Why is Community Important for Young Learners?

If you ask Britannica Kids what the definition of community is, many definitions describing the word appear. “A group of people with common interests.” “Shared ownership or participation.” “Similarity likeness.” “Fellowship.” Having community brings to life the idea that there are others like them. It gives people awareness of their actions, their words, and their relationships. It creates fellowship and the friendly feelings we have for one another.

Imagine a world without these things. Then take that word, community, and think about the absence of it within a classroom. If students did not see others who shared their same interests, if students did not see others in their classroom who looked or acted in similar ways, and if students did not find fellowship with their peers, how could that environment be one where they could thrive?

Community is the foundation for student success in so many ways. It fosters the development of skills needed to be active and contributing participants in the world. Empathy, kindness, compassion, selflessness are all formed and strengthened when there is the feeling of community. How can one show empathy to others without the feelings of attachment to that person or that event? How can someone be kind to others if they do not care for anyone but themselves? And without the presence of community, how hard are students going to be willing to put forth effort in the classroom? Below are some strategies for building community in the classroom. And a bonus, all can be done in the virtual classroom, too.

Strategies for Building Community in the Classroom Virtually

Call Your Students by Name

For starters, there are some really easy ways to start building community that take little to no preparation. Greet each student by name as they walk (or arrive via Zoom) into your classroom. Use students’ names again as they leave,and really as often as possible for that matter. When students hear their name, they feel seen and valued. They are given a voice. Let students know this by using their name again and again. Don’t let them forget that you see them, you know them, they are heard.

Show Students Your World

COVID-19 has made so many aspects of our daily lives harder than ever. But one thing it has made easier for many teachers across the country is the ability to show students their worlds. For those students learning in a hybrid model or completely online, a look into their teacher’s life is clearer than ever before.

Teachers, show your students your world, your pet, your house plant, your desk. Give them those opportunities to connect with you, to let them see you as a real human being. The more we as humans learn about each other, the harder it is to ignore the injustices in our world that exist. And by making yourself vulnerable, your students will begin to open up and become vulnerable too as they start to share more about their lives, their feelings, and their hardships. No harm can come from a teacher opening up to a student; just like everything else in a classroom, this needs to be modeled.

Play Games

As if we all wouldn’t love another reason to play games, here’s one. Playing games builds community. When the word “game” comes up, students’ mindsets shift from “we’re doing work,” to “we’re having fun.” Games build camaraderie amongst classmates and naturally help let down the guards students may have up.

Games don’t need to be limited to the physical classroom either. With a few adjustments, nearly every game can also be enjoyed via Zoom. Stuck on where to begin? Some ideas include iSpy, Where’s Waldo, Spot it, or 20 questions. Or, have students bring a small bucket and a piece of paper with them to your zoom meeting. Tell students to bunch up the paper into a tight ball and play a class game of corn hole or basketball. Does everyone have a towel at home? Play towel fold. See how many times students can fold their towel while standing on it. Think outside the box or, should we say, the computer screen. The options for games in a physical or virtual classroom are endless.

Share Student Work

There are many reasons to share student work. First, it shows students that what they are doing in the classroom is valued. It gives them ownership over their work and creates motivation for getting their work done and to the best of their ability. For many adults, if they know that something they are working on won’t be seen by anyone, it can be hard to put our best effort into it. But when we know our peers are going to view it, we naturally work a little harder.

The same is absolutely (and many times more so) true for young learners. Create a showcase board in your classroom or take screenshots of students’ work and share them at your Zoom meeting. Students love an audience, they love to have their work displayed, and they love the affirmation that what they are doing is seen.

It is no “new news” that teachers have busy jobs. They educate our youth both academically, behaviorally, and socially. They create lessons, grade papers, and communicate with parents. Building community is just as important as all these other job requirements. By calling students by name, letting them get to know you, playing games, and showcasing their work, classroom communities are strengthened. In a time where there is so much unrest in the world, community is something we could all use a little more of.

The post Ways to Build Community in a Virtual Early Childhood Classroom appeared first on TeachHUB.

Why are Games a Good Tool for Community Building?

