Our students spend a large part of their day in our classrooms, so making it a space where they feel accepted, valued, and encouraged is important. In order to create a welcoming space, we need to work on building a positive classroom culture from Day 1. Here are some fun ways to build community and create an uplifting space for your students.
Morning Meeting Slides
These back-to-school digital morning meeting slides feature daily activities that encourage collaborative conversations, team-building, social-emotional learning, and more!
5 Fun Ideas for Building a Positive Classroom Culture
1. Morning Greetings
When our students walk through our classroom doors, we have the opportunity to set the tone for the day ahead of them. Why not start it on a good note?
Morning greeting charts allow your students to choose how they would like to be greeted by you. Each greeting is a positive way for you to build a positive relationship with your students.
Some of my favorite ways to greet students are handshakes, high-fives, and hugs. I let my students choose which morning greeting they prefer each day. Some students like to choose the same greeting while others like to mix it up.
Either way, I love knowing that each student is greeted positively at the beginning of their day in the classroom. (Some students might need that hug in the morning more than you’ll ever know!)
2. Morning Meeting Slides
Morning meetings are designed to strengthen classroom culture and the relationships among the students in your classroom. Digital morning meeting slides help morning meetings flow more easily and can save you from coming up with new activities for each day.
I love this set of morning slides because they encourage collaborative conversations, team-building, social-emotional learning, and more!
There are eight types of slides included in this resource:
Greetings- Students will greet each other in silly and unique ways!
Quote of the Day- Metaphoric quotes that will require students to dig deep into their meanings.
Class Discussion- Conversations about how to continue making the classroom a positive space for all. Includes Social Emotional Learning topics.
Caption This!- Students will create captions or ‘memes’ for each funny photo.
Would You Rather?- A fun way to get students talking and sharing their points of view on a silly ‘Would You Rather?’ challenge.
Team Challenge – Collaborative challenges requiring students to work together to create or build something.
Question of the Day – A meaningful question designed to get to know students on a more personal level.
Kindness Challenge – Challenges designed to encourage kindness amongst students and staff members.
These slides take no more than 10-15 minutes each day and are a great way to start the day. Want to try out the Morning Meetings? Grab the FREE Morning Meeting slides sample below.
Free Morning Meeting Slides
Build a positive classroom community with these interactive morning meeting slides which focus on social-emotional learning skills.
3. Shout-Out Wall
We all operate best when we’re “shouted out” or praised for what we do well. So why not make it a priority in your classroom?
To do this, consider making a spot in your room where you post shout-outs about your students or share shout-outs from students about their classmates.
Having this area in your room is an easy way to build classroom community as well as remind your students of all of the ways that they’re doing great this school year.
This Kindness Shoutout box will encourage students to demonstrate acts of kindness throughout the school day. Grab the free printables below.
Kindness Shoutouts
These kindness slips help your students shout out their classmates and build a positive classroom community.
4. Unlock the Prize
A great way to build a positive classroom culture is by helping students hold each other accountable by working toward a common goal. This Unlock the Prize Chart freebie is a fun way to have students work together toward a certain goal while earning something fun.
To use this freebie with your students, allow your class to set a class-wide goal for themselves. Then, incentivize them to meet their goal by earning a whole class prize.
5. Reflection Time
Setting aside a few minutes before dismissal to allow students to reflect on their school day can be a great way to motivate students as well as build a positive classroom culture.
During this time, allow students to share what they learned, something that they liked doing, or something positive about their day. Have students in the class cheer each other on and congratulate each other on their wins.
Setting aside this time is a great way to ensure that students end their day on a positive note!
Check out these other posts:
Classroom Behavior Management
Student Leadership and Goal Setting
Effective Classroom Management for New Teachers
I hope these fun ideas are a hit in your classroom! Have fun ways that you build a positive classroom culture? Share them in the comments below.
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