Culture often plays a very important role in people’s lives. Culture has the ability to influence perceptions, influence goals and hopes, and even direct fears and anxieties. In business, leaders are often encouraged to create core values that set the foundation for the culture that will soon evolve. Once core values are established, it is up to all members of an organization (managerial and non-managerial alike) to continue to grow and develop this culture based on those created values. A culture is always created in an environment, sometimes no culture is the culture. As a teacher, your classroom is your business and you are the leader. It is up to you to create the foundation and continuously guide the culture.
Here are 5 ways to add culture to your classroom.
1. Create core values.
It is up to a teacher to create core values. Core values are the very foundation of their culture. Adding culture to your classroom can produce benefits for your students and could affect levels of fear in asking for help, increase course retention and peer interactions, and improve content comprehension.
How:
Think of 3-5 traits that you truly value in yourself, the students, and the class and begin to shape your classroom around these traits. Do you value punctuality? Do you value willpower? Do you value working collaboratively? These are examples of traits that you can adapt and begin to turn into core values. Be sure to shape the content, attitude, and interactions of your class in accordance with these values. You are a role model for your students and they will follow your example. Share your values as expectations early on so students are involved early on in maintaining and developing this culture.
2. Make culture an action.
Culture is a continuous activity and involves both the teacher and the student. The more you can involve and engage students in growing the culture, the more fun and better relationships everyone will have in the classroom.
How:
Take time to think about how you can get your students to do more, while still making it fun for them. wish do more. By making students go further, it encourages critical thinking and encourages them to open their minds.
Here are some practical ideas that can add more fun to your classroom culture now:
· Create a class library where you and students make a list of “must read” books.
· Create a “Pinterest” board where you and students can add images throughout the term that represent fun and core classroom values.
If your school allows it and the student approves, highlight a Student of the Week who gives you a core value and explain why.
· Ask students to upload photos of their families and themselves. Discuss the purpose behind why they are on this educational journey.
What three practical ideas can you add to this list?
3. Reward students.
John E. Jones says, “what gets measured gets done; what gets measured and fed back gets done well; what gets rewarded gets repeated.” By rewarding students, you reinforce their behaviors, increase their confidence, build a relationship, and propel them to the next level. You may not be able to send students a $100 gift card every time they get an A on an assignment, but that’s not necessarily how you build classroom culture when it comes to rewarding students anyway. .
How:
Take time to think about ways you can increase a student’s opportunity to grow in the classroom, this is a reward. They go to school to learn, they pay to learn. The more you can improve learning, the more it will be a “bonus” or “reward” to/for them.
Here are some rewards you can add to your classroom now:
Provide students with inspirational readings or media, such as TedTalks or YouTube videos.
· Create your own media to make the content more understandable.
· Provide full in-text comments and feedback when grading assignments and discussions.
· Give real world examples of situations and outcomes.
· Provide resources offered by the school or community.
Educate students on the various social media platforms.
Find ways to connect students’ comments, thoughts, and ideas.
· Highlight students who are using certain core values.
Stay on top of trends, hot topics, and technology to enhance discussions about current events and how to relate to them. the now.
What is one reward you can add to this list?
Four. Let the student work less.
Of course, a student must put in their best effort to earn this degree. But the journey to earning that degree can be made easier if the teacher does two things: one, provide a culture that allows students to receive communication in a timely manner, and two, know what a student needs before they know it.
First of all, it is quite difficult to ask some students a question, but not getting an answer or missing a deadline while waiting for an answer can create great anxiety for a student. This can create a culture of fear, nervousness, and disrespect. Two, an experienced teacher often knows a student’s question before he asks it. This is because most of the questions tend to be common or related to a certain topic and this pattern has been observed over the years of teaching.
How:
First, make sure you respond to the student in a timely manner. Check student email at least once a day and do your best to set a personal goal to exceed the response time required by the university. If you have an ask your instructor forum in your classroom, be sure to check that area of your classroom a few times a day, and remember that other students in this type of forum see the student’s question and answer. Never be harsh, condescending, or judgmental in your response. This can really damage the confidence of the student who asked the question and increase anxiety in those reading this section of the course.
Second, take a moment to reflect on all the courses you’ve taught. In each course, did any recurring questions or themes come up? Was there a worksheet that several students were never able to locate? Was there a certain section of an assignment that was always misunderstood? Create an announcement before that week and let students know what to expect or how to overcome the problem they are about to face. This simple change in your culture and practice allows for more focus on learning and less focus on smaller mundane tasks.
5. Connect students with a higher purpose.
When we are connected to a higher purpose in life, we are more engaged, happy, and motivated. This higher purpose does not just have to be driven by faith. It’s about connecting people with people and people with resources. A teacher can create a culture of connection.
How:
Create a culture of connectivity in your classroom by connecting students with each other and with resources both inside and outside the institution.
Here are some ways to connect students in your classroom now:
· Involve them in school social networks.
Educate students on the power LinkedIn can have on networking, credibility, and job hunting.
· Match student comments and note commonalities.
· Encourage students to share how they overcame certain problems that others in the course may be facing.
· Share websites, blogs and content that can support a certain issue a student is having (this can be via email and not always in the public forum).
Write letters of recommendation if your institution allows it.
· Provide students with a list and constant feedback on the various resources offered by the university.
· Encourages students to share their dreams and goals for themselves and their family.
What is one way you currently connect your students to a higher purpose?