I've been asked 3 times in the past two weeks about classroom management. Each time I've given the disclaimer that I'm not an expert and it's something I always feel that I need to work on but the reflecting on this question has given me new perspective:
I'm managing a classroom community every day in every action and with every decision I make. 
When asked what advice I have for new teachers on their first day of school I offered this advice: 
1. Take some time to really think about what kind of community you want in your classroom.
2. Starting from that point, decide how students will interact with you and each other in the classroom.
3. Then think about those important first days as a powerful community-building opportunity.

The eureka moment for me, as an educator who is always reflecting and trying to get better, was to ask if I have achieved the community I hope to have in my classroom.

I want students to be curious and to stretch themselves in their learning so they experience the kind of good struggle that builds healthy resilience.
I want our classroom to be a brave space where students take risks, reflect on their strengths and weaknesses, and can see their overall ability to achieve college and career readiness growing closer.
I want a classroom community where we have fun but where we also take things seriously.
I want a classroom community where every student feels welcomed and valued because they see themselves reflected in the posters on the wall to the language I use. They should feel valued when  I call their classmates in when I hear biased language, interrupt stereotypes and push for equity and inclusion. I want each student to see themselves reflected in the stories on which we focus our analysis.

As I told the pre-service educator who interviewed me yesterday, a classroom community that meets all of my goals is not the kind of quiet classroom where I learned as a child. It doesn't look like children sitting in rows, taking notes and being silent. My classroom is rarely quiet. On Friday it was silent as I modeled how to answer a document-based question using complete sentences that restate the answer. Every student copied my exact answer from the board. They were silent and compliant and those moments are part of learning but silence and compliance is not the goal of my classroom community so I don't expect to hear it often.

This week we are working on how place defines our perspective and how that perspective can change over time. As a result I've been thinking a lot about the communities I've been a part of and the communities I've chosen.
I've lived in quiet suburban spaces but never isolated rural areas. When given the choice, I've chosen city communities as my home. 
City communities offer the opportunity for art, liveliness, conversation, and energy but also they offer anonymity and opportunities to be alone, even when surrounded by humanity. I think learning to get along with others, despite their noise and messiness, is how we make the world a better place.

My messy, noisy classroom communities are where we start.

I spent the day saying "Awww! You guys!  That is so good."  "I love that!"  "That is fantastic!" I couldn't be prouder of my students because they tackled some of society's most challenging topics. They made connections to texts they read and created action steps to improve equity. 
The empathy "themes" we investigated are not easy to talk about for most adults in 2020: 

• Identity & Intersectional Identity
• Bias & Behaving with Integrity
• Stereotypes & Changing our mindsets
• Inequality & Finding strength in difference
• Race & Reality

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My students read 3 articles of their choice about their subjects and I was really unsure about how this assignment would turn out. I led them through identity exploration in class and we defined and discussed bias, stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice but how would they do answering open-ended questions like: 
Why is race such a complicated topic to talk about in America?
What is implicit bias?
How can we act with integrity if we all have implicit biases?
In what ways can we connect to other people and recognize their obstacles while admitting we can never fully understand their experience?
And perhaps the MOST important question we can ask in the suburbs of the most segregated city in America: 

But you know what? I challenged them and they rose to the occasion and I learned, once again, that Nelson Mandela was right, "May our choices reflect hope and not fear."
If we don't talk about these challenges in the classroom with ground rules and evidence and an open-dialogue then kids will talk about them in the shadows, the halls and on the bus. They will be misinformed and confused or, at worst, indoctrinated into a hate group.

Their answers to these questions are beautiful in their clarity: 

How can we create connections?  "Connect to people of different races to show that race doesn't stop you from liking someone"

What obstacles stop us from breaking down stereotypes? Judgment, tension between people, fear, society

And that's just the beginning.