Recently, I wrote about the importance of the physical environment of the classroom and how it can support and communicate what is valued in learning. Another aspect is the interpersonal space or culture we create in the classroom. While this is no doubt influenced by the design of the physical space, we can work to create a particular climate in our classroom. Think for example, about a business or law school course where students are encouraged (or required) to "dress the part" for class presentations. This creates a professional atmosphere and particular interaction style in the classroom. Similarly, when students engage in a seminar with name cards in front of them at the beginning of the semester, it creates a comfortable space where students call each other by name.
 
The importance of connecting with our students
There is considerable research in K-12 education about the importance of classroom culture and climate that can easily translate into higher education. Rod Lucero from Colorado State suggests that a positive classroom culture and climate “increases student engagement, creates a safe discursive environment, and encourages student collaboration and participation.” Culture and climate are constructed through the expectations we set, inclusive practices, the ways we encourage interaction among and between students, the learning objectives and activities we employ, and the efforts we make to develop a rapport with our students.
 
I’ve certainly experienced the differences in my effectiveness when I’ve been successful in establishing a positive culture and climate and when I haven’t. Several years ago, I was teaching a small undergraduate class that was just a grind, week after week. It was a small group, and just enough of the students were disengaged to sour the climate in the class. I was either ineffective or remiss in making efforts to turn the climate around. Consequently, it felt like the longest semester of my teaching career – in both K-12 and higher ed. Fortunately, this has been an outlier in my 15 years teaching at the university level. I enjoy building a positive environment and will share some of the simple tips that I’ve found effective over the years.
 
Tips for creating a positive classroom climate

1. Let your personality shine. When you are yourself and authentic with your students, they will feel more comfortable to be themselves and relate to you. Even if you may not know of any specific connections you might have with students, if you open yourself up to share some of your passions and interests, you may find that several students share your interests – whether it’s a love for movies, gardening, or Calvin and Hobbes.
2. Get to know your students. I begin each class with a humorous sign-in sheet. I ask a simple, but fun question that also gives me a little insight into their personality and interests. One week, I may ask them for their all-time favorite movie. Another week, I’ll ask them about an unusual talent or interest they have. One of my favorite questions is what theme song they’d like played every time they walk in the room (mine would be Super Bad by James Brown). At the end of class, I always announce a few of my favorite responses along with the day’s winner. If I forget to announce the winner, at least two or three students will remind me before we leave.
3. Begin the class on a positive note. I start every one of my classes with one important question – “What do we have to celebrate today?” The celebration can be anything from an upcoming break, to completing a half marathon, to an engagement announcement. While all students don’t participate, the simple process of celebrating big and small things together serves to build a positive classroom community.
4. Empathize and communicate understanding. Many of my courses are discussion based and/or feature student sharing and presentations. Even when I disagree with a student’s perspective or have to correct a misconception related to course content, I try to let the student know that I hear them and that I value their perspective and willingness to share their ideas. Even when I may need to counter their point of view, I try to communicate respect and acknowledge their contribution.
5. Provide feedback that promotes learning. Many times we need to provide corrective feedback on exams, papers, presentations or projects. I try to use two criteria to judge how I provide that feedback. First, I try to make the critique as constructive as possible. There’s no need for me to make judgmental comments. I try to be objective and helpful. The second thing I try to focus on in my feedback is to promote learning. Whenever I make a correction, I try to provide a tip or point for them to consider so that they’ll learn from the experience.

 
Honestly, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to build a positive classroom climate and connect with your students. These small efforts can make a big difference both in terms of your students’ learning and your own enjoyment in teaching the class.
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What strategies do you use to connect with your students?
Please post your comments below.   

Like many of you, I enjoy reading about teaching, listening to podcasts and watching videos for inspiration. I find it very interesting the many different ways faculty engage their students in learning. Many times, I'm inspired to incorporate some of these strategies or activities I discover in my own teaching.

It is risky, though, to try something new. Just because a particular approach works well in one class, doesn't mean it will work well in others. Any time we incorporate something new, it takes time to plan and implement. This means that there are opportunity costs. If we incorporate a new activity in class, it means that we need to make time for it by eliminating another activity. It also means that the extra time it takes to plan for the activity is less time we can spend on our work outside of teaching as well. Finally, we also have to take into account student evaluations of our teaching. If we take a risk that fails, we may come to regret it at the end of the semester. With all these reasons not to take risks in our teaching, why should we consider it?

Why take risks?
I've found that when I teach one of my courses in the same way each semester, it's disadvantageous for myself and for my students.  First, I'm not growing - in my teaching and in the way I approach my course content. One example that comes to mind for me is the way in which I teach my preservice education students to integrate technology through instructional planning. I have worked with colleagues to develop a particular strategy with materials to assist students in the process, but I essentially used the same series of in-class lessons to introduce it. I realized over time that sticking with the same way to engage students with the material had some issues. Working together with them in class didn't give students the time they needed to work with the materials, grapple with their ideas and produce good work. Consequently, through several different iterations, I have developed a new self-paced, online approach that I think works much better and improves my course.

Trying new strategies and activities also helps us to better respond to students' learning needs and preferences in the classroom. One way I've taken a risk to provide my students with more choice to better meet their needs is through offering more choice in the materials and different strategies to approach their work. Giving them a range of different materials to introduce new content allows them to pick the mode and format that works best for them. I also like to provide options for both the specific focus for course projects and how they present their work as well. While these efforts do require more time for me to plan and prepare, my students consistently have positive things to say about the choice they have in my courses.

Taking risks and trying new things can also increase our enjoyment and engagement with the class. Even when things don't go exactly as planned, experimenting with different strategies for class discussion, student writing assignments, and different ways to present content can keep us engaged and interested in our own work. A few years ago, one activity I had to help students understand TPACK, a theoretical construct to describe teachers' knowledge for integrating technology, had become stale. I traded out a series of readings and a paper with a project where students developed TPACK teaching cases. Not only were these teaching cases much more effective in helping students to understand TPACK, it was also much more satisfying for me to design, facilitate and assess their final projects.

Tips for getting started with new approaches
Despite the potential payoff for trying new approaches in teaching, it can still be daunting. I've learned over time that a few tips can be helpful in taking the leap and being successful with new strategies.

1. Try small "hacks" rather than huge changes. If you can identify small, manageable changes to explore you can build confidence to take bigger risks. So, for example, rather than building your course entirely around case studies, try planning and implementing a single, brief case in one class session. This experience will help you to determine if you want to try additional cases in future class sessions.
2. Consider your rationale for change. I think that when we make a significant change in our teaching, we ought to have a reason to do so. If we identify a challenge or opportunity in our teaching, we'll be much more likely to invest our time and energy into trying a new approach.
3. Determine if the innovation is a fit. Even if we have identified a challenge or opportunity in our course content, a particular strategy or approach we come across may not be a good fit for the content or students in our class. To avoid a mismatch, be sure to clearly identify your learning goals and consider any new ideas against them.
4. Be transparent with your students. When you recognize you're taking a risk in trying something new, tell your students up front what you're planning. Tell them why you've decided to try a new approach. Ask them for their feedback afterwards. In my experience, being open and honest with students and then asking them for the input goes a long way towards getting their buy-in for a new approach.
5. Be reflective. When you try something new, take some time after class or at the end of the project to think about what you've learned. This reflection can help you to zero in on effective elements of an activity, how you might be able to improve, and what lessons you learned. Armed with these reflections, the next time you try a similar approach, you will have the benefit of your reflective experience.
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What risks have you taken this semester in your teaching?
Please post your comments below.