Building COMMUNITY in and Outside the Classroom | MAGIC part V

Building a community in the classroom where students feel connected, supported, and confident they can be successful is essential for teachers. However, fostering a community of other passionate and supportive educators to for us to lean on is equally important! In this episode Dan & Caitlin with special guest, Matt Kulasiewicz, discuss how they do both.  :)

Matt shares the importance of learning students' names day 1 to connect with them, how he gets students to open up and share about personal issues in a safe way where students feel comfortable so students connect with one another on a deeper level, and much more. Dan shares an exit ticket strategy he uses that builds a culture of gratitude, and Caitlin shares how she adapted that strategy to also get students to start recognizing their own strengths and skills, and much, much more!

For fostering a teacher community around you to support you and inspire you, Matt shares about the importance of checking in on other teachers, Caitlin shares on how important it is to collaborate  with other teachers who jive with you, and Dan shares about how you can start a "Marigold" program at your school to create a spirit of appreciation and encouragement amongst the staff. 💜

Caitlin references the book, "Be the Flame: Sparking Positive Classroom Communities" by Shane Saaed.

And don't worry- the fire alarm that interrupted our intro was recorded after school so no students were around and Caitlin was fine! Just a little wet from the rain! 🤣