Managing Risk in Teaching: Balancing Challenge and Safety
The central theme of this podcast episode is the imperative of prioritizing relationships over academic rigor in the classroom to foster an environment conducive to learning. Mr. Funky Teacher, Nicholas Kleve, elucidates the critical balance between risk-taking and safety in educational settings, emphasizing that genuine trust between educators and students is foundational for meaningful learning experiences. He articulates that establishing a robust classroom community not only mitigates behavioral issues but also cultivates resilience among students when faced with challenges. Through a reflective exploration of personal experiences, he demonstrates how vulnerability can enhance connections with students, thereby enriching their educational journey. Ultimately, this discourse advocates for a growth mindset among teachers, urging them to embrace calculated risks within a framework of safety and support, thereby facilitating both their own development and that of their students.
The episode provides a comprehensive examination of the delicate balance between fostering a challenging learning environment and ensuring student safety, underscoring the necessity of trust in the teacher-student relationship. It is conveyed that the establishment of a strong classroom community is essential for mitigating behavioral issues and enhancing academic performance. By prioritizing relationship-building activities—such as personalized greetings, shared experiences, and the celebration of mistakes as learning opportunities—teachers can create a safe space that encourages student engagement and accountability. The host shares personal anecdotes illustrating how vulnerability and empathy can bridge the gap between educators and students, thereby reinforcing the notion that mutual respect and understanding are vital for cultivating an inclusive learning environment. The episode ultimately advocates for a paradigm shift in educational practices, wherein the focus on relational dynamics is viewed as integral to achieving academic excellence.
Takeaways:
- Establishing strong relationships within the classroom is essential for fostering a safe learning environment where students can take risks.
- The process of building rapport and community among students may take weeks or months, but it is crucial for academic success.
- A classroom that prioritizes relationships will experience reduced behavioral issues, as students feel a sense of belonging.
- Teachers must balance rigor with relationship-building, as academic challenges can only be effectively tackled when trust is established.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Be a Funky Teacher
Transcript
Yeah, he's Mr. Funky.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky Teacher.
Speaker A:Mr. Funky Teacher inspires greatness, makes you feel good.
Speaker A:Like your favorite playlist.
Speaker A:Keeping that fresh and funky.
Speaker A:Yes, he does.
Speaker A:He got some funky cool ideas to share for all you teachers.
Speaker A:He can empower others, students and teachers.
Speaker A:It's all about hard work and creativity.
Speaker A:He brings out the kindness in everyone.
Speaker A:He's got the passion to teach.
Speaker A:You hear it when he speaks.
Speaker A:He knows how to build strong relationships.
Speaker A:If you're seeking the best bunkiest, he is it.
Speaker A:He will empower you to improve.
Speaker A:You'll be helping others and loving it too.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky Teacher.
Speaker A:Yeah, he's Mr. Funky Teacher.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:This is Mr. Funky Teacher with Be a Funky Teacher dot com.
Speaker B:I'm coming to you with another Be a Funky Teacher podcast.
Speaker B:Welcome back, everyone.
Speaker B:I'm so glad to have you here with me.
Speaker B:Today's focus is going to be focusing on building classroom community, putting relationships before rigor.
Speaker B:That's what we're focusing on.
Speaker B:That's what we are going to be talking about.
Speaker B:But before we go any further with that topic, I want to talk about three things I'm thankful for.
Speaker B:As I do with each podcast episode.
Speaker B:I am trying to start off with things I'm thankful for.
Speaker B:I hope that you're doing that too in your life, thinking about three things each day that you're thankful for.
Speaker B:Having gratitude.
Speaker B:Being thankful for what we have in our life, it's such an important skill for us to develop.
Speaker B:Showing gratitude, even if you're showing gratitude by, by thinking about gratitude, by just, just by just acknowledging it, recognizing it even in your own mind, your own head, that's an important thing to do.
Speaker B:So me, I'm just trying to make, I'm making mine a little bit more vocal because of this podcast.
Speaker B:Well, the, the three things I'm thankful for.
Speaker B:The first one is my microphone.
Speaker B:Because recording these podcasts lets.
Speaker B:It lets me speak my truth and share what's on my heart.
