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= = = = = Introducing the //Responsive Classroom// ® Approach = The //Responsive Classroom// (RC) is an approach to teaching and learning that fosters safe, challenging, and joyful classrooms and schools, kindergarten through eighth grade. Developed by classroom teachers, it consists of practical strategies for bringing together social and academic learning throughout the school day. Since 1981, thousands of classroom teachers and hundreds of schools have used the //Responsive Classroom// approach to help create learning environments where children thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. In urban, rural, and suburban settings nationwide, educators using these strategies report increases in student investment, responsibility, and learning, and decreases in problem behaviors.

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==**What does the Responsive Classroom Environment look like? ** ==

It is important to understand that a caring, respectful classroom environment strengthens students' sense of belonging. But a caring, respectful enviroment alone is not enough. When teachers are academically focused—providing clear instruction, ensuring opportunities for practice and feedback, and structuring time for real engagement in tasks—students achieve more. RC strives to develop "ethical ideals" in students, the desire and knowledge to act in more caring ways. This is achieved through the following six components.

**Morning Meetings**  This daily ritual builds a sense of community while setting a positive tone for the day. Its four components—greeting, sharing, a group game or activity, and a daily letter and news from the teacher—provide an opportunity for children to learn and practice a variety of social and academic skills, including speaking in front of others about meaningful experiences, listening to peers and responding appropriately with questions and comments, working cooperatively, and using knowledge recently learned in class (e.g., new vocabulary words or numeric tasks). The supportive atmosphere of Morning Meeting makes it easier for children to take the risks necessary to master these skills. 
 * View a Morning Greeting and an Activity that allows students to practice their social skills.**

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**Rules and Logical Consequences** These classroom management tools are designed to promote and sustain a sense of community and instill “habits of goodness” in children. Developed at the beginning of the school year by the teacher and students together, rules are positive statements that establish guidelines and expectations for behavior; they are the cornerstone of classroom life and are used to encourage conversation and problem solving related to ethical issues that arise in school. Examples of classroom rules ** Logical consequences are nonpunitive responses to student wrongdoing. They are designed to be situation and child specific. A child who is irresponsible with classroom materials, for example, might be required to repair or replace something he or she has ruined or broken. Logical consequences are meant to support children as they learn to behave in socially responsible ways and to help them make amends and soothe feelings when they have hurt someone.
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 * *Respect yourself
 * Respect others
 * Respect the environment **

**Guided Discovery** This is a process for introducing students to classroom materials (e.g., games, art supplies, books, and computers) and learning methods (e.g., writing or reading workshops); it is intended to generate their excitement and invite their active participation in constructing knowledge about the potential and use of the materials and methods. Guided Discovery uses modeling and demonstration to teach skills and concepts. This interactive process between students and the teacher includes naming the object or learning activity to establish a common vocabulary, generating ideas about its potential and use, actively exploring the ideas with the group, and making decisions about the care of materials. During a Guided Discovery, students also learn and practice social skills that promote cooperative learning, such as listening to one another, appreciating each other’s ideas, asking thoughtful questions, and making respectful comments.

In a Responsive Classroom, the physical space is organized to both maximize children’s independence and facilitate peer interactions, whether for partners, a small group, or the entire class. A carpeted area or open space invites the whole group to gather and see one another face to face, for example, and tables around the room or specific interest areas offer opportunities for partner or small-group interactions. The physical environment should also contribute to the development of a classroom culture, constructed by the students and teacher together over time. A part of the classroom, for example, might be set aside for the display of student projects completed as part of the science curriculum. As the class moves through the curriculum, new projects are continually added to the display alongside earlier projects. Over the months, the display becomes a representation to the children of their progress through the curriculum and their growing body of knowledge and achievement.
 * Classroom Organization **



 <span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Giving children choices at school helps them develop a sense of ownership in regard to the learning process. In a Responsive Classroom, students regularly are given the opportunity to make choices about their own learning. The teacher presents options or provides guidance for choosing a topic of study or a method or materials for a project. The choice might be as simple as a book for independent reading or as complex as a semester-long research project.
 * Academic Choice**


 * <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">Assessment and Reporting to Parents ** <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ongoing home-school communication is critical for a productive rapport between parents and teachers; it helps both parties understand how best to promote children’s academic learning and social-emotional development. The Responsive Classroom approach recommends that teachers initiate the first contact with parents early in the school year. The teacher should invite the parents to share their concerns and goals for their child, and he or she should express his or her own as well. The teacher should also communicate to the parents that they are welcome in the classroom at any time. The guidelines for the Responsive Classroom approach suggest many activities for parents, both those who help out in the classroom regularly and those who visit only occasionally or spontaneously.


 * Keep in Touch** through phone calls, emails, postcards, sign up sheets, exit passes, and newsletters.


 * The components work alone and in concert to help students develop the social skills of cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control and also to promote in them a deeper knowledge of academic subject areas, reasoned decision making, and motivation for learning.