Community Vision Plan

 

     In order for a classroom to be a place of learning, it is necessary that it be a respectful and collaborative learning community. Students need ample opportunities to work together. As a teacher, I plan to teach the social skills of collaboration explicitly, and provide plenty of academic opportunities to practice and refine those skills. Students also need space and freedom to learn to work through problems on their own, and deserve to have their own individual abilities and challenges acknowledged and addressed. I plan to make space in the classroom for individualized assessment and reflection to ensure that I am meeting the needs of all students. At the same time, I want to establish a classroom environment in which all students’ feel that they have a stake in each others’ social and academic success.

 

     These objectives can be facilitated by some day-to-day routines and practices. I want to utilize a morning meeting as a space to set expectations for the day, reflect on the day before, and get student feedback. Structured collaborative activities like literature circles can guide students through the process of having a fruitful group discussion about a text or topic. Over time, the scaffolds can be removed so that students can conduct these discussions more independently. Literacy choice boards can allow students an opportunity to practice and extend their knowledge of recently-introduced literacy concepts independently, and can provide time for more individualized assessment and assistance. By structuring curriculum around students’ funds of knowledge and interests, and by relating curriculum to prior academic knowledge, I can help ensure that students are engaged. And by utilizing a suggestion box and other opportunities for feedback, I can ensure that students feel that they have a stake in the classroom goals and activities.

 

     In my eyes, the classroom community stretches beyond the walls of the classroom, and incorporates families and neighborhoods. My goal as a teacher is to create a community where students different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, different interests, and different learning styles are not only tolerated but are valued.