Speaker B:It's been a great joy to be able to share these podcast episodes and my microphone is making it possible new experiences like yesterday being a judge at the volleyball game as a line judge.
Speaker B:Specifically, I had never been a line judge before and I got to be a line judge and they showed me how to be a line judge.
Speaker B:I actually had just signed up to, to be a supervisor at this, this volleyball game.
Speaker B:We part of our contract, teaching contract.
Speaker B:We have to, we have to volunteer at three different school activities.
Speaker B:They can be football games or basketball games or a lot of sports.
Speaker B:I think there might be some other theater stuff too.
Speaker B:I don't know if there's concert band concerts or not, but I ch some stuff that wouldn't interfere with my own children's game own children's stuff right now.
Speaker B:And it just so happened that some volleyball games were the things that wouldn't interfere with my own children stuff.
Speaker B:So I figured why not?
Speaker B:And I actually, so I, I was just going to be a super show up as a supervisor, make sure things are going good with where no one was getting themselves into trouble like in a student section.
Speaker B:Well, it turned out they needed a line judge.
Speaker B:So I got a crash course on how to be a line judge.
Speaker B:And I didn't do too bad actually.
Speaker B:I know it's not too hard, but too tricky.
Speaker B:But I, I wanted to still do a nice job for the school as I was worried and, and this, the third thing I'm thankful for is my creative, my children's creativity.
Speaker B:I love each of my three children at home are so creative in their own, in their own right and they constantly are reminding me of how imagination, it fuels growth.
Speaker B:So I just love their, their imagination, their, their creativity.
Speaker B:It is, I just, I just love seeing their creativity.
Speaker B:All right, well we, let's get into it with the, the main event.
Speaker B:Everyone talking about, talking about building classroom community, putting relationships before rigor.
Speaker B:Now, why do relationships come first?
Speaker B:Well, we know that students won't learn deeply from teachers they don't trust.
Speaker B:And so we have to acknowledge that relationships must come before rigor.
Speaker B:It doesn't mean lowering the bar around academics.
Speaker B:It means building the foundation.
Speaker B:So rigor is possible because if we want to make the classes as hard as possible and as rigorous as possible, we've got to build the foundation of relationships in a classroom.
Speaker B:And it doesn't mean it's going to happen overnight.
Speaker B:It doesn't even mean it's going to happen in the first week or two of school.
Speaker B:It can be a multi, multi week or multi month even process of truly setting up the foundation depending on the classroom, how much they're struggling or not in terms of behavior wise or some challenges they have.
Speaker B:Sometimes it takes longer than others, sometimes if you're newer in a place that sometimes takes longer than others.
Speaker B:But relationships have to come before rigor.
Speaker B:And please hear what I'm saying, that rigor matters.
Speaker B:But it doesn't matter if, if you have no relationship built, if you're not, if you're not building that rigor on a, on, on the foundation of relationship.
Speaker B:And so it Kind of go.
Speaker B:They go hand in hand.
Speaker B:And I'm not saying don't start trying to bring in rigor into the classroom either until you got the relationship, because we can't.
Speaker B:We don't have the luxury of waiting later in the year.
Speaker B:But at first and forefront of what we do should be that relationship building.
Speaker B:And so what is a.
Speaker B:Well, I need to say this too.
Speaker B:A strong classroom community is proactive in classroom management.
Speaker B:I want to say that too.
Speaker B:Classroom management matters when we're building a strong classroom community.
Speaker B:So what does a classroom community look like?
Speaker B:I think of, like, students greeting each other by name, teachers greeting students by name.
Speaker B:Having shared experiences that everyone believes in in the classroom.
Speaker B:A classroom where mistakes are safe.
Speaker B:It's okay.
Speaker B:The classroom is a safe place for students to make mistakes and celebrate it as learning opportunities, that mistakes are seen truly as opportunities for learning and for growth.
Speaker B:And that rules and routines are a way of helping to make everyone feel like they belong.
Speaker B:And that's ultimately every system, every routine, every expectation that I have set in my classroom and that I try to hold the class accountable to, that's a part of.
Speaker B:That's a part of trying to get everyone to feel like they are part of my.
Speaker B:My classroom.
Speaker B:Our classroom, our.
