Safe Place

Making Our Classroom a 

Safe Environment for our Students

Have you ever had to go somewhere new?  

Have you ever felt out of place?  

Have you ever had to go somewhere not really knowing what to expect, what the people will be like, or even if you will like it? 

I know I have, and I am sure that many others have been 

in similar situations that make them to go out of their comfort zone.  

Just as each of us has felt these feelings in a number of situations, many of our students feel this way coming to school.  School is an unfamiliar environment for children as they are just starting school.  Many of our students don't know what to expect, they wonder if they will have any friends, and wonder if their teacher will like the.  

School is distance for many children.  School means that their toys, snacks, bedroom, siblings, and parents are not close to them.  They have to get used to new routines, new people around them, and new ways to learn new things.  

"Come play with me," says the teacher.  "Come do what I ask you to do."  "I can't," says the student, "at least not until you connect with me.  Oh, i'll go through the motions, or course.  But give myself to this adult thing called school?  Not unless you connect with me."

How does this quote make you feel?  Can we relate to the way that this student/students are feeling from similar situations that we have been in?  I think this quote puts school and classroom environment into perspective for us as teachers.  

Our students need certain things from us as teachers.  We can provide those needs for our students.  I would like to end this post with a quote from chapter 2, 

"If a child feels unsafe, threatened, or insecure, the brain blocks odd the pathways to learning and attends to the more basic human needs instead."

In the next post, we will learn about the 5 key needs of learners, and how we can use these 5 key needs in order to make our classroom a safe place for our students.