1. The document discusses strategies for creating a friendly classroom environment as a novice teacher, drawing on observations from classrooms and scholarly literature. 2. It emphasizes the importance of teachers and students establishing classroom agreements and expectations together at the beginning of the year to promote positive behavior and inclusion. 3. Effective communication from the teacher, such as using a normal speaking voice and simple reminders, as well as engaging students in activities, can help prevent misbehavior and create a friendly environment.

1. 1
Creating a Friendly Classroom Environment as a Novice Teacher
Suyi Liu
CUIN 6301 The Teaching Profession
Professor: Dr. Laura Turchi
Spring 2015

2. 2
Creating a friendly classroom environment is important to education in general because
teachers need a friendly classroom environment to promote students’ learning. It is also
important to teacher practice because new teachers usually do not have experience of classroom
management. A friendly classroom environment will make classroom management easier and
more effective. I am very interested in this topic because I observed a language immersion
school in a Houston area district and worked at an after-school program and felt that classroom
management is a weakness in my teaching. I want to start to master effective classroom
management skills starting with creating a friendly classroom environment.
Teachers and students both have their roles and expectations to create a friendly classroom.
They can make classroom agreements together. They both need to communicate effectively and
politely. They are both responsible for including everyone in the classroom and making everyone
feel welcome. In my research paper, I will incorporate scholarly literature, on-line resources,
field note observation data, teacher interview, and personal reflections in my research to learn the
importance and specific strategies of creating a friendly classroom environment as a novice
teacher.

3. 3
The Roles and Expectations for the Teachers in a Friendly Classroom
First, teachers have their roles and expectations to create a friendly classroom. In a classroom
a teacher is the leader, and should have a positive influence on students. Through the observation
at a K-1 classroom at a local K-5 charter school, I got the idea of teachers and students making
classroom agreements together. I saw on the wall there were some posters of “Our Classroom
Agreements” and “How to be a Great Friend”. They have some items in each poster, such as “be
a good listener”, “use kind words”, and “play with all kids”. Each item is followed by students’
and teachers’ signatures (observation, March 6, 2015). The assistant teacher Ms. Thomas
(pseudonym) explained it to me:
“On the first day of school, build an authority. Let students tell about their expectations.
Ask them how they want others to treat them, and how they will treat others. Also think
about how you want to be treated as a teacher. Children get their morality and values from
adults. If things happen, ask kids to think about their expectations. If it happens many more
times, the teacher needs to say, ‘Don’t do that!’” (March, 2015)
I think this is a very good strategy to make agreements at the beginning of the year, as
Johnson, et al. (2005) declare, if a teacher doesn’t have appropriate preplanning, as the year
progresses, troubles will become more shockingly apparent. Posting the agreements on the wall

4. 4
creates a positive influence in the classroom. It always reminds students and helps to create a
friendly classroom environment. Bucholz and Sheffler (2009) state that the classroom
environment should promote cooperation and acceptance as much as it can as an instructional
method used by the teacher, because children are sensitive to the classroom environment. In
addition, teachers can include parents in the agreements. Parent conferences can be held and
parents can be asked to sign on the agreements as well to help remind students to be good
classroom citizens.
Furthermore, teachers need effective communication skills to promote a friendly classroom
environment. Johnson (1999) states that good teachers are good listeners. They listen to both
verbal and non-verbal information, and know when a student wants to be heard. When I was
observing at the charter school, I heard the teacher use some simple sentences to remind students
to behave well, such as “It’s a bad joke. People don’t find it funny (observation, March 23,
2015).” “Control your arm. Don’t hit anybody (observation, March 6, 2015).” When they were
out on a field trip, the teacher said “Mike, come here. Why did you jump in the water
(observation, March 12, 2015)?” “Your shoelace is untied (observation, March 12, 2015).”
“Watch out for the mud (observation, March 23, 2015).” The reminder prevented harms among
students. As Dhaem and Paterson (2012) state, a simple reminder can help students toward the
correct thing to do and help them make better behavior choices. Brown (2005) says that to a