Speaker B:Our community.
Speaker B:So I think of as I reflect on why this matters to me personally, sometimes you can connect with students through sharing personal things with them.
Speaker B:Now, of course, we got to be appropriate, right?
Speaker B:Like, there's certain things that we are not going to get into sharing with students.
Speaker B:You know, if there's.
Speaker B:If there's challenges, I mean, we have to use our professional judgment on what's appropriate or not to share with students, right?
Speaker B:Like there's just something we should not share.
Speaker B:But some stuff I have, I have shared with students.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Again, if one thing I try to connect with students on is talking to them about knowing what it's like to struggle.
Speaker B:I've shared how there's been with some.
Speaker B:With some challenges in my life.
Speaker B:Losing my mom rocked my world.
Speaker B:My wife and I losing five unborn babies rocked my world.
Speaker B:When my wife had her miscarriages.
Speaker B:Watching my brother get sick while I was in college, and it got to the point where it was life or death.
Speaker B:And they didn't know if my brother had a terminal illness.
Speaker B:That was very scary to me and overwhelming to me when I was in college and not knowing what doctors would find out.
Speaker B:Times in my life that I have been made fun of.
Speaker B:Times in life where my brother has been made fun of for being disabled mentally and Physically disabled times in my life, I've had to go up against bullies, struggling with school, myself, academically.
Speaker B:In certain subjects, like reading, where I. I.
Speaker B:My early days of reading, I was not a strong reader.
Speaker B:I struggled with reading.
Speaker B:I struggled with writing.
Speaker B:I struggled with math.
Speaker B:I'm pretty.
Speaker B:I'm pretty good with them now.
Speaker B:But those early days, now, I worked hard, but it didn't come easy.
Speaker B:Where there's some.
Speaker B:Some people that school just comes easy to, academic subjects are just easy for them.
Speaker B:And that.
Speaker B:That's never been me.
Speaker B:That's never been just, oh, just.
Speaker B:It's so easy.
Speaker B:I can't relate to that.
Speaker B:And that's okay.
Speaker B:If there's someone who at school is easy to their easy, school comes easy to them.
Speaker B:It never has for me, though, you know, sharing these experiences with students, it gave me empathy.
Speaker B:Well, first off, let me backtrack just having these experiences, these struggles in my life, they gave me empathy and resilience.
Speaker B:I'm not saying I'm glad I went through some of them, but they.
Speaker B:They did build resilience and empathy in inside me and sharing them with students.
Speaker B:They gave me an opportunity to connect with students, to see that, hey, Mr. Cleave has gone through some challenges in his life too.
Speaker B:Not everything has been easy for Mr. Cleave, too, because sometimes our students can.
Speaker B:They sometimes forget that we're human beings too.
Speaker B:Like, if we see them out in public, students.
Speaker B:If we see students out in public or outside of a classroom, it freaks them out almost.
Speaker B:We're like, what in the world?
Speaker B:Because it's just.
Speaker B:It's hard for them to sometimes relate to us as human beings.
Speaker B:And so sharing these stories of challenge that I have faced helps me build that connection with my students because I want them to see how I was able to pull through hard times, that I may have had some hard times in my life.
Speaker B:I may have been in a dark space at times, but I pulled through and life wasn't over for me.
Speaker B:And just sharing how I handled it and sharing with my students that, hey, you will have hard times in your life too.
Speaker B:You will have to face hard things, and that life isn't over for you and that you can get through it is the message that I want to send to my students.
Speaker B:I will face tough times too, in my life.
Speaker B:Boy, it helps us build community when we can share stories like that and frame things in a way that helps put perspective to the students that we work with.
Speaker B:I push first to connect before academics.
Speaker B:As I'm building those that first, those first interactions.
Speaker B:I don't even have my students.
Speaker B:I don't have books sitting on the student's desk when they come in.
Speaker B:Some teachers will pile books on students desk.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:That's not a priority.
Speaker B:Those first, especially those first couple of days when they come in the to get those books in their hands.
Speaker B:That's not a priority.
Speaker B:My priority is to start the wheels turning of building community in my classroom, of building that rapport.
Speaker B:Rigor will not stick.
