It would take deep, intentional exploration to consider anything as “truly toxic” within my classroom. All in all, it is seemingly full of kindness, good intentions, respect. There have been individual incidents: a student asking another student how they would “rate” them, a student exclaiming that the class is stupid, a small group briefly talking through a discussion with the entire class. These seem to be more individual errors, the exceptions rather than the rules.

There are the times in which students do not go as deep into discussion as they are asked to, or as other groups around them are. In this way, they are not holding up their end of the deal; they are asking their classmates to do the work for them, and also letting them know that it is work they do not value. I bop around from group to group, prompt when necessary, ask deeper questions. Most of the time it helps but truthfully, not everyone is ready to have an in depth conversation all of the time.

The most toxic behavior that I see is only rarely visible. It is when students speak negatively about themselves. A student will say, “I’m so stupid,” when a mistake was made. I began to be concerned about one of my students after a few self-degrading remarks. I told her that I never wanted to make her feel stupid or like she did something wrong. I told her that in my eyes, she was doing well. I encouraged her to ask questions. Later that evening, she emailed me a question!

I believe that we address these toxic behaviors in how we coach our students. How we try to set the tone in class, how we respond to errors, how we encourage them, and how we react to group issues versus individual issues. I make a lot of effort to approach the class with a firm gentleness because I see myself as somewhat nurturing. For those folks who may be doubting themselves, I believe it helps. For folks who take the easy way out in discussions, I’m not sure if this attitude helps or not but I’d rather choose it than to come down on any of them.

Ultimately, there’s not much toxicity within my classroom. However, it may help to look at my class through the framework in this question, to see sides of classroom dynamics I possibly had not considered.