Building a Classroom Community That Lasts

It‘s that time again—time to set up the foundation of a strong school year. As a high school theater teacher, I know that building a classroom community is especially vital. Students need to feel comfortable enough to take risks in front of each other, and for high school students in particular, this can be a huge ask. 

Instead of having a list of rules for my students to follow, we build a set of class values. Building a set of class values with my students at the beginning of the year and using (and possibly revising) them throughout the year helps my students feel heard and safe enough to come out of their shells.

Values as a foundation for community

Within the first few days of school, I ask the students to quietly brainstorm their responses to this question: “What do I need to be able to do my best work?” Give them time to really think about this. You may even want students to reflect on it overnight, so assigning the question the day before can help them let it seep in. You can also present this as a do-now. I have done this in two different ways.

One way is on Padlet. Students can choose to post anonymously or attach their names to their responses. I typically have their responses be anonymous so they feel comfortable asking for what they need. Padlet works like a bulletin board with sticky notes that can be moved around. Another way is to have students write their responses on sticky notes. When they finish, they can post their responses on the board.

Next, as a group, we put similar answers together. Once there are a few piles or collections of sticky notes, I give each pile to a different small group of students. Each group needs to work together to gather all of the ideas to finish this statement: “As a class, we value…” You can also do this part as a whole class.  

We try to incorporate all of the feelings and ideas from each sticky note into one statement per group. For example, one class grouped the following sticky notes together: asking for consent, honesty, trust, no bullying, a judgment-free zone, and constructive criticism. They combined these to say, “As a class, we value safety,” and then we listed each specific sticky note under that title. Our other titles that year included friendship; a yes, and… attitude; respect and support; and having fun. 

Once they finish, each group shares the notes back to the class, and we put them on the board. Together, we determine if we all agree with the statements. If not, we need to continue to edit the statements and/or add anything we feel is missing.

Once the values have taken shape, I like to create a poster to hang in the room. You can also assign this to the students to do. We all sign the poster agreeing to uphold the values. I try my best to make sure that everyone’s voice is included. Be careful with how these are edited—students can be very specific about their chosen wording.

Each year the values are a bit different. While they typically cover the major ideas of being kind and judgment-free, they also show the personality of each class as well as their specific needs. Another class valued positivity, respect, fun, creativity, no judgment, respect all and their boundaries, supportiveness, commitment, and being careful with our criticism, making sure it is constructive and not mean.

A final example of a set of class values includes support, respect, boldness, togetherness, enthusiasm, razzle-dazzle, effort, cooperation, acceptance, and promptness. The inclusion of razzle-dazzle seems silly, but it did fit this group. They did value an extra effort or pizzazz in their work.

Following Up Throughout the Year

Students in that class continued to commend each other when they saw razzle-dazzle in their work. It was fun, and it ended up being a group thing that bonded us together through positive compliments.

Throughout the year, especially before big projects or performances, when we return from breaks, or whenever we notice a need for review, I will remind the students of the values that we signed. I reiterate that we can add to them, delete them, or adjust them as we see fit, but we all must agree to them as a group. We then make a new poster and sign it again.

Rather than calling students out for breaking rules, this serves as a reminder. It’s a more gentle approach. They all agreed to these values, so they should just need a reminder of what we all agreed we value to be able to do our best work.

You can take this a step further and have students create scenes in which they act out what these values look like in action and/or what it looks like when they’re not being upheld. After seeing the scenes, the class can discuss what they saw and debrief why we create these values and how we will commit ourselves to them.

Because the students created the values, and they all agreed to them, they have ownership of them. Additionally, they see through this process that everyone else in the room also agrees to uphold these values. We are all publicly making the commitment to each other that we will be respectful of what we all need to do to be able to do our best work.