Inference

 Building relationships with students can create a level of trust and respect within the classroom among myself, other teachers, educational assistants, therapists, and above all the students.  Relationships will allow myself to learn and understand where the students are coming from, what knowledge they already know, and how to build off of their strengths to help students. By identifying students’ strengths, I will be able to provide appropriate scaffolding for the students to succeed, learn, and develop new concepts skills in self-regulating pro-social settings. These components help make the new information relevant to the student. 

Being able to utilize the variety of behaviors and supports that I have learned over the summer will help me relate to my students. SEL, trauma-informed, restorative practices, and PBIS tiers are all great examples of how a classroom can implement a system that builds a community. Once our community is built and relationships and rules and expectations are established, a safe classroom environment can develop. The practices I intend to implement in my classroom will allow me to help guide students to learn self-regulation skills thus allowing students to understand the impact of their actions by promoting emotional expression using communication via daily check-ins, connection circles, and mediations. This reflects back on the respect built when first developing relationships with the students. With respect and open communication, students can remain in the classroom and stay engaged with the class.