WEBVTT

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My name is Joy Rea.

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I'm a fifth-grade teacher here at Hidden Hills, Phoenix, Arizona.

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Rea to classroom: And today, we're going to be talking about a positive classroom.

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Rea: Every Monday morning, when the students return from a long weekend,

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we dedicate 20 to 25 minutes on social and emotional education

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and just teaching the children how to relate with each other and how to use those skills

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for every part of the school day in general.

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Rea to classroom: Team one, give us one idea that you guys have that is a cause.

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What causes a classroom to be positive?

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Student: Friendship.

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Rea to classroom: Friendships.

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Perfect. How about team two?

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Did you guys have anything else that is a must-make for the list?

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Student: We had responsibility.

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Rea to classroom: Okay.

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Having responsibility.

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Let's hear your definition of responsibility.

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Student: Responsibility, like, doing chores at home.

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Doing what you're supposed to do, as in chores and completing homework.

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Rea to classroom: Okay.

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Do you have chores in the classroom?

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Students: Yes.

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Rea to classroom: Okay.

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Give us an example of one.

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Student: Homework.

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Rea to classroom: Okay, doing your homework.

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Anything else?

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Student: Doing your work and completing it.

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Rea to classroom: Team five, what do you guys have over there?

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Student: You can encourage each other.

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Rea to classroom: Encourage each other.

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Team three?

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Student: Gratitude.

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Rea to classroom: Gratitude.

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Love that word.

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What does gratitude mean?

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Team three, do you want to enlighten us on that?

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Save us from the dictionary?

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Student: To be grateful for what you have.

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Rea to classroom: Okay.

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Rea: I had a child who was speaking about how grateful he should feel to be in class

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and to be doing those assignments.

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And it was just terrific for me to be able to see him connecting that positive classrooms

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and those types of things are really the gratitude level.

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I was very impressed by that.

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Rea to classroom: What do you guys have there?

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Students: Teamwork

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Rea to classroom: Great.

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Teamwork is an excellent cause for a positive classroom.

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Rea: Within my classroom, I try very hard to execute cooperative learning groups,

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Kagan's Cooperative Learning Structures, and I've just found that the team building,

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the class building that those structures provide is just terrific.

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I've found that if kids understand up front what the guidelines and expectations are,

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there's a lot less classroom management issues.

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There's a lot less disturbances, and the kids are more focused on learning

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and appreciating each other and working cooperatively if the expectations are set forth

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and when they're comfortable working in those cooperative strategies.

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Thinking Maps are ways of organizing the children's thinking.

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They use maps to do just that-to lay out all their thoughts.

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They're free from teachers' conventions,

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like we're not sitting there emphasizing spelling or grammar.

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It's just more about laying out their ideas and their thoughts.

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The students use them enough at the school that, now, as we learn something, you can say, "Hey,

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what kind of map should we use to demonstrate that thinking?," and they'll say, "Oh..."

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For example, like today, the Multi-Flow Map, that shows the relationship of cause and effect,

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and we use that a lot in, like, social studies to show how an event relates cause and effect."

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I try and teach the children the importance of valuing each other's gifts

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and how each child has a gift that they can offer whether it's in the classroom,

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whether it's outside of the classroom, whether it's the ability to work well with people,

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whether it's playing a band instrument well, something.

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And I really try and emphasize appreciation for each individual student.

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So, when it comes time to working in a group, they aren't just looking at each other

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for what they can do in one subject area, that they value each other as human beings,

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and not just as my teammate, that there is more to meets the eye with each individual student.

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Kay Wimmer: My name is Kay Wimmer.

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I'm a teacher here at Hidden Hills Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona.

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Wimmer reading to classroom: Patty didn't know anyone.

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She missed her old friends.

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Wimmer: We usually focus on one or two specific behaviors at the beginning of the week,

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and then we talk about the behaviors, possibly do a Thinking Map with the behaviors.

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And quite often in my classroom, first grade, we do role-playing.

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And this helps the children to remember what they should be doing when they behave

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out on the playground and when there's a problem

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out on the playground, how they should resolve it.

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Wimmer reading to classroom: "Can I join your club?"

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she asked Emma.

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Emma looked at Sophie.

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Sophie looked at Haylie.

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Haylie looked at Rose.

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Then they all looked at Patty.

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Emma shook her head, "Sorry," she said, but she didn't sound very sorry at all.

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"Only real princesses can join."

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Wimmer: We have similar types of bullying about private clubs, and "you can't be in my club,"

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and we know that we can ignore them, walk away,

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or often times my children will come to the aid of the child being bullied.

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And they will come over and say, "Here, do you want to come and play with me?"

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or, "Do you want to come over and do this with me?"

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or, "Here, I will be your friend."

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Wimmer to students: You're going to say, "You can't be in our club."

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Student (role-playing): You can't be in our club

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because you have blonde hair or straight hair.

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Wimmer to students: Okay, and what about you.

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Student (role-playing): You're not going to be in our club since you don't have brown eyes.

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Wimmer to students: Okay.

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Student (role-playing): You're all right?

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It doesn't really matter what they're doing to you.

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You just need to listen to your heart and what it's saying.

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Would you like to come play with me?

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Student: One, two, three, can you please save some for me?

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Wimmer to students: Good Job, and what do you say?

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Student: One, two, three, save some for me.

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Wimmer to students: Thank you, good job.

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All right, let's give them a round of applause.

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[clapping,]

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Wimmer: I've seen a positive change in this school campus.

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I've seen students being more respectful towards each other.

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I've seen students following the rules.

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I've seen students remind other students that that is not safe or that is not respectful.

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I've seen students become more caring toward other students

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and understanding how their behavior affects others.

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In the classroom, I've seen much more considerate behavior.

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I've seen the classroom environment and the school environment is a much more happy,

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positive environment where students are able to learn

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and much less time is spent on behavior issues.