








































Georgia Journal of Literacy 
2023, Vol. 45(1), pp. 68–76 
https://doi.org/10.56887/galiteracy.69 
ISSN: 2833-7611 

Teaching Tips Article  

 
 

 

CONTACT Dr. Kathleen M. Crawford, Assistant Professor of Elementary Literacy, Department of Elementary and 
Special Education, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA; email kcrawford@georgiasouthern.edu. Heather M. 
Huling, Clinical Instructor, Department of Elementary and Special Education, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, 
GA; email hhuling@georgiasouthern.edu. 
 

Building Classroom Community in Elementary 
Literacy Methods Courses 
 
Kathleen M. Crawford 
Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 

Heather M. Huling 
Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 

 
ABSTRACT 

In this article, two elementary teacher educators provide a novel approach to building 
relationships and classroom community in their face to face elementary literacy 
methods courses. The authors present their classroom practice entitled “Tell Me 
Time” (TMT), mirroring morning meetings in K–12 settings, as the staple of building 
classroom community in their courses. They describe how TMT has been used to 
build student relationships with each other and with instructors through providing 
unique, personalized opportunities to socialize and connect through listening, 
speaking, reading, and writing. Threaded throughout, the authors detail specific 
feedback from students and highlight how TMT has helped students find common 
ground with one another and made them feel comfortable, cared for, and respected 
by their instructors. The authors describe the reasons behind implementing TMT, 
outline specific TMT activities and examples that have been most effective with their 
students, provide insight into how to integrate technology with TMT, delineate 
specific steps for successfully implementing TMT, and describe lessons learned 
from the implementation of TMT. 

KEYWORDS 

classroom 
community; 
building 
relationships; 
elementary 
literacy methods; 
morning 
meetings; 
teacher 
education; 
teaching with 
technology 

 
ell me time is by far my favorite part of this class. Thank you for getting to know us as 
individuals and not just a number and for allowing us to get to know one another in such 
fun and creative ways. I can’t wait to do this with my own students when I get my own 

classroom! 
 
Several years ago, we were in conversation with a colleague of ours who shared a simple strategy 
that she uses at the start of her class sessions. She said at the beginning of each of her classes, she 
starts off with “tell me something good” and has a few students share ideas. Who knew that this 
brief conversation would inspire an idea for us that has become the heart of our classes that binds 
our students and us together? In our Language Arts Methods and Creative Arts and Children’s 
Literature Across the Curriculum classes, we begin each class session with what we call “Tell Me 
Time” (TMT). During these 5–7 minutes, we conduct short, literacy-based activities in which we 
build classroom community, get to know one another, and simply take a much needed brain break. 
While this concept as a whole is not new, it takes the form of activities such as “Morning Meetings” 
in K–12 classrooms (Northeast Foundation for Children, 2009), and we have evolved it to fit our 
literacy methods courses in teacher education. Starting our class sessions with TMT allows us to 

T 

mailto:kcrawford@georgiasouthern.edu
mailto:hhuling@georgiasouthern.edu


Crawford & Huling 69 
 

begin class sessions in a positive manner, and the feedback we received from the students is 
overwhelmingly positive. After seeking anonymous feedback on TMT through a Google Form, a 
recent student stated, “I think it’s something unique and I have never had a teacher or professor do 
something like this ever.” Frisby and Munoz (2021) stated, “For the well-being of both students 
and faculty it is important to have positive and healthy rapport” (p. 142). Our students agree and 
have shared, “I also enjoy tell me time because it gives us time to debrief and decompress from 
other classes that might be stressing us out” and “I think it is a great idea, and I really enjoy it. I 
think this should be in all classes to make students feel like they are being heard!” TMT has become 
a well-known part of these two courses we teach, and students look forward to it each session as 
we merge social and academic learning (Northeast Foundation for Children, 2009).  

In this article, we will begin by delineating the research that supports the ways in which 
we build relationships and classroom community through TMT. We will provide samples of 
personalized feedback for TMT journal responses, as well as samples of how we use technology 
to enhance TMT through our students’ digital interactive journals. Next, we outline specific steps 
to successfully get started and implement TMT. The article concludes with lessons we have learned 
and final thoughts. 
 