5. 5
surprising degree, the communication determines the effectiveness of a teacher. A teacher can
build or destroy relationships with students by communication. Alber (2012) suggests teachers
use a normal and natural voice. Teachers should always remember this since the moment they
start teaching. If a teacher talks at an above-normal range from the beginning, the teacher will
lose his or her voice one day. It is not the best way to get students’ attention by raising the voice,
and it will cause stress in the classroom which is undesirable. The students will also mirror the
teacher’s voice level. Therefore, teachers should avoid using a semi-shouting voice. If a teacher
wants students to talk at a normal and pleasant volume, the teacher must do the same. I observed
Ms. Mullins (pseudonym) at the charter school and she demonstrated excellent skills in using a
normal and natural voice. I heard her say mildly, “Excuse me, friends. We are not going to be
loud. Thank you (observation, March 23, 2015).” “We can’t move on until every friend is sitting
down quietly (observation, March 6, 2015).” “If you hear my voice, clap once, twice, three times
(observation, March 6, 2015).” Ms. Mullins’ words and tone effectively made students quiet.
Additionally, in the classroom teachers can effectively promote inclusion and make everyone
feel included. Ratcliff, Jones, Costner, Savage-David, and Hunt (2011) state that making students
busy, engaged on their tasks and working for specific goals will prevent much misbehavior.
During my observation, I found that if students were engaged in an activity or a project, they
would not have time to misbehave, and if they were distracted, it was easier for them to create a

6. 6
disturbance to others (observation, April 13, 2015). A person-centered classroom promotes
higher achievement, creates a more positive learning environment with better teacher-student
relationships than a teacher-centered classroom (Freiberg & Lamb, 2009). Mclintosh (2009)
suggests that greeting students as they come to the classroom can help build rapport. I saw
evidence of this during my observation. One day I came early and wanted to see their routine at
the beginning of the day. Excitedly, I saw the teacher and students sing a good morning song
together: “Good morning, [name]”, and two claps followed. Each student and teacher in the
classroom were greeted good morning, and included me at the end of the song. This greeting
activity made everyone feel welcome, and ready to start the day happily (observation, April 13,
2015). A teacher can also lead to create a rule of “You can’t say you can’t play” to facilitate the
inclusion in the classroom, as Paley (1992) declares. Paley uses an analogy of a talking magpie
as a gateway to classroom discussions on the topic of isolation experienced by some children
during play time. Through classroom discussions, Paley arrives to the conclusion that the rule,
“You Can’t Say You Can’t Play” is compulsory in creating a classroom environment that is
friendly.
The Roles and Expectations for the Students in a Friendly Classroom
Students also play an important role to create a friendly classroom. They are responsible for
being good classroom citizens to collaborate with teachers and other students. In the classroom I

7. 7
observed at the charter school, the students participated in the classroom agreements enactment
actively. Every student’s signature is on the posters after discussion in class. They signed after
items like “be safe”, “be responsible and helpful”, “treat all people nicely”, “share the game”, etc
(observation, March 6, 2015). One day on the door of the classroom, I saw student’s words
copied by the teacher praising other students as good citizens (all names that follow are
pseudonyms). For example, “Elizabeth helped Jason clean off the yogurt. ---Ms. Mullins and
Jef”, “Jason and David helped me have more fun at recess. ---Jef”, “Cristina was focused even
when people around her weren’t. ---Kirby” (observation, March 12, 2015). Though these are
small things, they are good reflections of students carrying out their agreements. They make
progress through learning from each other and from the teachers’ positive influence.
Besides, it is essential for students to develop communication skills to create a friendly
classroom. Some good points are listed on the posters on the wall of the classroom I observed at
the charter school. For example:
Quote Poster Name Signature
“Be a good listener.” Our Classroom Agreements
How to Be a Great Friend
Jason, Lacy, Jen, Ms. Thomas
“Eyes are watching. Ears are
listening. Lips are closed.
Hands are still. Feet are very
quiet. That’s the way we like
it. Listening well. Listening
How to Be a Good Listener N/A

