A Safe environment
A student's sense of personal safety is directly responsible for whether or not that student is able to attend to a lesson for 45 minutes. Outside factors often come with students into our classrooms: home life, social life, bullying, hunger, etc. While we cannot fix all of the woes of the world, we can provide at least one place throughout day where students can expect to feel safe. An out of control classroom only adds to anxiety levels in kids whose anxiety is already high. Beyond just the base needs of students, an orderly classroom and school environment is more than "school safety, of course; they also support learning. Indeed, one of the key attributes that distinguishes high-performing, high-poverty (“beat-the-odds”) schools from low-performing schools is that the former establish and enforce clear expectations for behavior" (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013). Key to the success of a school are the following elements:
- Establish rules of behavior and consequences for misconduct
- Catch students in the act of doing things right
- Be "With It"
- Enlist student support
- Encourage positive classroom discourse