Responsive Classroom
Responsive Classroom is an evidence-based approach to teaching and discipline that focuses on engaging academics, positive community, effective management, and developmental awareness.
The Responsive Classroom approach strengthens educators’ ability to:
• Design lessons that are active and interactive
• Use effective teacher language to promote academic and social growth
• Encourage engagement by giving students meaningful choices
• Start each day in a way that sets a positive tone for learning (morning meeting)
• Set high expectations and teach students how to meet them
• Establish routines that promote autonomy and independence
• Build a sense of community and shared purpose
• Teach students critical social skills such as problem-solving, communication, and collaboration
The secret to strong classroom management lies in predictable routines and procedures. From entering and exiting the classroom to managing materials to moments of transition, well-established routines and procedures can provide a natural flow of calmness and order to every part of the day. Giving students clear expectations for these routines and procedures helps them feel safe, independent, and empowered to participate in their classroom. Interactive Modeling is a specific practice Responsive Classroom educators use to establish classroom routines and procedures, especially in the first six weeks of school.
The use of logical consequences is one part of an approach to discipline used in the Responsive Classroom. It’s a powerful way of responding to children’s misbehavior that not only is effective in stopping the behavior but is respectful of children and helps them to take responsibility for their actions.
People often ask, “How are logical consequences any different from punishment?”
The goal of punishment is to enforce compliance with the rules by using external controls or authoritarian discipline.
• While effective in stopping the misbehavior of the moment, punishment does little to increase student responsibility.
• Punishment often leads to feelings of anger, discouragement and resentment, and an increase in evasion and deception.
The goal of logical consequences is to help children develop internal understanding, self-control, and a desire to follow the rules.
• Logical consequences help children look more closely at their behaviors and consider the results of their choices.
• Unlike punishment, where the intention is to make a child feel shamed, the intention of logical consequences is to help children develop internal controls and to learn from their mistakes in a supportive atmosphere.