To have a successful learning environment, we must have a positive classroom culture. Our roles as educators involve creating an environment where students can feel safe. Teachers often struggle with exactly how to do that.

Should I be strict and firm? Should I be fun and free-spirited?

We must remember that it’s the learning experiences we provide students are just as important as the information we are teaching.

Here are 9 ways we can create a positive culture inside the classroom:

Be excited - enter the classroom with the mindset you expect from your students.

Be optimistic - you are never too young or too old to live by the “glass half full” philosophy.

Be willing to laugh at yourself - not taking yourself too seriously without letting your guard down.

Embrace humor and the silly - you’re a teacher who works with kids, after all.

Welcome incentives and extrinsic motivators - help build positive morale and respect in the classroom.

Be authentic and vulnerable - helping your students believe in themselves and happy with who they are.

Enjoy what you’re teaching - if you have fun teaching, your students will have fun learning.

Set classroom expectations with your students - let them feel a sense of ownership in the culture of your classroom.

Build room for leadership opportunities for your students - our role in the classroom is to help our students find their inner leaders.