Creating a Safe Learning Environment with Your Class
Especially now, when we spend most of our time at home, we need to be able to calm ourselves down, de-escalate a conflict and make it right when we mess up. Here is an experience I had at school before the Pandemic and an empowering tool I taught the students called, the Make it Right Formula.
After teaching a grade 6 class for half an hour, Josh approaches me with tears in his eyes. “Ms. Boersma, none of the kids like me. No one wants to work with me. The other boys always ignore me.” I notice many of the girls are quiet, and many of the boys are trying to fit in. The same few people are participating in class discussions. The students freely participate in “side conversations” and giggling at inappropriate times. They are not bad students. They just have some bad habits.
As I deepen my work in social and emotional learning (SEL), I realize how unaware students are of the social and emotional world. They are not aware of their own reactions or how they impact others. Teachers are at a loss to train students in SEL so less than stellar learning environments are perpetuated.
It is imperative to create an emotionally safe environment so students can take risks, offer responses, try out their ideas and express themselves. Side conversations detract from the learning as it makes others feel unsafe, e.g. “she keeps whispering about me.” Laughing can be a sign of discomfort but can be interpreted by others as being laughed at. We must make our learning environments safe and train our students to do the same.
So, students learn the Make it Right Formula which compels them to look deeply into who is impacted by their actions. Practiced every day, “bad habits” can be replaced by pro-active strategies that empower both the giver and the receiver. The Make it Right Formula gives students an opportunity to become very aware of their impact on others. I noticed Josh’s demeanour improve as the week went on.
Here is the Make it Right Formula. Let me know how it works in your class.
Make it Right Formula
Admit
I take responsibility for _________________ or,
No, I didn’t do____________________________when I knew it was expected.
e.g. I was giggling with my friend during your presentation.
e.g. I didn’t hand in my assignment today.
Impact
How did you affect the other person?
When I _____________________, you might have felt _________________.
e.g. When I was laughing, you might have felt I was laughing at you. You might have felt embarrassed and found it hard to continue.
Give the person time to respond. Ask them if there is anything else. Then reflect back what they said and how they felt.
So, when I did that, it made you feel ________________________________.
e.g. So when I did that it made you feel uncomfortable and unsure of yourself.
How did your actions or lack of actions affect you?
When I did _______________ it made me feel ________________________.
e.g. When I laughed with my friend, and I realized you heard it, I felt bad for you and sorry I did it.
Plan
What will you do differently from now on?
From now on I will ______________________________________.
e.g. From now on, I will sit away from people who make me want to laugh and talk to them.