Sometimes education can be turbulent. There are periods in every educator's journey where chaos and disruption threaten to derail even your best-laid plans.

The positive classroom community that you worked so hard to establish can easily unravel during these times making it harder to get done what needs to be done.

In an inquiry classroom, a positive classroom community is a foundation a teacher relies on to create a space of respect and trust that allows the teacher to implement inquiry-based teaching strategies. Without this classroom culture, students are unable to take risks, become autonomous, or foster independent work skills.

In times of disruption and chaos within our classrooms, it is important that we focus on maintaining this not only for our students but for ourselves.

Taking care of our own and our student's emotional needs during these times is just as important as imparting knowledge and covering the curriculum. We can't do the hard stuff of learning if we are not ready to learn.

In this video, we look at four areas to focus on during these turbulent times to maintain a positive classroom community.

From focusing on the relationships we have with our students, reinforcing and rehearsing class rules and routines, validating concerns or keeping it positive. What we do outside of academics matters.

How are you keeping up your classroom community and culture these days?