Social and Emotional Development
The National Association of School Psychologists has identified that Student Engagement Creating classroom environments that increase student engagement are critical and that Students are more likely to be motivated when they perceive tasks to be: Challenging Matched to their ability, Enhancing their self-efficacy, Relevant to their lives and experience, and Under their control.
Research Proven Strategies:
The Responsive Classroom approach promotes school connectedness through relationship development and the discussion of shared concerns. The program has several components: Daily meetings geared to promote self-awareness, self-management, and social relationship skills, Planning school-wide activities to build a sense of community, Welcoming families and the community as partners, Organizing the physical environment to set a tone of learning, Interactive modeling, Collaborative problem-solving Research shows that students in responsive classrooms increased their reading and math scores, had better social skills, and felt more positively about school. Their teachers felt more effective and positive about teaching, offered more high-quality instruction, and collaborated more with fellow teachers.
Guiding Principles
The Responsive Classroom approach is informed by the work of educational theorists and the experiences of exemplary classroom teachers. Six principles guide this approach:
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Teaching social and emotional skills is as important as teaching academic content.
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How we teach is as important as what we teach.
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Great cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.
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What we know and believe about our students—individually, culturally, developmentally—informs our expectations, reactions, and attitudes about those students.
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How we work together as adults to create a safe, joyful, and inclusive school environment is as important as our individual contribution or competence.
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Partnering with families—knowing them and valuing their contributions—is as important as knowing the children we teach.