Characteristics of Community in the Classroom
Characteristics of a community give students and teachers an opportunity to show themselves fully, to get to know others well and give the students a chance to work together and help each other. It is very important that each individual in the classroom be given a chance to excel in any given area and build upon their skills in the class. A teacher must help to promote individuality within the community so that each student feels comfortable and is able to show their strengths to improve their learning as well as help others learn. For a student to show themselves fully, teachers should provide a variety of materials and activities in the classroom. For example, a teacher could have a class production of a play. The students could write the play, design the set, make costumes and perform the final piece. Doing a group activity like this would allow students to show individual strengths; the thinkers would be able to think of a play and write it down, the more crafty students could work with the teacher to make costumes and the outgoing students who like to entertain would be able to perform the play. The teacher would supervise and help all the students along the way but also let the students be creative in their own ways. Group work is a great way to get students working together. I believe that on some occasions the teacher should let the students pick their groups so they get to work with their friends and for other projects the teacher should choose the groups so that the students get to know everyone else in their classroom. When students work together they learn many skills. Some of these include problem solving skills and compromising skills. When doing a group project, students must learn that to get to the final product they have to work together! It is the teachers job to provide activities that allow students to interact with their teachers as well as their peers and to promote these interactions in the classroom community. To help students get to know their teachers and their peers better in the classroom, there should be a time allotted in the day to talk about each person and what is unique about them. Show and Tell is a great way to let students share something special and personal about themselves. It is important for students to feel comfortable in their classroom community and the more they know about each other, the more comfortable they will feel.