There are many benefits to using games in your virtual classroom. Games improve and increase student engagement, boost critical-thinking, strengthen memory, and provide opportunity for cooperation and collaboration.

Also, games are a great way to build community in any classroom. However, this can be especially beneficial in a virtual classroom. First of all, when kids hear the word “game” they immediately think “fun”! This puts them in the right mindset right off the bat. Also, games are often played in teams, which create camaraderie among students.

Most importantly, when you play games that allow students to get to know each other better, a sense of community is built. This is more important than ever before because students attending school virtually do not have the same social interaction that they would have if attending school in person. When students are having fun and laughing together, they begin to bond and enjoy their time together so much more.

Design Around Movement and Fun

Here are some great ideas for movement and fun in your virtual classroom:

1. Daily routines – Even “boring” tasks like attendance can be made fun. You can ask fun questions and their answer shows they’re “present”. You can ask questions like “What’s your favorite movie?”, “What is your favorite song?”, “What is your pet’s name?”, “If you were a Disney character who would you be?”, etc. You can also think of ways, especially with younger students, to incorporate movement. For example, as you are taking attendance, have students demonstrate a new dance move, a favorite exercise, or pantomime a favorite sport or activity. Choose a different question or activity every day for attendance to make each day starts off on a fun and exciting note.
2. Social time – In most online classroom platforms, there is an option for some type of chat or discussion board. Allow students time each day to access this area to talk with each other, share ideas, and ask questions. Another idea is to allow students to have some time before class starts to join the meeting (or to stay on after class is over) and talk amongst themselves without direct teacher involvement.
3. Create a playlist – Let each student contribute an uplifting song to the class playlist. You can play these songs at the beginning, end, or at other times throughout the class.
4. Dance party – This is an easy one! When you play the music from the class playlist, give them a dance break. It’s fun and they can get some exercise in.
5. Exercise breaks – Much like you would in the classroom, give students exercise breaks. They could do 15 jumping jacks, burpees, sit-ups or run in place. Any movement is good!
6. Birthday celebrations – A fun way to create community is to always acknowledge and celebrate student birthdays. You can sing a song or send a group birthday card.
7. Dress-up days – There are many ways to incorporate dress-up days for both younger and older students. For younger students, you can do favorite book character day, Wacky Wednesday, crazy hat day, Dr. Seuss day, etc. For older students you can have spirit days, decade dress-up (50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, etc.) or favorite team days.
8. Virtual show and tell – Give each student a different day to share something that they treasure – maybe a toy, a talent, or a pet.
9. Virtual field trip – There are some great options online for virtual field trips. Take a “trip” together as a class as an extension to learning or just for fun.

Utilize Games in Assessments

For any informal and/or formative assessments, games can be used to help the teacher get an idea of who needs more help and how students are progressing in general. With younger students, you can do a simple ‘thumbs up, thumbs down’ game as a quick way to see who is getting the skill and who isn’t. Another fun assessment game is to have students write their answers on a board or paper and reveal their answers at the same time. There are also several sites that can be used to create online quiz games. These can be a quick and simple way to gage how students are doing.

At-Home Activities and Asynchronous Learning

We all know that kids staring at a screen for several hours a day and staying engaged with their teacher and class is not really possible and certainly not ideal. While the synchronous learning time is very beneficial, it is necessary to have some activities that students will complete outside of this time. Asynchronous learning allows for individualized pacing, saves time, and allows for customized lessons. Ideas for at-home activities include:

1. Watching videos – Assign educational videos for students to watch on their own
2. Creating videos – Have students demonstrate learning by creating their own video or slide show
3. Hands-on activities – Science experiments with household items, math measurement activities with household items, exploratory outdoor activities with observations recorded in a science journal
4. Group projects – Students can work with other students on projects by creating collaborative documents
5. Traditional homework – completed either online or printed out and completed

Another thing you can do outside of regular “class” time is to schedule meetings with students individually. For example, you might have a lesson with the whole class and then meet later with students individually or in small groups to help those that are struggling or to provide enrichment as needed.

While we would all prefer to return to our normal and be with our students face-to-face, it may not be possible during this difficult time. However, with these ideas and activities, you can create an atmosphere of community and cooperation that can make your virtual classroom successful.

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