Tag Archives: community

Using Ridiculous Rituals to Build Classroom Community

Original Hampter

Hampter

Creating classroom culture is a skill and my teaching “neighbor” (our classrooms share a door) Jen Haisma is a master at it. Every year something weird just kind of happens in her ELA or social studies class and she runs with it! One year students started coloring sketches of shoes and pasting them everywhere. Another year each class hid a silly toy dog from the other hours and as students came into the room they would find it each day. 

Earlier this year a student was sharing a journal response in ELA that included a picture of a Hampter in it. Hampter refers to the internet meme from 2020. Jen responded that she didn’t understand how Hampter was still around and mentioned that she thought it was creepy. 

And that was all it took. Students in her 5th hour began to draw customized Hampters and hang them on the wall. Students from her other hours soon joined into the Hampter party. Pretty soon her classroom looked like this:

This past week Jen told me that she had to take them all down and hang up new ones because she was running out of wall space.

 “Apparently, my classes this year like to torment me,” Jen jokingly told me.

Community

While this may seem like a silly story on the surface, two important things have happened. First, this has built a classroom community. Students continue to create new Hampters even weeks after this started. It is a fun, cohesive action that connects kids to Jen and to each other.  

If you are going to survive as a middle school teacher, you had better be willing to embrace a bit of craziness. Kids’ minds and bodies are going through so many changes as they start to transition from childhood to adulthood. They need educators to accept some goofiness from them. It creates an atmosphere of safety and belonging. And I am all about the power of creating classroom rituals. 

While drawing Hampters was seemingly a spontaneous action from the students, it is important to point out Jen’s role in this. She hung up the pictures. She feigned disgust at them. She was passively encouraging the drawings and loving every minute of it. Of course, she could have shut it down and said, “All right folks, it’s time to focus on ELA,” but she didn’t. Teachers can find unique moments like this to connect with their students and grow their classroom culture. 

I guarantee that these kids will remember Hampters when they think of Ms. Haisma for the rest of their life. 

Content

Secondly, hidden in the silliness of these drawings are connections to Jen’s content. Naturally many of the Hampters are about things that students care about such as local sports teams.

But students are also connecting the Hampters to the content that they are learning in class. Jen said that students continue to write Hampter references in their journals. One girl includes them every day. Other students try to find sly ways to slide in Hampter mentions. 

Another connection to content is that some of the Hampters are themed on things learned in social studies. After listening to the Mongolian rock band Hu in class. This Hampter appeared:

It’s almost like Jen made a fun assignment for students to create their own Hampter for class. But she didn’t have to and making it required would ruin the point of it. This is better than homework because kids are choosing to draw and write about Hampters on their own. Sometimes teachers just need to give students space and be willing to laugh a lot.

The best thing about silly rituals is that they can start at any time of the year. What unique rituals do you have with your students this year? 

Be on the lookout for opportunities to create new ones this week and watch how it improves your classroom climate. 

Learn with me!

Would you like to explore more deeply the impact of SEL to transform students? Check out our book below for tons of practical ways that can be immediately implemented in any classroom.

Pulse of PBL

The ideal way to improve SEL skills for students is to start with the adults. Districts should provide PD where teachers explore their own SEL strengths and weaknesses, modeling strategies that can be used in the core classroom.

Are you interested in professional development for your school on how to integrate SEL? Of course, I highly recommend PBL as the ideal framework to use. I would love to have a conversation on how I can help. I am now scheduling workshops and book studies for spring and summer. Check out my workshop page or drop me an email at mikejkaechele@gmail.com. I would love to chat and co-plan meaningful PD for the educators at your school.

You have heard about elf on a shelf, but have you heard of …

Couldn’t resist the current meme as this post is about my name.

I have a weird name–Kaechele. No one can say it right. If a stranger pronounces it correctly then I ask who they know in my family. Before my education career, I worked many years in concrete construction. I had a boss for years who never learned to say my name right. He called me “Ka-she-lee” with a heavy emphasis on the “she.”

My extended family pronounces it “Kek-lee” with a short e. My immediate family pronounces it “Kak-lee” with a strong Michigan “a”(as in apple). In college, most people called me Kax, and they had no idea what my real name was.

My name is German in origin and means “small kitchen tile.” Apparently my ancestors were masons, but I prefer to believe that we were foodies. I once met a German woman who informed me that my entire family pronounces our name wrong. I can’t even remember how to say it correctly, just that it was guttural. This is as close as I can find.

Over the years, I have found my weird name to be a source of culture building in the the classroom. Students have called me many things: Kackles, Mr. Calculator, Kax, or just Kaechele. I answer to all of them. Some adults might find it disrespectful that students omit Mr. but I have never cared.

Important caveat: This does not work both ways. It is important that teachers always learn to pronounce student names correctly. Names are a vital part of our identity, and we must honor students by using their correct names and pronunciations.

I currently have a student who says, “Good morning, Mr. Kaechele” in a sing song voice every time she sees me. I can’t walk down the hall or pass the lunch room without her yelling it out. It’s a joke to her that she finds funny. But to me it is evidence of a connection that we have. Last week a student called me “Ka-she-lee” and was surprised when I answered her. Honestly, I am so used to my name being mispronounced that I didn’t even notice.

To me, nicknames represent a level of trust and comfort between myself and students. We are past the awkwardness of the start of school that I have never enjoyed and have developed a sense of community. It is also part of a culture that means I don’t take myself too seriously. That’s why I do Throwback Thursdays, playing 80’s jams when kids enter the classroom.

Oftentimes the rituals of my classroom happen organically as we get to know one another, but I am always intentionally seeking moments to create them. It feels natural to students but it is calculated on my part. One of the most under-appreciated aspects of the teacher is their power to create classroom culture. Mine reflects my personality-laid back, personable, while thinking deeply.

What kind of community and culture do you value? How do you create it in your class?

Pulse of PBL

Learn with me!

If you are interested in how your school can use a PBL framework to teach SEL skills, I would love to have a conversation on how I can help. I have limited availability for PBL & SEL workshops during the school year so contact me early. Check out my workshop page or drop me an email at mikejkaechele@gmail.com. I would love to chat and co-plan meaningful PD for the educators at your school.