Building a Community of Learners

I enjoyed reading this week’s readings because they all focused on building a strong environment in the classroom that helps supports and pushes all students to be better both academically and socially. The chapter in Subjects Matter looks specifically at how to build a community of learners. In order to be an effective teacher, one must create an environment where students feel comfortable discussing their thoughts in both an individual and group setting. Peers can be better teachers than the teacher in certain situations, which is why students need to have interactions with everyone in the classroom at some point during the day. It is crucial for teachers to get to know their students because once a connection between the teacher and student has been made, the teacher can then use this information to build lessons that directly relate to his students. The students would be more likely to take responsibility in the classroom, making them more independent learners. I may use the strategy mentioned on page 174 about having the student who I have helped on a particular problem explain that problem to others who have questions with that problem. This would give the original student the opportunity to solidify his knowledge, other students would still learn the material, and I could focus on other questions or problems students may be having. This chapter helped me see the benefits of having a classroom where students can learn from each other, ask questions without worrying about other people’s thoughts, and be actively engage in the learning process.