Does your classroom feel like a nurturing space, where each student feels seen, heard, and embraced? Join us as we welcome the inspiring educator Nick Alfred from Rhode Island, who has brilliantly transformed his classroom into an 'environment of care'. He explains how prioritizing the well-being of students, both emotionally and physically, creates a learning space where relationships flourish and students thrive.
From daily mood check-ins to flexible seating options, Nick dives into the practical strategies that help foster this positive atmosphere. Learn how these methods not only enhance student-teacher relationships but also foster connections between students. He shares how his unique approach can be adapted in any classroom, providing a wealth of insights for both seasoned and new educators. Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights into creating a supportive teaching environment that puts students' well-being first.
Curriculum Associates presents the Extraordinary Educators podcast, with hosts Danielle Sullivan and Sari Laberis. Hear tips, best practices, and successes to improve your teaching and leadership and drive student growth and learning. We're here for you. Hi everyone, it's Sarah, and this week I am joined by Extraordinary Educator Nick in Rhode Island. Nick and I dove into environments of care and what that means for an educator and their students, and also some ways, strategies, daily things that you can do in your classroom to really create that environment of care so your students can not only build trust and relationships with you but also with each other. So really excited for you to hear all of the insights and great tips that Nick provided. Let's dive in. Welcome, Nick. We're so glad you're here with us today.
Nick Alfred:
Thanks, I'm excited to be here.
Sari Laberis:
Awesome. Well, we know that creating environments of care is really important to you as you think about the relationships you have with your students and their families. Can you talk a little bit about what is an environment of care and kind of your thoughts on that?
Nick Alfred:
So an environment of care here is about putting the students' well-being first before their actual education, because if you're not ready to learn, you can't learn.
Sari Laberis:
So how do you create that sort of environment with your students?
Nick Alfred:
So the environment is both physical and mental. We do a lot of mood meters. I also do a daily check-in with my students where they're allowed to write anything they want on the board. Not anything but the answer to a prompt, just to sort of judge where they are during the day. Our entire school also uses a daily check-in that students get at different times of the day depending upon the day where, if they feel like they need to check in with an adult a trusted adult, a teacher, social worker they have the opportunity to put that information into the Google Form and the teacher gets that right away. Some other things that we do is there's a lot. I have a lot of flexible seating in my classroom so that when students are working, they are physically comfortable and they can get more work done. Obviously, there are expectations around what they should be doing when they're not sitting in a desk looking like a student, but they're still working.
Sari Laberis:
Thank you so much for sharing all of those strategies and I'm sure students really feel you know, trusted and you've built that trust with them so right. You can take it from there and excel in academics because you have those relationships. Just to break it down for folks listening who want to implement these in their classroom, can you talk a bit about the actual logistics or operations behind, for example, the moon meters or the flexible seating, like, how do you roll this out to students? What are you actually doing? Where are they? You know, where are they working during flexible seating?
Nick Alfred:
Sure, so the flexible seating in my classroom, there are desks and chairs. That's an option. There's also three different tables that they could sit at. Large table, small table. We have beanbag chairs. I also have old patio cushions that came off of my patio when I got new furniture. Those are just kind of on the counter for kids to use, either sitting on the counter, sitting on the floor. We also have some desks that we took the legs off of so kids can sit on the floor and they still have a work surface for them. So those are the flexible seating.
Nick Alfred:
Usually the teacher or teacher's assistant will be working with a small group at a table. I don't always love sitting on the dirty carpet, but the kids don't seem to care In terms of the logistics, for the daily check-ins. Every morning I put one post up on the whiteboard and they can respond to it any way they want. I get good at knowing who's handwriting is who's and if I have to check in with someone. For example, what could you do today to make somebody feel welcome in our classroom and they might put, say good morning or hold the door for them. The other check-ins that we do the mood meters. They're those nice easy things. I grab them off a Pinterest or online, whatever seems to be the hot thing right now. Today's was using different Shrek faces, so they just basically choose where they're feeling at that moment.
Nick Alfred:
And the third thing, the school-wide check-in is a Google form that all of the teachers use and we send it out at different times during the day and the kids just answer four questions. They answer what their name is, how they're feeling. It's a checkbox and the multiple choice questions are super simple. I'm okay, I'm tired, but I'm okay. I need a check-in or I'm feeling very stressed, I need to talk to somebody, and then the last question they're given is who they would like to talk to and is there anything you would like to tell the teacher? And while it seems overwhelming at first, because you do get a lot of stories and information, that information is good to go back to afterwards, but if a kid does want to talk to somebody, that's the priority. We try to reach out as soon as possible to get that person in or get that person aware that somebody needs to talk to them.
Sari Laberis:
That is so great and I imagine it just has such a positive impact on both the students and teachers, because if someone's having a hard time, there's probably a reason behind it and you will find that out before the hard time happens. So thank you for sharing. Is there any? Obviously you and I both agree it's never too late, so if you're a teacher listening, you haven't done things like this yet. You know you can start tomorrow and it will be appreciated. Is there any advice that you have for teachers as they're creating their own environments of care in their classrooms?
Nick Alfred:
If you're going to do flexible seating and allow kids to sit on the floor, just talk about the expectations with them first, because the children, kids, they like that. So if they know that if they're rolling around and not working they're going to have to sit in the desk, they're going to be more apt to do work. And if you want to try the mood meters, it's super easy. Just Google it, print one out and see what the kids do with it, because they have a good time and it creates that conversation.
Sari Laberis:
Thank you. So how does that work? Do you show the pictures, for example, of the Shrek faces like to the whole class, and then how do they communicate to you which one they're feeling?
Nick Alfred:
Sometimes I'll put it up on the board and just do a tally chart. Sometimes I'll have a couple of them and they just kind of talk in a small group and point what they are, or we do it full class up on the up on the smart board, so projected.
Sari Laberis:
Awesome.
Nick Alfred:
Anyway it's really about getting the kids talking and interacting with you and with the other students.
Sari Laberis:
Yeah, that's so great. I I just realizing also now the benefits of them building relationships with each other through this and learning more about how their peers are feeling or what they're going through. We're just getting to know them as people outside of you know the academic turn and talk opportunities they get with each other throughout the day.
Nick Alfred:
Right. Definitely.
Sari Laberis:
Well, thank you so much for being here, Nick. That is all the time we have for today, but really appreciate your insights and expertise on creating environments of care. Get inspired by following us on social media and please tag us in your posts. On Twitter, at @curriculumassoc, and on Instagram, @myiready. If you have feedback about the podcast, a topic of interest or want to be a guest, email extraordinaryeducators@cainc. com. Subscribe where you listen to podcasts, and if you'd like to help more educators like you join the conversation, please leave a review.
Danielle Sullivan:
And remember, be you, be true, be extraordinary. The Extraordinary Educators podcast is produced by Curriculum Associates. Editing by Whiteboard Geeks, social media by Atziri Hannon, guest booking by Sari Laberis, production by Hayley Browning. This podcast is copyright, material and intellectual property of Curriculum Associates.