Building a Supportive Classroom Community: Three Things

[I find it hard to reflect on teaching when I'm not actually in the classroom.  When I'm actually in the classroom, I find it hard to write my reflections because I'm so busy *actually* teaching.  Teaching is time consuming, even when done mediocrely.]

When I teach HS, I want to try to actively build a classroom community.  Three things I need to think about:

1) Dealing with mixed abilities.  In my college experience, the students tend to group themselves according to ability.  So, the "good" students find each other and work together (which works well) and the weaker students do the same (not so good).  I've tried different ways of grouping students but they (the students) can be resistant and I've always been hesitant to push too hard at the college level (I feel that they come to college to figure these things out independently plus I don't see them on a daily basis which limits my effectiveness at social engineering)

2) Incorporating parents.  One major difference between HS and college is that college teachers are legally prevented from speaking with a parent (of students >18) unless the student has signed a waiver[1] (law is FERPA).  In HS, at least in the Affluent Suburbs where I hope to find gainful employment[2] many parents expect to be fully informed of classroom policies, assignments, etc.  While I could argue whether this is good/bad, it is a fact (I've been a HS parent for the past 6 years.)

3) Gaining student buy-in.  When I talk about building a supportive classroom community to college students, I sense a bit of eye-rolling.  I've been fortunate to (mostly) teach at pretty selective schools which means that, in addition to selecting for high grades/scores also effectively selects for good, compliant students who believe that humoring me will continue to earn them the high grades they expect.  I'm not sure how that will translate to the general HS population.

I'm writing this down now.  I'm sure, after I actual teach HS (will hopefully student teach in the fall) I will find this incredibly naive and, dare I say, dorky.

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[1]I will have a college freshman next year, so I'll get to experience this from the parent perspective

[2]I still have a relatively young child at home, so I'd like to limit my commute.