Getting to Know You: Building the Classroom Community

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One of the first tasks for Montessorians at the beginning of the year is establishing a welcoming, beautiful physical environment.  We know that an intentionally designed environment will entice the children to reach new intellectual heights throughout the year. 

Once the children arrive, however, we shift our focus. Building a supportive, inclusive social/emotional environment is now the priority.  Many other activities are vying for our attention at this time: assessments; establishing procedures; administrative paperwork; and more.  But none of these will bear as much fruit as time spent establishing a strong sense of community.

Dr. Montessori said that sociability, having feelings of empathy for the community, was one of four hallmarks of normalization.   Now is the perfect time to lay the foundation of sociability by helping children relate to and connect with each other and with their classroom adults. 

Fostering Connections

One effective way to build those connections is to encourage students to share their interests and dreams.  This can bolster the community by:

• revealing undiscovered common interests
• promoting an inclusive environment where everyone’s individuality is celebrated
• developing children’s ability to see the world through other people’s eyes
• boosting self-confidence in a supportive environment, especially when receiving positive feedback from peers and adults.

When children share their interests and dreams, it also allows us to “peek under the hood”.  We get to see how we can better connect with students’ passions, making learning more relevant and engaging. And we gain insights into who our students really are.

Creating a Safe Space for Sharing

It is important to remember that sharing anything personal requires a willingness to be vulnerable.  This can be scary, particularly at the beginning of the year! We do not want to put children on the spot by, for example, using line time to ask children to spontaneously talk about their passions and dreams.  Rather, we want to pose a question and allow them time to reflect and develop their thoughts before asking if they would like to share.

Journaling can be a powerful tool for children to process experiences and emotions before expressing them.  It allows them time to sort ideas at their own pace. This is particularly important for children who find it challenging to verbalize their thoughts. 

Even emergent writers and those with writing difficulties can journal.   Use whatever voice-to-text technology is available in the classroom. Or offer them the option to draw their response and explain the completed drawing if they want to share.

Please note: children need to know in advance whether adults will read their journal entries.  We must balance children’s need for privacy with the many benefits of learning more about our children. One way is to establish the norm that all entries are read unless the child folds over the page or staples the page shut. That tells children that they are in control of their narrative. 

it is also important to comment positively on most entries that the child shares.  A quick, “I didn’t know you were interested in this!” or “What a cool idea!”, or “I appreciate your honesty.” will help children feel heard and valued.  “I am always available if you want to talk about this” can open the door to coaching or problem-solving.  And in the process, the child is learning about establishing and maintaining boundaries, an important life skill.

Journaling Benefits Everyone

When journal prompts encourage children to explore and express their feelings, it helps develop their self-awareness and expand their awareness of others. This is an important step in building self-regulation skills.

Once children believe that their entries will be received non-judgmentally, journaling becomes a means to confidentially share ideas, thoughts, and feelings with a trusted guide. Teachers can gain insights into the child’s interests, concerns, and emotional state. And they can see to what degree they are constructively managing life with all of its ups and downs.

Teaching children how to journal, with appropriate structure and support, is a gift that can serve the child well into adulthood. It is well known that journaling can reduce anxiety and stress. It provides an emotional release that contributes to better mental health.  And it gives children a sense of ownership of their feelings and decisions.

Dipping One Toe in the (Journaling) Water

To make children’s earliest experiences with journaling fun, provide playful prompts that exercise children’s creativity.  The prompt must have no implicit “right answer”.  Here are a couple of road-tested options.

Reflection for Younger or Older Elementary Students

Create a Wanted Poster template and invite children to complete it.  The top half can contain a photo of the child or a self-portrait. The bottom half is space for children to describe themselves.  For younger children, it is helpful to have them complete these (or other) sentences:

– Wanted For ____ (what makes them a valuable member of the community or a good friend)

– Usually seen ___ (most typically where they can be found or what they are doing)

– Identifying characteristics: ____ (a description of anything that marks them as an individual)

When the Wanted Poster is complete, the child chooses whether to add their poster to a wall with others’ posters. (Bonus: the wall becomes a resource for children who have a hard time learning names!)

Reflection for Older Elementary Students

Older elementary children love to expand on their life experiences using their imagination.  A favorite prompt is, “Imagine that you are opening a school where you get to teach whatever you want!  That might be something that you know a lot about or something that you really want to learn. It could be something academic, athletic, artistic, experimental, or experiential.  It could be indoors or outdoors.  The sky’s the limit.  What would you teach and why?” 

As an extension (maybe in a few days), children can draw what the classroom or the campus would look like.  This might be a picture of the front of the school or of the inside of the classroom.  Or it might be a map of the campus. 

After that, whenever there is a small period of waiting time, ask a volunteer to share their imaginary school.  Inviting peers to ask questions validates the child’s ideas and may help connect children with common interests.  Watch pride blossom in the presenter when you ask, “Who would want to go to that cool school?”

Reflection for Guides

How well do you know each child in your class?  If you started a card file with one index card for each child, could you write one thing that they love at school, one thing they love outside of class, one friend that they knew from before, and one new friend?  Set a goal to have a complete card for every child within the next week.

“Community is about much more than belonging to something; it’s about doing something together that makes belonging matter.”

Brian Solis