Speaker B:Rigor in the classroom will not stick without relationships first being built.
Speaker B:We have to work on building relationships.
Speaker B:We can't just jump right into the academics and think that we're going to be successful.
Speaker B:We have to start laying the groundwork before academics.
Speaker B:I cannot stress that enough.
Speaker B:So what are some strategies to building community early?
Speaker B:Well, getting going on morning check inside or circles to start today.
Speaker B:If you have a circle time or a morning check in some sort of connection time where, where you can connect with students.
Speaker B:That can be valuable if you do something like that or like a morning meeting even.
Speaker B:I like what I've been trying to do incorporate just like a micro lesson in my classroom where I talk about the like the school wide expectations that they teach K12 and then also tying that into hey, how are we doing today?
Speaker B:Are we facing challenges?
Speaker B:How are we feeling?
Speaker B:But you know, I have to, I have to be really careful how I, how I approach that too.
Speaker B:And one thing that really helps me is I have this mental health check in in my classroom where they were even before.
Speaker B:Even as I've, I've read to them as they come in and kind of finding out like hey, how are they doing?
Speaker B:How I'm finding out, how they're doing is they check on, they take this magnet that kind of hides their name on it and they check where they're at.
Speaker B:How are they feeling?
Speaker B:Are they feeling great?
Speaker B:Good.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Are they struggling or are they in a dark place?
Speaker B:Like where are they at mentally?
Speaker B:And they can check in sometimes I can see it on her face but sometimes you can't.
Speaker B:And they check in.
Speaker B:They kind of let me know where they're at and it's kind of, it's a way that you can't, others can't see what they marked unless you lift up the magnet and it has their name on it.
Speaker B:So I do that every morning where they check in with me and letting me know where they're at.
Speaker B:And then sometimes I can pull them aside if I see that some of them mark low or if one of them marks really struggling I get an opportunity that I can mark that down or that I can not mark it down but make note of it and pull them aside so I can make that initial connection and kind of find out what's going on.
Speaker B:And then just connecting when I'm getting going with the micro lesson on like hey, what is an expectation just connecting to hey as a class kind of take a temperature of the class and where they're at too.
Speaker B:You know.
Speaker B:And it's not something that has to take very long either.
Speaker B:It doesn't have to take very long at all.
Speaker B:Another thing is that that you can build community early is having a, a class created agreement like our promise or our, our code.
Speaker B:I have a success pledge taped to their desks that we've, we've agreed upon and it kind of goes through.
Speaker B:We also there, there's.
Speaker B:We have our morning routine with.
Speaker B:They have the announcements over the intercom, the Star Star Spangled Banner pledge of Allegiance type of stuff.
Speaker B:The, the, the Winnebago Tribe, they, the tribes song, the flag song that that they play over the intercom.
Speaker B:That's kind of like every morning that the kind of the process for like part of the the morning routines.
Speaker B:And then after that as we're we're wrapping up our bell ringer and I'm doing my expectation and kind of checking in, I'm kind of checking in kind of getting a feel for where the class is at before we start math and it doesn't have to take long Instead of just diving right into the academics, just kind of getting a feel for the class can be very beneficial.
Speaker B:I think of also student jobs in the classroom and roles that give students ownership.
Speaker B:That's yeah that's.
Speaker B:I would.
Speaker B:As I'm reflecting here, I have certain students that handle certain things in the classroom and that's a way of giving ownership and control back to students where I don't have to do everything.
Speaker B:They can do certain things every day.
Speaker B:They can handle certain things every day too to kind of help with the flow of the classroom and that kind of refocuses the control and the ownership in the classroom.
Speaker B:And then another strategy for building community.
Speaker B:Storytelling letting students know my story and inviting their story to be shared as well.
Speaker B:Yesterday in class we, we were, we were.
Speaker B:I, I, I had a, I interrupted our lesson.
Speaker B:The we we did like a 5 minutes talking about food and that was at students getting me off track.
Speaker B:I knew what I was doing that, that lesson interruption.
Speaker B:We were talking about different foods we liked and different things we've had maybe things that families has made, and some native native foods, some native dishes that I was asking about that I'd like to experience and taste someday.