8. 8
well.”
“Ask someone if you can
play.”
How to Be a Great Friend Jen
“If someone says they want to
play, you can say ok and add
more space.”
How to Be a Great Friend Cindy
“Help teach friends how to do
things.”
How to Be a Great Friend Kristen
“Use kind words.” How to Be a Great Friend Ms. Mullins
(observation, April 6, 2015)
I think these are very useful points for students to learn to be a good friend and contribute to
the creation of a friendly classroom.
Additionally, students are responsible for contributing to the classroom inclusion in order to
create a friendly classroom environment. They are supposed to focus on learning and help each
other to be included in classroom activities. In the Parent Handbook on the charter school’s
website, I saw that the school regards learning as the job of every student. In the classroom, the
most important thing for students is to learn. One item in the poster on the wall of the classroom
I observed says, “Think and work hard,” which is a classroom agreement signed by four
students. It describes the main task of students in the classroom. Other items like “Play with all
the kids,” “Make sure you put all the friends in the community,” “Share the game,” show the
expectation for students to help include other students in the classroom. I also saw another poster

9. 9
that says, “We are all: readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, dancers, musicians, artists,
thinkers, friends.” (observation, March 6, 2015) This shows a person-centered classroom
environment. Everyone is included to reach high achievement. Another poster says, “We are all
important”, and tasks of each student such as line leader, chair helper, recess helper, lunch
cleaner, and librarian, etc. with students’ names are listed on the poster. They serve as these roles
in turn and are involved in the classroom work. Also a poster on the wall is a poem named I Like
Me! It says: “This morning, I stood up and said I like myself from toes to head! I like the way I
look today! I like the way I work and play! I like the way I act with friends! I like the way my
body bends! I like who I was born to be! I like myself! Hey! I LIKE ME!” (observation, April 4,
2015) This is an expectation for students to like themselves first. A person learns to like others
and be friendly to others from learning to like themselves. They are all expected to be confident,
happy, and involved in the classroom as important roles. When doing observations in the
classroom, I also felt involved. Kids friendly asked me if I wanted to play with them and taught
me how to play their games. I hope my future classroom will also be a friendly one, where
students are friendly to each other and friendly to people from outside.
In conclusion, a friendly classroom is important because it is a good place for students to
learn. Students learn in a friendly classroom as they know what is expected of them and they feel
safe, happy and they can focus on learning. The good habit of being friendly to other people will

10. 10
help them develop good interpersonal relationship in the future. As a new teacher, I will apply
the techniques I learned in my research and try my best to make my classroom a friendly
environment. However, there are still some areas worth further study or some unanswered
questions in creating a classroom environment: Should the classroom environment be stricter or
friendlier? Should the teacher give students more praise or more criticism? How to balance strict
and friendly, praise and criticism? These are the questions teachers continue to ask.
References
Alber, R. (2012). 5 quick classroom-management tips for novice teachers. Edutopia. Retrieved
from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/classroom-management-tips-novice-teachers-rebecca
-alber
Brown, D. F. (2005). The significance of congruent communication in classroom management.
The Clearing House. p. 12-15.

11. 11
Bucholz, J. & Sheffler, J. (2009). Creating a warm and inclusive classroom environment:
planning for all children to feel welcome. Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education. 2 (4).
P.1-13.
Dhaem, J., & Paterson, W. (2012). Responding to minor misbehavior through verbal and
nonverbal responses. Beyond Behavior. p. 29-34.
Freiberg, H. J. & Lamb, S. M. (2009). Dimensions of person-centered classroom management.
Theory Into Practice. 48 (99). p.99-105.
Johnson, D. J., Rice, M. P., Edgington, W. D. & Williams, P. (2005). For the uninitiated: how to
succeed in classroom. Kappa Delta Pi Record. 42(1). P.28-32.
Johnson, M. B. (1999). Communication in the classroom. Eric. p.1-15.
Mclintosh, J. D. (2009). Classroom management, rules, consequences, and rewards! Oh, my!
Science Sampler. p. 49-51.
Paley, V. G. (1992). You Can’t Say You Can’t Play. Harvard University Press. Cambridge,
Massachusetts, and London, England.
Ratcliff, N. J., Jones, C. R., Costner, R. H, Savage-David, E. & Hunt. G. H. (2011). The impact
of misbehavior on classroom climate. The Education Digest. p. 16-20.

12. 12