Building Relationships to Create Classroom Community 
Shields-Lysiak et al. (2020) stated, “In a supportive classroom community, the teacher models 
how to show care, and encourages students to care for each other” (p. 43). TMT has provided us 
with the perfect opportunity to model how to create a caring classroom community where students 
feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and experiences with each other and with us. 

Noddings (2005) urges the public to take responsibility for raising “healthy, competent, 
and happy children” (p. 14), and she argues that academic achievement in schools is unobtainable 
when children are not provided with a caring environment.  We take this stance and argue the 
importance of translating this belief and practice into our college courses; it is critical that we take 
care of our pre-service teachers before we can take care of our curricular goals and objectives. Our 
ultimate goal when implementing TMT is for students to begin to feel a sense of ease and joy when 
entering and learning in our courses, while simultaneously learning more about one another. While 
students are completing the TMT activity/prompt of the day, we walk around the room observing 
and informally commenting in order to make one-on-one connections to build and sustain 
relationships with our students. Once everyone has completed their TMT activity/response, we 
open the floor for volunteer share time as a whole class. This is where we truly build classroom 
community by modeling how to listen, connect, and build relationships through teacher-student 
interactions and student-student interactions. One student provided feedback on TMT and stated, 
“I love how much y’all try to get to know us!! It makes this class more enjoyable, and it makes me 
know how much y’all care about us!!” It is clear that students feel cared for and supported through 
the planned TMT interactions, responses, and discussions with their peers and instructors. 

When we asked for feedback on TMT, one student stated, “The best part of it is getting to 
know my peers because in college it can be hard to connect with others.” When students are able 
to share their ideas and personal experiences with others, they often find out they have more in 
common with their peers than they originally thought, and this makes students feel included, rather 
than alone. TMT allows students to begin to build relationships with their peers in non-intimidating 
ways and results in connections with new classmates or new connections with current friends. 
Another student echoed this, saying, “It helps me to feel comfortable around my peers and get to 
know them a little better.” This comfortableness described allows us to create a safe space, where 



70 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(1)  
 

students share not only personal characteristics, but also previous academic experiences related to 
literacy. 

It has become critical to us, as instructors, to create these safe spaces for our students in 
order to provide a model of how teachers serve as facilitators and mentors, rather than authoritarian 
figures; hearing and respecting the voices of all of our students is central to our work during TMT. 
“In a learning community, the teacher is not all-knowing, all-powerful; students may and can 
contribute safely to the stock of classroom knowledge from their own experiences” (Cooper, 2003, 
pp. 87–88). When students have the opportunity to share with one another, they are able to apply 
their own listening and speaking skills to communicate in pairs, small groups, and whole group 
settings. When appropriate, we intentionally plan literacy focused TMT activities to relate to the 
content of the class session. During the share time, students contribute to the overall knowledge in 
the classroom through discussions of their literacy experiences from their own elementary days, 
as well as their current field placements. Alongside the stories told by our students, we as 
professors contribute our own classroom experiences through storytelling to deepen students’ 
understanding and perspectives. Kromka and Goodboy (2019) state, “While not specifically 
focused on narratives, recent research on effective teaching behaviors (e.g., self-disclosure, content 
relevance, humor) implies the potential benefits of using narratives as an effective teaching 
behavior” (p. 21). This practice serves as a model for the pre-service teachers to bridge these 
critical literacy skills that are sometimes underutilized in P–5 settings. Our ultimate goal is for our 
students to transfer this same student-directed, classroom community building practice into their 
own classrooms in order to personally connect with their students. 

Another way we make meaningful connections with our students is through the feedback 
we provide on our students’ TMT entries in their daily digital interactive journal by using the 
commenting tool (Figure 1). This allows us to get to know our students on a deeper level, and we 
are able to make meaningful connections that are tailored to each individual student. “Feeling 
important and getting personalized feedback (that sounds more like text messages with my bestie!) 
in my interactive journal,” was cited by one student as one of their favorite parts of TMT. Google 
Slides, the platform our students use for their digital interactive journals, allows us to give feedback 
in real-time and allows us to make comments and pose questions to deepen our relationships. This 
also functions to give us insight and the ability to address any concerns or issues we may read in 
student entries; when concerns do arise, we are able to immediately reach out to students to conduct 
check-ins.  
 

