Classroom Climate

“…adolescents’ perceptions of how caring their teachers are predict gains and losses in their feelings of self-esteem, school belong, and positive affect in school.” (Eccles & Roeser, 2011, p. 229)

In my opinion, teachers fail to acknowledge the fact that they have a lot to do with how a student does in their academic tasks and overall school career. It’s obvious that, or at least you would think that teachers should get to know their student’s different backgrounds, cultures, and family situations to help form a relationship with them. But, I’ve seen and known of many teachers that don’t even try to get to know their students, so aside from getting to know them, what I want to get across is, teachers should at least try to create a classroom environment where everyone feels like they belong. How? Well, it’s fair to say that students can perceive if a teacher cares about them, if a teacher shows a “lack of enthusiasm or enjoyment” it could negatively affect a student’s emotional status (“anxiety, shame, and hopelessness”) as described in the article, but also, maybe they should pick another profession. It’s important to do our part as teachers and the rest is a domino effect. I’m interested in learning more on how to make student’s feel like they belong while in class and being responsible of my “classroom climate.”