Mrs. Stevens' Is Bringing the Energy into Classroom 7

Safe, Kind and Responsible

How we create a social-moral classroom 

   
   One of our goals every year is to create a social moral classroom. Part of our unique constructivist education is the teacher shares with children much of the responsibility and power to make rules. We like to refer to rules as agreements between the teachers and the children about how to organize and regulate the operation of the classroom, including interpersonal relationships. As constructivist educators, we believe rules made by the children are better accepted and more conscientiously followed than rules given ready-made by adults. This has helped foster a safe and accepting environment in the classroom.  We started to think about our agreements when we began conversations about what it means to be safe, kind, and responsible.  The children gave examples for each agreement and were written down to refer back when needed. When we see the children "breaking" an agreement, we ask, "Is it safe? Is it kind? Is it responsible?" If they answer, no to any of these questions, we brainstorm solutions to solve the problem. We also notice every time the children are following the agreements by acknowledging their actions and saying, "You are being safe (kind, responsible)!" Our favorite quote we hear the children saying during clean-up time is, "I'm being responsible and I didn't even make this mess!"