Figure 1: TMT Sample Personalized Feedback 

Student Digital Journal TMT Entries Sample Feedback to Students 

  



Crawford & Huling 71 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



72 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(1)  
 

 

 

 

 

 
Technology and Tell Me Time  
In our classes, TMTs are often captured in our students’ digital interactive journals, which are used 
daily and, as stated above, completed in Google Slides. Students have the opportunity to digitally 
respond to prompts in writing and in images such as bitmojis, clipart, photographs, and gifs (Figure 
2). The prompts of these TMTs often align with the content of our literacy classes, but, more often, 
are completely unrelated and allow us to simply make personal connections with our students and 
for our students to make personal connections with one another. It is easy for students to write 
their journal entries in their interactive journals and turn their laptop screens or tablets around to 
share their ideas and images with one another before sharing with the whole group. In addition to 
our students completing their TMT entries individually, students are also able to collaborate as a 
whole class or in small groups using tools such as Jamboard and Google Forms to respond to TMT 
prompts and activities. 
 
Figure 2: Tell Me Time Instructor Prompts and Sample Student Journal Entries 

Instructor Tell Me Time Prompt Student Journal Entry 

 

 



Crawford & Huling 73 
 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 



74 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(1)  
 

 
 

 
 

 
Tell Me Time: Steps to Success 
Our practices reflect the Responsive Classroom Model, as outlined in Sample Morning Meetings 
in a Responsive Classroom (2009). Each class session includes the following three components, 
slightly adapted and combined, in order to establish respectful learning and a trusting climate, 
motivate our students and fulfill our students’ need for a sense of belonging in the classroom. 
 

 Greeting: As students enter the classroom, we greet one another before the class session 
begins. 

 Activity and Sharing: We post and describe the Tell Me Time prompt or activity in our 
Google Slides presentation. The students and us engage with one another in the 
prompt/activity and share ideas, thoughts, and feelings. 

 Morning Message: We provide a brief overview of the class session’s content and 
structure and provide time for students to ask questions before we begin. 

 
Table 1 below outlines the steps to success for getting started with the implementation of TMT. 
 
Table 1: Getting Started with Tell Me Time 

Step 1  On the first day of class explain expectations and the purpose for TMT, and let 
students create class norms for the implementation and participation in TMT to 
ensure active, positive student engagement. 

Step 2 Select an activity or prompt to be used for TMT (the content focus of the class 
session connection or click the following link for other TMT ideas for ways to 
connect with students personally) at the start of each class session. See this 
website for an example: bit.ly/3ZlEAj3 

Step 3 At the start of class, explain the TMT activity/prompt, and allow students 5-7 
minutes in order to process, complete, and discuss the activity/prompt.  

https://bit.ly/3ZlEAj3


Crawford & Huling 75 
 

Step 4 Once students have completed their TMT activity/prompt, allow time for students 
to share in pairs or small groups then open the floor for student volunteers to 
share with the whole group. 

Step 5 Actively participate and share your personal responses to the TMT 
activity/prompt. During the sharing time, facilitate connections among students 
based on your responses and the responses of volunteers to create classroom 
community.  

Step 6 During the current (and future!) class sessions, make personal connections in 
your content delivery and class activities to your students’ ideas and experiences 
shared during TMT. 

Step 7 Make explicit connections to how TMT can be transferred to your students’ own 
classroom experiences in field placements and future classrooms. 

Step 8 Add personalized feedback to your students’ responses/activities that answers 
questions, makes personal or educational connections, or simply validates and 
values their responses. If you see a concern from a student’s entry or response, 
reach out to the student and conduct a check-in. 

Step 9 To ensure student engagement, vary the format of your TMTs. Students can 
simply turn and talk, reflect in writing or drawing (digitally or by hand), or use 
movement to express their thoughts, opinions, and experiences. 

Step 10 Reflect. How are your students responding? Which TMT prompts or activities 
have students been most engaged with? Not sure? Survey your classes! 

 
With each TMT implementation, we are evolving our TMT activities to best meet the needs of our 
students and model how this can be utilized in their future classrooms.  
 
