Setting the Tone

I walked over to the left side of the room, where a particularly soft-spoken student was voicing his opinion. Unfortunately I couldn’t quite hear what he was saying from my spot at the front of the room, and I was nervous about asking him to speak up. It was my first discussion as a first year teacher, and I didn’t want to make anyone feel embarrassed or uncomfortable. In fact, I really wanted students to feel safe, respected, and empowered in my classroom, and it was important to me to set this tone early on.

But as I shifted my focus toward the quiet student, I noticed a few side conversations start to pop up behind me. My instinct was to briefly pause the conversation and remind students to listen when someone else is speaking. At the same time, I worried that starting off with a reprimand would sour the tone I was trying to build. I didn’t want to come off as super strict–I wanted to build community. So I tried a gentler tactic: I repeated what the student said, adding a comment to highlight its importance. I hoped this would draw attention back to the discussion and model respectful listening. But it didn’t land, and the chatter continued. I felt torn between maintaining a safe space and positive relationship with the students, while also establishing–and more importantly maintaing–the norms and conditions to make that possible.