Students Speak About Learning Environment
Students have shared that they learn best in comfortable and calm classroom environments. These environments can be fun and also foster genuine learning and respectful peer and teacher relationships.
“After the last two years, getting thrown into high school really feels like we are in a shaken up soda can that’s ready to explode. Instead of focusing on harsh attendance and grading policies to force us to “catch up,” what we students need is for teachers to meet us where we are at — to understand what we’ve gone through, and help rebuild the community and the trust that we lost over the last two years.” — Ethan
Jaliyah: Kids found out a student was from a certain town and stopped talking to him
“One of my friends [at my vocational school] was a freshman who went to his exploratory for the shop he had been wanting to attend since before he came to the school. After he participated in an ice breaker in the shop, the kids found out he was from a certain town and stopped talking to him because they were all from other places. Immediately he felt like he didn’t belong. It made him not want to do the shop anymore and made him uncomfortable even though he had a passion for this trade of plumbing.” — Jaliyah
Kaitlyn: When I am stressed and cannot focus in class
“When I am stressed and cannot focus in class, it impacts my learning.” — Kaitlyn
Adam: Teachers should pay more attention to how students are treating each other
“In order to create a more respectful environment, teachers should pay more attention to how students are treating each other instead of brushing it off or looking away.” — Adam
Valancia: Every time you go to class you have to put your feelings aside
“Every time you go to class you have to put your feelings aside. And it’s especially difficult for teens when their stress piles up, and they feel like they’re going to burst.” — Valancia
Amayra: Everyone’s Quiet
“When I’m in these classrooms, six hours a day, everyone’s quiet. All I can hear is the scribbles of the pencils or the tapping of the keyboards. And that’s it. It’s silent. There’s no music. There’s no laughter. It’s just so dead. And it’s like that for 180 days out of the year.” — Amayra
Jaydah: In classes where my teachers recognize the good work that I do
“In classes where my teachers recognize the good work that I do, I feel very confident in continuing to do that good work. I feel comfortable taking risks and asking questions, which helps me to learn. I feel safer in the classroom and like there is a community.” — Jaydah