Creating a Safe Learning Space

A factor in motivating students to take risks and control their learning is creating a safe learning environment. Children are often cautious when meeting new adults. When they do not trust you, they are not willing to take the necessary risks to learn and improve in the areas they are struggling in. Creating a safe space can include engaging in conversation with lots of open-ended questions (e.g. Do you have any pets? What TV shows do you like to watch?), being open-minded, and reassuring that everyone makes mistakes. 

In my experiences, I used to feel guilty when I did not spend every minute of my tutoring sessions doing educational activities. I soon found that the moments we spent talking about our interests and catching up on the past week made me a better tutor. For instance, I would tailor activities towards her interests. She loved crime and mystery shows (as discovered through our talks about "Riverdale"), so I would bring mystery stories to our sessions to strengthen her reading comprehension skills. Her engagement and participation in our sessions grew substantially. Those "wasted" moments ended up being the most valuable time together.

 

Here are some of my favourite ice-breaker games to get to know your students: 

2 Truths and 1 Lie: Players tell two truths and one lie about themselves in any order. Everyone has to try and guess which statement is the false one.

Acrostic Name Poem: Each player writes their name on a piece of paper and jots down words or phrases that describe their interests and personality using the letters of their name.

Memory Game: Share ten things about yourself and see who can remember the most things about the other. You can include incentives or prizes for winning.

All in all, I found each of these ice-breakers help start the conversation and break down barriers to create a safe space for students and enhance their learning.

EmilyR@NU (OTECA)