Building an On-Line Class Community

Often, when the common lay person thinks about a "virtual" classroom setting, their first thought might gravitate to the first negative question: "Why would anyone choose to learn this way?   Doesn't the learner miss out on the social interactions?"
As facilitators and educators of on-line classrooms one of our biggest goals is to build a community of interacting learners.    When we are teaching a group of students we want them to learn from each other and to show respect for their fellow learners thoughts.   A skilled leader of a virtual classroom will do many things:

1. Share information about themselves,  to humanize themselves as a teacher
2. Be a role model for professionalism
3. Allow learners time to learn about others and to share information about themselves
4. Set high expectations for appropriate behavior

As a classroom teacher working with elementary aged students, one of the most important things that I do for my students is to create a classroom where students feel welcome and safe. Safe to learn and  to share ideas.   I do this by setting the expectations for my students prior to the start of every class.   Below you will find an example of this.