students need to feel like a valuable member of the community in order to fully realize their potential at school. I strive to make my classroom a place where everyone belongs, participates, and feels comfortable. At the beginning of the year, students brainstorm classroom jobs that we might need to complete on a daily or weekly basis. I use these ideas to create a job chart. Many students are excited to have a regular responsibility to complete.
Often, when students need to participate in a class discussion, I use popsicle sticks to call on students at random. I also use this technique to pick partners for activities or decide who can line up first. This allows everyone to participate equally and gives me an opportunity to hear from students that are sometimes afraid to raise their hand without making the student feel like they are being picked on.
The population I work with has difficulty with language and they are often aware that their reading skills are inferior compared to many of their peers. I promote an atmosphere of accomplishment by posting each story we read as a group in our classroom for all to see.
Similarly, many of my students have difficulty completing a variety of tasks independently. I post charts and schedules in my classroom to help students independently access and use the information they need to have successful school day.
Students are also able to showcase their work to their parents each week by completing and taking home a Work of the Week sheet. This allows each student to be proud of their individual accomplishments and see that everyone is making improvements and creating excellent work. Each student takes home their Work of the Week paper along with the paper they are proud of and has their parent add a comment before bringing the sheets back to school.
I also include students in goal-setting. One year I made a bulletin board where students could attach hockey pucks with goals written on them. We included both long-term and weekly goals. At the beginning of the week, each student would write down a goal for the week. If they accomplished that goal they would get to attach their puck to the bulletin board.