A place for all children: The Responsive Classroom

Reach each one. Teach each one.

Have you ever heard of the Responsive Classroom?

The Responsive Classroom is a research-based teaching and learning approach. This method has 10 strategies to accentuate students’ academic, social, and emotional growth.

The Responsive Classroom was created in 1983 by qualified public school teachers and is nationally celebrated. Over 100,000 teachers have been trained in this approach, which is supported by the New England Foundation for Children (based in Turners Falls, MA).

The philosophy of this style of teaching is that children will excel if the school environment is kind, harmless, civil, and predictable.

The 10 strategies of a Responsive Classroom

1. Morning Meeting: This is when the whole class meet every morning to welcome each other, share news, and prepare for the day.
2. Rule Creation: Students assist the teachers in generating classroom rules that will promote meaningful learning for everyone.
3. Interactive Modeling: Educators model acceptable behaviors so students will recognize how they are expected to behave in the school.
4. Positive Teacher Language: Teachers use appropriate words and tone to uphold active learning and self-control in the classroom.
5. Logical Consequences: Teachers respectfully hold students accountable for their behaviors and allow them opportunities to correct their mistakes.
6. Guided Discovery: Each day, the teachers deliver new information to the students through creativity and accountability.
7. Academic Choice: In order keep students motivated, the educators differentiate their lessons. This means students are given various ways to demonstrate what they are learning.
8. Classroom Organization: The classrooms are set up to promote autonomy, cooperation, and efficiency.
9. Working with Families: Teachers listen to parents’ concerns and inform them about the school’s teaching strategies.
10. Collaborative Problem Solving: Teachers use multiple methods, such as role-playing and conferencing, to increase students’ problem-solving skills.

As an educator, all of these strategies can help to promote learning in your classroom. Your students need the right atmosphere in order for them to rightly mature socially and academically.

Take a moment to imagine this, you, an educator, has a great opportunity to make a lasting difference in students' lives by positively influencing them in your responsive classroom.