Shifting From ‘My Classroom’ to ‘Our Classroom’

When my daughter was in the seventh grade, she made the following observation about her teacher’s organizational style: “She really wants all her programs to work.”

She said this without judgment. She was only reporting what she experienced. I asked her what she meant by “programs,” and she gave me a brief run-through of the daily agenda: independent review via Quizlet, a Nearpod, a reading passage with questions, and an exit ticket.

These are all strong strategies. But the conversation with my daughter made me think about my own classroom. What priorities was I unwittingly communicating to my students? Maintaining an efficient, well-organized classroom while providing authentic opportunities for collaboration and individual growth can be challenging. I wondered: How can I keep everything running smoothly while also fostering student agency and ownership?

Ceding Some Control in the Classroom 

When it comes to letting go of control to empower students, my first step was moving from a “my classroom” mindset to an “our classroom” approach. I began by relinquishing sole control of the whiteboard, setting students free to draw anime characters, dinosaurs, and little cartoons.

I have poetry magnets that students can manipulate to create poems or just very long, mostly nonsensical sentences. I added a cork board in the back of the room where students are welcome to post their own photos and notes. Students have access to day-to-day classroom materials, including the basics like a stapler and a tape dispenser on up to colored pencils, glue, sticky notes, etc. A few years ago, as a drastic but important step, I removed my big teacher desk. Now, my laptop and I sit at a table among the other learners when I’m not facilitating a whole class lesson.

But my method of loosening my grip on the classroom’s physical space might not work for you and your students. Student- or even teacher-created anchor charts that contain meaningful information are another way of keeping the focus on students and their needs. Flexible seating is also a great option, as are student classroom jobs such as attendance-taker or paper-passer.

It’s also important to note that creating a space that is “ours” doesn’t mean anything goes. If I need to write on the whiteboard while I’m teaching, I give a quick apology (“Sorry, Sailor Moon”) and erase anything that’s in my way. We have a cabinet that is “teacher-access only.” I have to monitor those magnetic poems to make sure they’re school appropriate. I’m still in charge; it’s just a matter of what we’re focused on: a “perfectly run” classroom, or one in which everyone feels like they truly belong.

Creating Opportunities for Expertise and Sharing

Back in 2020, I wrote about creating classroom communities in a virtual setting and discussed hosting talent shows during my classes’ Google Meets. These days, I find ways to incorporate students’ expertise and talents in other ways.

I chat with early finishers to find out how they might contribute to our learning. One student was interested in the use of propaganda in Nazi Germany. Another was a geography master who can name just about every country on the globe. Another was obsessed with unusual insects. The first created a presentation on propaganda in war history to share with the class; the second became our map guru, pointing out countries on our big map whenever the need arises; and the last created a brain-break activity called “What Is It?” in which he projected images of odd-looking invertebrates.

This approach is self-generating once you get it started. One student teaches a mini-lesson on the Pinkerton letters; another asks me if they can do the same on the Salem witch trials. Others have asked if they share their favorite band’s inspirations from musical traditions of the past.

It’s important to note that while giving students these opportunities to teach their peers promotes the idea that we all have something to give, it also is a bit of extra work for me. Students don’t inherently know how to teach, so I have to work with them and help them prepare. Besides making sure their materials, including Google Slides presentations and handouts, are accurate and spelled and capitalized correctly, I have students go through their lesson’s main points with me. I ask questions to ensure that they have a thorough understanding of the content. I then suggest strategies to make their lesson more interactive.

For example, I encourage them to insert activities they’ve seen me use, such as mind mapping or write-pair-share. I show them how to follow this with a class discussion, using a digital name picker like wheelofnames.com to make sure they are calling on a variety of students and not just their friends. For me, these extra few minutes of coaching are worth the considerable gain of collaboration, student agency, and strong sense of belonging.

Opening up Whole Class Decision-Making

From sharing the physical space of the classroom to putting students in the teacher’s spot, it naturally follows that students can be involved in evaluating classroom learning activities and help make decisions about future lessons.

At the end of a unit of study, I often facilitate a plus-delta chart discussion, asking students, “What worked well?” and “What changes could we make?” As the leader of our community of learners, I keep the goal in the forefront: We are here to learn. All suggestions must fit this objective. This activity not only is useful in the moment but also helps create the habit of reflection, both as a community and as individuals.

I extend this to student-to-student feedback. The goal here is to make constructive criticism a classroom norm. I begin with small steps, simply asking, “OK, whose assignment can we learn from today?” Students volunteer and I project. We discuss: “Where is the writing the most clear? The most informative? What changes could make this even stronger?” I sometimes rephrase a student’s suggestion, ensuring positive wording of feedback. As the most experienced learner in the room, I’m not afraid to politely disagree with their critique. The point to make is that we’re all here to learn, and providing thoughtful feedback is a part of learning.

This approach to classroom community-building takes a little work at the beginning, but once students buy in, the dividends are priceless. Students learn to question each other, and the teacher, civilly and with a generous spirit. They learn to accept their differences and learn from them. Most important, they begin to see themselves as active participants in their own education.