I try to maintain a balance in my class of energy and enthusiasm but also control and structure which can often be competing ideals. It is important that I can recognize hurtful and dangerous behavior and move to correct it so that students don't get hurt physically or emotionally. I rarely find situations where I am concerned about student's physical safety, but working with middle schoolers, emotional security is something that comes up quite often. My students are aware that we do not tolerate putting someone down for not understanding something or for making a mistake and instead we offer support and correction to help them understand.
We do a lot of work in groups for this very purpose so that students have a peer support group that can help each other when they don't feel confident seeking help in a more public manner. I make an effort to build positive relationships with all my students and show them continual respect with the hope that respect will be returned to their peers and to myself. I meet them where they are developmentally and try to make my expectations clear and honest but also support them and provide forgiveness for mistakes. I think the majority of my students feel that they enjoy coming to math class and that it is a safe and positive environment to be in, even if they struggle with the subject. Several responses from the student-teacher feedback survey support this feeling:
"My teacher is great at teaching and uses many things like examples and humor to make the class lively and interesting."
"He himself is a very relaxed teacher which is nice because Math becomes fun with his attitude towards us. I also think that the occasional team game group thingy makes math pretty fun."
"He doesn't get angry, he just calmly says the name of the people that are causing trouble and it works quite well."
"Mr. Roberts has the respect of all the members of our class because he makes it so that math isn't boring, and connects with us as individuals"
"I think Mr. Roberts is a really nice and more easy going teacher which is really cool. He respects all the students and still teaches me many things.He helps everybody, making sure everyone knows what they're doing. That really helps because then if I have a problem he can help me whereas other teachers would wants me to ask later, this helps a lot. Also, he is helpful and kind, he makes a safe and fun learning enviroment, even in math!"