What does it look like to have a positive classroom culture? Classroom culture is more than just a buzzword. It takes a concerted effort to make sure students know they are in a safe environment, feel supported by their teacher and classmates, and understand the expectations of members of a classroom community.
Regular readers of the blog know all about Hāpara. You might have watched my keynote video to kick off their summer conference or checked out a recent blog post on using Hāpara to make project based learning easier. Today on the blog, we’ll look at ways you can create a positive classroom culture with Hāpara.
Ready to check out Hāpara? Click here to schedule a demo.
5 Ways to Create a Positive Classroom Culture
If you haven’t checked out Hāpara yet, it is a digital teaching and learning platform for schools and districts. Hāpara provides a streamlined experience for teachers and students using Google Classroom in any subject area. With this platform, students can quickly access assignments, emails, announcements, and G Suite files. Everything they need throughout the school day is accessible on one simple, mobile-friendly page.
Here are five ways you can use the unique features in Hāpara to create and maintain a positive classroom environment this school year!
Share Mindful Moments
The Workspace cards in Hāpara are perfect for sharing a mindful moment with your students. You can pop a mindful moment into a Workspace card and add it into a student’s workflow. There are so many ways to use this strategy. Something simple, like giving students a reminder to pause and take a deep breath, is a great start. One great thing about using Workspace cards is how you can differentiate these mindful moments. You know your students’ needs and can share different mindful moments using flexible groupings in Workspace.
Celebrate Accomplishments
In Hāpara, you have the ability to create different Workspaces. A fantastic way to promote a positive classroom culture is to create a Workspace with the sole purpose of celebrating the accomplishments of the whole class and individual students. In this celebratory Workspace, you can add photos, videos, and positive notes. There are a lot of options to make this personal to your class. For example, you can set this up as a private Workspace to ensure student privacy or even give students the ability to add cards and their own media to celebrate their classmates.
Message for Temperature Checks
The messaging feature in Highlights is perfect for regular check-ins with students. You can take temperature checks on how students are doing once or twice a week or even daily for some students. With Hāpara Highlights, you can send a message to just one student, a small group of students, or your entire class. A quick message like this also serves as a reminder to students that you are regularly checking in on them.
Build Student Independence
Effective classroom management is a big part of a positive classroom culture. Highlights help with classroom management and building student independence. You might start the year using tighter monitoring within Hāpara Highlights, then gradually give students more independence with their online navigation as the year progresses. Highlights has features built into it that help scaffold independence building.
Send Encouragement
In the same way, you can use the messaging feature in Highlights for a quick temperature check, and you can use the message feature to send notes of encouragement. This is a great option for boosting student confidence and letting them know you are checking in on their progress. Again, this type of routine in your classroom might complement feedback routines or other regular correspondence with students.
Hāpara in Action
As you strengthen your classroom routines and build a positive classroom culture this school year, Hāpara can certainly help. And if you’re using Google Classroom this year, you’ll want to explore all of the great features built into Hāpara. This digital teaching and learning platform streamlines the user experience for both teachers and students.
Ready to get started with Hāpara? Use this link to schedule a demo and get a behind-the-scenes look at everything you can do on this platform!
