Rachel Sarnoff
M.S. Ed. Candidate, May 2016 | The University of Pennsylvania
B.A. June, 2012 | Dartmouth College
My students’ comfort and sense of emotional and intellectual safety is the utmost priority in everything I do in my classroom. For instance, I think it is essential to establish reliable routines and reactions not for “order,” but because these expectations helps students feel safe in their classroom, which in turn enables them to take productive risks academically, socially and emotionally. Risk-taking is inevitably accompanied by mistake-making, and in my classroom, we celebrate “fabulous flops” (a phrase I learned from another new favorite children's book, Rosie Revere, Engineer) by acknowledging our mistakes and learning from them. As discussed previously, it is important to me that students do not engage only in conversations when they know they have the right answer, or try in situations when they are confident they will succeed. Instead, I hope that they feel safe putting forth their best effort, knowing that if they do, they will receive the support they need in improving.
Factor 4: Somatic and Emotional States
In the Research
Ultimately, as stated in my Practice Framework, my goal as a teacher has long been to “create an environment in which my students see themselves as capable learners, perseverant scholars, and compassionate human beings” (Artifact 1). Indeed, I believe that rigorous academics and social and emotional competencies are not mutually exclusive - instead, an effective teacher cultivates both in her classroom. As demonstrated in the Practice Framework cited above and my introduction to this Inquiry Project, at the root of my educational philosophy, is my belief that students who feel as though they belong in their academic community, and believe they have the ability and supports needed to succeed in reaching high-level expectations are more likely to engage in classroom activities, academic content, and intellectual exploration. A look back at conversations with students, feedback I’ve given, and lessons I’ve taught presents a taste of the ways in which I have attempted to create a classroom experience that cultivates these student feelings and subsequent behaviors and outcomes, and observations from my mentors suggest that students are reacting in some of the hoped-for manners. I’ll let a student, herself, close this section out, as she explains how she feels in our classroom (Artifact 12):
Me: How do you feel in this classroom?
Student: Happy, I have a lot of friends. And the teachers are great. They’re nice and funny. They help everybody.
Me: What else do you feel? Do you always feel happy?
Student: Well, sometimes people can be mean. So then I’m not happy. That makes me sad.
Me: What do the teachers do then?
Student: They talk to you to make you feel happy.
Me: When you feel happy, or you feel sad, do these feelings influence your school work or the way you behave?
Student: Well, I’m more talkative when I’m happy. When I’m sad, I just sit there and be quiet.
Me: Do you feel any other feelings in this classroom? Like safe, or nervous, comfortable or uncomfortable?
Student: I feel safe because the teachers know how to keep you safe. Like both your body but also your feelings not getting hurt.
Although, admittedly, this was not a particularly rigorous or unbiased interview, I am pleased to hear this student express feelings of happiness and comfort in the classroom, and acknowledge the roles her teachers play in making her feel this way. I also see that her comment about being more talkative when she is happy validates the framework originally discussed in which feelings (especially those created and supported by teachers) influence student behaviors. Indeed, the classroom environment that we create shapes students’ feelings, which in turn affects their school behaviors.
Artifact 12: Student Interview, 4/21/16
Finally, “somatic and emotional states” are also proven to influence individuals’ perceptions of self-efficacy. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, “Stress, anxiety, worry and fear all negatively affect self-efficacy and can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy of inability to perform the feared tasks” (Pajares, 2002). A classroom environment that cultivates self-efficacy, therefore, is one that does not trigger such emotional states as stress, worry, or fear. This is an utmost priority of mine and throughout this portfolio, I hope that you will find evidence of the ways in which I develop a classroom culture where students’ emotional security is prioritized. Next, I will sum up evidence of this culture of safety that I tried to promote in a final section of analysis.
In the Classroom