Speaker B:That was a powerful thing because that was a moment for me to connect with them in the build community, where some might say, hey, you interrupted the flow of your lesson you were teaching, and that got them off track.
Speaker B:And I would argue relationships before rigor.
Speaker B:That moment was necessary.
Speaker B:It lended itself really nicely to having a mini discussion on foods.
Speaker B:And it wasn't about the foods.
Speaker B:It was about the relationships I was building with them, the connection I was building with them through talking about that food.
Speaker B:That's the powerful thing.
Speaker B:That's the powerful thing that came out of that.
Speaker B:Why this matters long term?
Speaker B:Why does it matter long term?
Speaker B:Putting relationships before rigor.
Speaker B:Well, ultimately it.
Speaker B:It does reduce behavior because belonging needs are met, so you're less likely to have behavior issues.
Speaker B:We want students to feel like they belong and that they're part of our classroom.
Speaker B:And if you do that and you do it right, you're still gonna have some behavior challenges, but you're gonna minimize them greatly, I think by doing that, and it's not gonna fix it all.
Speaker B:Please don't hear what I'm saying.
Speaker B:I'm not dismissing if you have behavior challenges in your classroom, because we all do.
Speaker B:However, we need to make sure our students are.
Speaker B:Feel like they belong.
Speaker B:And if they're not, is there something we can tweak to help them feel like they belong?
Speaker B:Building relationships before rigor also creates resilience when challenges come.
Speaker B:When you chase challenges with students over the course of the year, if you have that relationship built with them, you're going to be able to dig into those challenges a lot faster than if the students don't like and trust you.
Speaker B:And I'm not saying, like, I'm not saying, like, we're not there to be our.
Speaker B:The friends of our students.
Speaker B:That's a very interesting thing because when I was.
Speaker B:When I was interviewing for my first teaching job, they asked me, is it more important to be.
Speaker B:To be respected or liked?
Speaker B:And I said, I think both is important.
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker B:Not in terms of like, a friend, like, I'm their friend way, but in a, you know, I want students to like coming into my classroom to like me, but they don't have to.
Speaker B:They don't have to agree with my decisions always.
Speaker B:And I think they're going to like me.
Speaker B:If part of liking me is setting up that from, like me as a teacher student relationship.
Speaker B:Part of that is where they feel safe.
Speaker B:They feel like they're heard.
Speaker B:They feel like they belong.
Speaker B:They feel like structures are set up in the classroom.
Speaker B:So from a teacher, student point of view, I want students to like me.
Speaker B:And that.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:And that's about that.
Speaker B:Relationship building is the way we.
Speaker B:We really dig into doing it.
Speaker B:And then building, putting relationships before rigor, it helps build peer accountability.
Speaker B:Students hold each other accountable to the community when it comes to the norms, not just the teacher.
Speaker B:Like, they're.
Speaker B:They're checking each other, holding people accountable, saying, hey, cut it out.
Speaker B:Hey, let's get back on track.
Speaker B:They're.
Speaker B:They're using their voice to hold each other accountable.
Speaker B:And when you get students holding each other accountable, you know that you're getting some traction with building the community in the room.
Speaker B:Well, that's our focus today.
Speaker B:Everyone we had.
Speaker B:We dug into this topic on this.
Speaker B:Relationships before rigor.
Speaker B:Why it matters.
Speaker B:Why.
Speaker B:Why Building classroom community.
Speaker B:Putting relationships before rigor is so important.
Speaker B:Why it matters greatly.
Speaker B:Community.
Speaker B:As I bring things to a close, community isn't.
Speaker B:Isn't an extra thing.
Speaker B:It's not.
Speaker B:It is the soil where everything else grows.
Speaker B:My own life taught me that relationships carry us through the struggles.
Speaker B:If we want kids to reach rigorous, we've got to connect with them first.
Speaker B:We have to connect with them first.
Speaker B:That has to be our number one priority before anything else.
Speaker B:Remember that.
Speaker B:Relationships before rigor.
Speaker B:Well, with that being said, I want you to remember to inspire greatness and young people.
Speaker B:And don't forget to be a funky teacher.
Speaker B:Bye now.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky Teacher yeah, he's Mr. Funky Teacher yeah, yeah, yeah.