Lessons Learned  
Our implementation of TMT is one that is constantly evolving based on our previous 
implementations, student feedback, and the ever-changing dynamics of the students in our courses. 
Over the last few years, we have implemented a variety of TMT activities, and we have loved, 
tweaked, and eliminated some based on our experiences and the voices of our students. When 
reflecting on the TMT activities/prompts we have adjusted or deleted, we compiled a list of ideas 
that we would not recommend for TMT: 
 

 Time-consuming activities/prompts 
 Physical materials or space needed 
 Controversial, heavy, or emotionally charged topics 
 Topics unrelated to literacy content and/or students’ interests and personal experiences 

 
We have also found that students enjoy a mixed balance of TMT activities that reflect both the 
content of the literacy courses, as well as fun, whimsical activities that allow students to simply 
unwind and engage with one another to start the class session off in a positive manner. As one 
student indicated, “I like that we all get to share and connect before class. Because we are all 
coming from different places, it is a good transition into opening class!” Students also appreciate 
the variety of ways in which to respond to TMT prompts and activities. They enjoy writing 
responses in their interactive journals and adding their own personal touches with images, bitmojis, 
and gifs. Students also appreciate and are engaged in times when they are able to get up and move 
around the classroom with “this or that” or “four corners” activities, or simply turning and talking 
with one another with their table groups. Perhaps the biggest lesson we have learned is making 



76 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(1)  
 

each TMT relevant and meaningful for our teacher candidates, so they, in turn, see the power of 
this practice and can implement this with students of their own.  
 
Final Thoughts 
The use of TMT has provided us with an effective way to get to know our students, connect our 
class content with their personal and literacy experiences, and start class in a lively, carefree 
manner. While at first a random, barely planned out idea, TMT has become a now much more 
methodically designed staple applied at the beginning of each of our classes. TMTs have allowed 
us to help students see how to make meaningful connections, both personally and academically, 
to create a caring classroom community that our students can transfer to their own P–5 settings. 
Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam (2013) stated, “Teacher-student relationships allow teachers to 
bring life to their curricula, to be effective teachers, to capitalize on their own strengths in the 
classroom, and to share the wisdom of their experiences” (p. 55). TMT has allowed us to do just 
this; students feel energized and invested in the learning of literacy content because of the teacher-
student and student-student relationships built through the activities and personalized feedback 
provided to students. Give it a try—you and your students will not be disappointed! 
 
References 
Bernstein-Yamashiro, B., & Noam, G. G. (2013). Learning together: Teaching, relationships, and 

teachers’ work. New Directions for Youth Development, 2013(137), 45–56. https://doi.org/
10.1002/yd.20047 

Cooper, K. (2003). From left field to safe at home-base: Building community in the pre-service 
classroom and beyond. Teacher Education Quarterly, 30(4), 83–94. 

Frisby, B. N., & Munoz, B. (2021). “Love me, love my class”: Instructor perceptions of rapport 
building with students across cultures. Communication Reports, 34(3), 137–150. 
https://doi.org/10.1080/08934215.2021.1931387 

Kromka, S. M., & Goodboy, A. K. (2019). Classroom storytelling: Using instructor narratives to 
increase student recall, affect, and attention, Communication Education, 68(1), 20–43. 
https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2018.1529330 

Noddings, N. (2005). The challenge to care in schools: An alternative approach to education. 
Teachers College Press. 

Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc. (2009). Responsive Classroom® Sample morning 
meetings in a responsive classroom. https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/sites/default/
files/pdf_files/SMMbooklet.pdf 

Shields-Lysiak, L. K., Boyd, M. P., Iorio, J. P., & Vasquez, C. R. (2020). Classroom greetings: 
More than a simple hello. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 8(3), 41–56. 

 
 
Received: October 4, 2022 | Accepted: December 22, 2022 | Published: April 3, 2023 

https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.20047
https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.20047
https://doi.org/10.1080/08934215.2021.1931387
https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2018.1529330
https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/sites/default/files/pdf_files/SMMbooklet.pdf
https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/sites/default/files/pdf_files/SMMbooklet.pdf

	Building Relationships to Create Classroom Community
	Figure 1: TMT Sample Personalized Feedback

	Technology and Tell Me Time
	Figure 2: Tell Me Time Instructor Prompts and Sample Student Journal Entries

	Tell Me Time: Steps to Success
	Table 1: Getting Started with Tell Me Time

	Lessons Learned
	Final Thoughts
	References

