Positive Classroom Climate through Relationships

It typically only takes one painstakingly quiet/lethargic/dis-engaged/insert your own adjective classroom experience before you realize the importance of classroom climate. In a recent post titled, “Love the One You’re With: Creating a Classroom Community”, Cynde Gregory documents her own run-in with a seemingly challenging class. Gregory describes the steps she took to break down barriers and improve the learning experience.
Building an environment that fosters open dialogue, healthy conflict, and genuine relationships will prove beneficial on many levels. Melissa McInnis Brown and Teresa Starrett highlight these documented benefits which include higher reports of student persistence, engagement, effort, and grade point average. Jason Barr included research from 2000 that found classroom climate to be the “best predictor of students’ overall satisfaction with their college” as well as several other advantages to healthy learning environments.
Here are some simple, yet effective, ways Brown & Starret and Barr suggest to build a positive classroom climate this semester:
1. Be Personal. As you are comfortable, share with students your personal interests, hopes, dreams, fears, etc. Showing a vulnerable and “human” side instantly helps build rapport and trust with students.
2. Use Humor. Integrating humor in the form of cheesy comic strips, memes, or any other method that fits your personality helps sustain students’ attention and eases classroom tension. Interestingly enough, self-deprecating humor is positively correlated with learning. Use at your own discretion!
3. Continually Monitor. Throughout the semester, have students share their perception of how the class is going. Use Canvas, email, or a simple piece of paper to allow students an easy way to communicate with you.
Similar benefits are found when peer-to-peer relationships flourish. Depending on classroom size, some instructors will need to work harder than others to create opportunities for students to engage with each other. Consider adapting one (or all!) of these practices to foster a connected classroom:
1. Go Beyond Hello. Many use an ice-breaker activity the first week of class to help learn names, but why stop there? Every so often, pose a question for students to discuss with a neighbor. Bonus points if you can pair them up with someone they don’t know!
2. Power in Groups. Using small group exercises can be valuable in developing a students’ classroom confidence. Instead of asking a question to the whole class, give students time to discuss with those around them and report out afterward.
3. Connect Outside of Class. Encourage students to create study groups, class social media pages, or other opportunities to connect with their peers outside of the classroom.
Many of you are already intentional about creating a positive, connected classroom climate. Whether you use these tips or create your own, the Teaching and Learning Center would love to hear what you are doing and how it is working. Comment on this post or share your ideas at teach.business@unl.edu.

