Creating Classroom Learning Culture

As a teacher, I recognize that it's my responsibility to create my classroom culture. To do this, I need to be clear on my objectives--what they are, and what they are not. My primary objectives are not...

• Students caring about their grades.
• Students being quiet and paying attention.
• A class that is fun.
• Doling out rewards and punishments.

So what's my primary objective? I am focused on creating a culture in which my students understand that they are part of a learning community that is doing something really important: developing our ability to read, listen, think, speak, and write in English. And when they experience that community working together, and feel themselves and their neighbors growing in competence as they support each other—that is a thrill so deep they will want to protect the community where it happens. They will come prepared, they will be on time, they will not throw erasers across the room because that would sabotage not just their own learning, but that of the entire community. 

And, as it turns out, class will be fun because students know they are doing something purposeful, they understand how to do it, and they are seeing results. Students will be quiet and pay attention—or discuss with a partner or ask questions or read or write or whatever is necessary at that moment in order to advance the learning goals of themselves and the community. They will learn, which is its own reward. And the grades will reflect that.

In 30+ years of teaching secondary English language arts, I’ve gotten pretty good at making learning purposeful, helping students understand the purpose, and giving them the tools to achieve it. And at helping them work together to do it even more effectively. Sometimes a personal conversation has been necessary:

• “I really appreciated your contributions to the class last term. This term, I’ve noticed you making sarcastic comments under your breath while making eye contact with friends. It’s distracting everyone. Can you help me understand what’s going on?” 
• “You may be able to easily finish the reading at home, but when you distract your friend, you are preventing him from reading, and you are interfering with the concentration of the whole rest of the class. You’re also sending the message that reading is not important. Is that really what you want to do?”

And in my experience, the classroom learning community flourishes. 

There’s this wonderful thing called experience. Unfortunately, it only comes with time. A couple of years ago, a younger teacher asked me, “How do you know all this?” I answered with a kind of wonder as I realized its truth, “If you couldn’t get better at this profession over time, I’d tell you to leave it right now. But there's hope. You get better.”   

Then I left all of my secondary experience at the door and dipped my toe into elementary—4th and 5th grade English language arts. We started the year great in April, but then behavior started to slip. I managed the class by walking around, but individual conferences became minimal and small group conferences, nonexistent. 

Enter fall term. Same good start, same slippage. Then came the epiphany: I had tried to establish culture by fiat, declaring what I wanted and thinking that made it so. That doesn’t happen. Culture needs constant, intentional nurturing, or it devolves. Which was exactly what was happening in my room. 

Hard reset. We had a little talk about the importance of reading, listening, thinking, speaking, and writing in English and how there’s so much we can learn if we’re all fully here for all 45 minutes every day. And about how one person’s one-minute distraction of 15 people is really 15 minutes of lost learning. 

Now I’m doing a little experiment in supporting classroom learning culture. I start every period asking, “What are we doing here today?” They answer, “Learning how to read, listen, think, speak, and write in English!” I say, “That’s right! Let’s go! We’re going to learn so much!”  Before grammar, I remind them we’re studying how published writers use language powerfully so we can use it the same way when we write. Before independent writing time, I remind them we’re working on writing stamina, and our neighbors are too, and I’ll be conferencing with a small group about their writing. So students can write, solve their own problems (we have a list of the problems writers have and how they solve them), not distract their neighbor, and start on a new piece if they finish today’s revision assignment.

True confession: It isn’t perfect, but it is getting better. There’s less distraction. Less tattling. More writing. And I’m actually through one round of small group conferences!

30+ years in, and I’m still racking up experience. I build the classroom culture. I do it with intentionality and persistence. Even in elementary. 

How do you build a classroom learning culture? How does that affect classroom management?