Have you ever dreamt of a classroom where everyone feels like a family? It is all possible with a strong classroom community. Building classroom community aids in student’s success. Creating a classroom community and educational activities for students in our schools encourages them to actively perform their duties and effectively interact with their peers.
These benefits of community creation have so much impact on students’ development. In this blog, we will look at some of the benefits of building classroom community and how to effectively build a classroom plan.
What is a classroom community?
A community is where a group of people of either the same region or having similar interests gather to perform a task or collaborate. A classroom community is also similar to that, but it is created among the classroom students. Building classroom community consists of a group of students who have a common learning goal and possess similar interests.
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Benefits of building classroom community
1. Introduction at the beginning of every academic year
Students in the same classroom may not be so comfortable talking to each other at the very beginning of the academic year. It is better to have a quick introduction session as the first thing, as students would get to know each other on the very first day itself.
2. Gathering students for a quick meetup
Teachers sometimes may find it difficult to spend some extra time other than classroom teaching. But quick meetups once or twice a week with your students can help them find and analyze fellows with similar interests.
The biggest advantage of a classroom community is that gathering students is easier and students with similar interests can be in one community.
3. The team works
One of the biggest benefits of building classroom community is that it teaches teamwork to students. Teachers should assign teamwork, where they get to work with others and share their interests. Students with similar interests are clubbed together in one community and when it comes to group projects students from different communities can be put together in one group and they can learn teamwork together. It is an important advantage of a classroom community.
4. Regular compliments
Teachers should complement every student on their achievements, which may help the other students to recognize their fellow students’ interests. This also helps in the better involvement of students in activities as it motivates students to earn compliments from teachers. It is an important advantage of a classroom community.
5. Increased trust and support
Students who belong to a community always have each other’s back and are ready to support each other whenever needed. Benefits of building classroom community is that it makes every student trust their fellow members and encourages them to volunteer in all the activities.
Most of the students remain silent whenever a teacher asks for participation because of their hesitation to speak out. Imagine a group of people behind a student supporting and cheering him/her up by saying, “Yes! You can do it! Speak confidently!” the student won’t feel hesitant like before. He/she would at least try to come out of their comfort zone and try to participate. This is an important advantage of a classroom community.
6. Effective communication
Not all students in a community classroom share a common background. They would have come from diverse backgrounds. Benefits of building classroom community is that it brings students from diverse backgrounds together and gives them a chance to know more about everyone’s background, culture, etc., which encourages them to analyze different kinds of people. They would also actively collaborate with each other during group projects and activities.
One of the major benefits of building a classroom community is that students with any health or mental disorders, when put among their peers in a community, would find a chance to worry less about their problems and find it more comfortable to ask for help when needed.
Also read: Tips For Teachers To Improve Communication Skills
Students would feel less stressed about any issue bothering them, as they can easily reach out to their community, where their fellows are always ready to support them.
7. Decreased misbehaviors
People of a young age may not always be aware of the things they do. They sometimes perform any activity without their consciousness which may harm others. On the other hand, some children may misbehave because of any previous trauma, stress, or hatred.
So, when kids of the same age group, when put together in a group, taught positive values, and encouraged to do good deeds together, they would feel more comfortable and find it easy to learn good moral values.
Most of the time, kids repeat what others do. So if they are in a group, kids are more likely to learn and practice positive values together. As a teacher, you would also find it easy to make students follow the classroom rules and procedures if they are made into a group.
Even if one student fails to follow a rule, the other one will encourage him/her to follow it. This is why building classroom community is important.
8. Increased responsibility
One of the benefits of community is that the kids would feel more responsible rather than being alone. If a student in a community group has a class activity or a duty to perform, it doesn’t only depend on him. Every student’s activity has value in the community.
If a student has not completed his task, he would know that it is going to affect the entire community and his fellow members, and he would take responsibility for doing things properly and on time.
This would also encourage the students to complete their work effectively, and when done with the help of a group, even the monotonous task would seem interesting to them.
9. Increased helping tendency
Building classroom community makes students feel safe and confident right after their families. This is where they can share their thoughts freely and feel a positive environment around them.
Every student in the community feels that they are responsible and takes ownership of their community. Because of this, every student will be ready to lend his/her hand to their friends when they are in need of help.
As a result, students develop a helping tendency as they grow up, which is one of the appreciable qualities to be acquired in one’s life. They become more selfless and are always ready to provide assistance to the people around them.
Final Thoughts
A classroom community helps in making every student responsible and makes them learn how to be open to people of similar interests. This quality helps them socialize well and teaches them how to welcome friendships. Online Classroom community management will be the best if a teacher helps the students to encourage each other and grow successfully together.
Benefits of Building Classroom Community FAQs
A1. It is important to build a community in the classroom because, apart from a warm environment, it impacts the growth of students and creates a positive learning environment.
A2. A positive classroom community is one where the students feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, taking risks, and openly asking questions.
A3. Building a classroom community means creating a safe space for students and teachers to share learning goals and achieve them with interactions and collaboration.
A4. 5 advantages of building classroom community are:
– Safety and well-being
– Confidence building
– Easy friendships
– Understanding environment
– Boosts mental wellness
A5. Community has a great effect on school because they help students acquire skills and learn more than just academics. Communities help students to adapt to more soft skills.
