EduCon 2024

Research shows that K-12 school disengagement is prevalent and a challenge facing teachers working to create impactful and meaningful learning environments. As preservice educators, we are seeking ways to create vibrant, caring, and connective environments that inspire learning and engage students. An important component of this classroom building is creating space for both academic and social and emotional learning priorities to co-exist and where students and teachers have a powerful sense of belonging and mattering. In our presentation, we will share and model one practice that we use in our teacher education classroom to build our own classroom community with these goals in mind. In our Designing Learning Environments class, we have been practicing Circle of Power and Respect (CPR) at the start of each class session. The circle has four components: Greet, Share, Activity and Daily News. Every Tuesday and Thursday, our college class starts in our own circle and is regularly led by a student. In our presentation, we will share the lessons that our use of CPR is teaching us about teaching, learning, building community, and creating engaging classroom spaces. We will share how this approach is impacting our thoughts and ideas about what it means to be a college learner, a culturally relevant educator, and also how we are transferring this to our work as pre-service educators in high schools and educational organizations.