11 Ways to Build a Safe Classroom Community

Safety is a basic need for all children and, as a teacher, you are the main creator of a safe and positive environment for your students. Whether you teach high school or kindergarten, a safe classroom community is essential to a successful year. Students who feel safe are happy, kind, growing, and a lot of fun to be around!

At the start of a new school year we spend majority of our time focusing on lesson planning and classroom decoration and we can easily overlook how essential creating a safe environment for our kids can be. When a student does not feel safe, they cannot be successful.  Here are eleven tried and true ways you can build a safe classroom community for your students.

1. Greet your students at the door each morning with a smile and kind words.
2. Communicate safety with your body posture. Eye level contact and a calm body show your children that you are approachable.
3. Value each student’s contribution to classroom conversation.
4. Be intentional about getting to know each student.
5. Be intentional about getting to know each student’s family and home life. This can transform your classroom, and help you understand the why behind the what!
6. Have a growth mindset. Let your kids know its always okay to make a mistake, mistakes are things we can learn from.
7. Have a safe space set up in your classroom. A calm down area with sensory items helps kids step away from the overstimulation of a long day.
8. Set clear expectations as a classroom. Allow your children to be a part of creating and modeling expectations. Let everyone take ownership and review daily!
9. Model conflict resolution and trust your children to lead the way. Have a plan for your classroom, model often, and encourage problem solving.
10. Value the positive you see in your children. Each child needs to feel a sense of belonging. Bucket filling, “I spy kindness” and daily “shout outs” are a great way to encourage daily positive affirmations among students.
11. Have fun together! Laughter and fun communicate safety to children. Jump into silly brain breaks with them, or take a quick walk outside and tell jokes! A happy teacher creates a happy and safe classroom!

How do you work to build a safe classroom community? I feel like there are so many little things we can do that truly add up and make a big difference!

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