You belong here.

We’re almost there, colleague. The first day of classes for my Vancouver elementary school is Tuesday. Classrooms are coming together and teachers are hyped.

Our theme this year is You Belong.

Every educator knows that students learn best when they feel safe, loved, included, and appreciated. This is the work we already do on a daily basis, but this year, we’re taking things to another level.

Before heading to the beach yesterday, we asked our teachers and paraprofessionals to break into small groups and share: How do you create a sense of belonging for every student in your class?

I work with some brilliant educators, I tell you. What follows is just a sampling of their ideas. I hope you find them helpful as you create a sense of belonging for every student in your classroom this year.

1. Find one thing about each student that you really love about them and write it down. Revisit it with them throughout the year.
2. If your students eat in groups in the classroom, try “setting the table” with a placemat in front of each student.
3. Sit with students while they eat sometimes.
4. When one of your students has a birthday, ask them to stand on a birthday chair in the middle of the room and wear a birthday hat. Lead the rest of the class in a song and do a silly dance around them. Have fun watching their face as you do!
5. Print the class photo (and enlarge it if possible). Post it in a highly visible place in the room — on your desk, at the front, or near the door. Remind students that this is our class community and every member is important.
6. Use stories to reinforce the idea of belonging. Talk to your friendly librarian for read-aloud book ideas.
7. Ask all students to share things that they appreciate about the birthday student of the day. If you trust your group and the culture in your room, say these things out loud.
8. Collect written affirmations for the “cool kid of the week” and display a word cloud about them by the end of the week.
9. Early into the year, survey your students to find out someone they are grateful to work with, someone they appreciate, and one thing that they would like you to know about them.
10. Build the idea that each table group is a “crew.” We look out for our crew, which means we’re responsible for each other, we actively care for each other, pray for each other, and follow up with each other after absences.
11. Ask your teacher-librarian to help you connect students in different classes. For example, if one of your students is a big anime fan but they don’t find a lot of support in your class, your librarian likely knows other students in your building who are also big anime fans.
12. Acknowledge every student by name with a smile every morning. Let your face say “I’m glad you’re here.”
13. Make a point of acknowledging student absences when they return. “Hey, you’re back! We missed you.”
14. Ask students to support you in your learning space who you might not normally call upon for help. As teachers, it’s easy to call on the students who can’t wait to help us. Sometimes, we need to flip the script and call on the students who can cause frustration. Contribution = inclusion.
15. Ask your students’ parents to send in a physical photo of their entire family. Post these family photos in a special place in the classroom to honour each family that’s represented in the room.
16. When it’s your student’s birthday, try arranging a visit by their buddy (if your school uses a buddy class system). This can be especially touching if the buddy happens to be much older than your student.
17. Try singing Happy Birthday in every language represented in the class.

If you’ve read this far, you care deeply about kids. Thank you for that.

You likely also have some great ideas or strategies of your own. Please share them below.

Wishing you a great first week of school as you build a sense of belonging for every student in your building,

Tim