The classroom phone rang, and our building secretary informed me that a second-grade student was not able to attend his class's field trip. Could he spend the day in our classroom? I said yes, then made a mental list of the things this student would need: notebook, math workbook, copies of the practice sheets I had created. I assumed it would not be difficult to host this student, since my school has the same behavior expectations throughout the building. He would know our school-wide rules and signal for silence.

I informed my class that we would be having a visitor for the day. During Morning Meeting, there was a flurry of questions about who it was and why he was coming. I answered their questions, and as we finished our Morning Meeting our visitor arrived. After a quick introduction, we began our transition to math. This transition had been difficult the last few days, so I anticipated that it might be again today, but to my delight, the class settled quickly and quietly.

Classroom hospitality par excellence
I noticed that students began to take care of our visitor. For example, two students quickly introduced themselves and, explaining that we were starting math, they invited him to sit beside them on the floor for our lesson. Then more students introduced themselves. They explained how math time was set up and offered to get him the supplies he would need.

I was delighted by how they cared for our visitor. They made sure he knew what to expect and that he always had a partner. I merely mentioned that they could invite him into the book club, be his table partner, play with him at recess, show him where he could keep his things for the day, sit with him at lunch, or ask if he had any questions. He actually had so many invitations for recess and lunch that he needed to politely defer a few offers until later! The students took care of his needs all day with little prompting from me. Throughout the day, they made sure he felt welcomed and safe and knew what to expect.

Reflecting on a great day
At the end of the school day I recalled how I had considered and planned for the physical needs of our visitor for the day, and how the students had thoughtfully addressed his emotional needs.

I reflected on how we had reached this point. I thought back to the classroom rules that we generated at the beginning of the year and our constant vigilance to keep living by these rules. I thought about our greetings each day in Morning Meeting and the modeling and practicing that had taken place with previous visitors. I thought about our practice using calm and kind voices.

It was all these lessons throughout the year that had helped the students develop cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control. All of these skills were displayed on this day. I am thankful for this experience with our guest student. It affirmed for me that the Responsive Classroom practices are very powerful in helping our students learn the skills they need to be successful.

Brenda Mondry teaches 2nd and 3rd graders at Valley Crossing Community School in Woodbury, Minnesota.

This article first appeared in Origins: A Newsletter for Elementary Educators, Winter 2011