Standard C, Indicator 1: Creates and maintains a safe and collaborative learning an environment that values diversity and motivates students to meet high standards of conduct, effort, and performance.

I have made it one of my personal goals to ensure that all students feel comfortable in my classroom and feel that they can learn in that environment. Although the students are in 6th grade, I begin by allowing them more responsibility in the classroom when it comes to choosing their seat, creating inclusive groups, and selecting from a range of assignments.

If students are uncomfortable in any way with a seating arrangement or an assignment, they know that they can talk to me as one human being to another, and that I will help them in any way that I can. 

As demonstrated in the pictures below, students are able to choose their own groups and set up the room in a way that's productive for them. Some students work better in small groups on the floor, while others prefer working at desks. By providing students more autonomy, students are able to maintain high standards of success. They work to prove to me that they can succeed.