My community

How to create a community in the classroom. How to get the most out of the classes imagination? Well, heck if I know. The reading for my reflections class this week dealt with building communities in the class and adding something new each day to a student’s school life..all in the hopes they can be the girl in the Community article that runs home at the age of 12 and proclaims to her mom that she learned how to tell time, even though she knew how to read digital watches for years. There were many examples of how to enrich the learning experience of kids in the elementary classroom. All made sense and have made me think about how I will attempt to create a “community” for my first class of kids. And what a better place to throw out these thoughts then on my blog that is read by the instructor of my reflections class!!
Once I sit in front of this lucky group of kids (my first class), I will use icebreakers that help me get to know everyone’s names, as well as start to get an idea of their personalities, which ones are talkers and which ones tend to be more shy. I will have each one stand up at their desks and introduce themselves with something fun and safe from their lives, hopefully getting them excited about sharing a happy memory with the class. If I see some kids are fully withdrawing, I will step in and share a story of mine that might connect with the shyer kids and see if I can draw them out of their shell. We’ll do this each morning for the first couple weeks to get the kids to get used to public speaking as well as get to know their classmates beyond the school boundaries. My experience in every job I have had, as well as my schooling, tells me that a kid who is comfortable speaking to a group is in a safe learning environment, a fun learning environment, and has established the foundation for building a community. One article spoke of the importance of using the first two weeks of school to focus on building the community in the class….as LEAST two weeks. I’m hoping to use the first 30 minutes of each day to let the kids tell us anything they wanted about their lives (using themes from the class to guide what is said).
At some point when it looks like the kids are comfortable with the group, I can start delving into themes such as helping those in need, feelings towards others, and even life goals (what do you want to be when you grow up). I would leave the theme open ended for changes in thoughts. If the kids feel comfortable changing what they want to be when they grow up on a daily basis..then I think we have a safe community.
I will also rely on class goals to help build community. I am currently pondering how big I want to go with this. Meaning do I want the kids to come up with something like “By the end of the year we will have the Jonas Brothers play at our class assembly”, where we spend time seeing how we could make that a reality. The kids would take the plan and divvy up responsibilities, break the goal into smaller steps and work on a real life example of goal setting. I could also go with something small, such as getting a traffic light placed in front of the school (one I heard from a really cool teacher once). No matter the scale, it will help bring out more strengths and weaknesses in my classroom community.

I was also intrigued this past week by an event in my life and the 2nd grader I am working with twice a week. We were celebrated at the LWSD luncheon for exceptional student-mentor relationship, where I got to meet his parents as well as see him outside of our normal school environment. During the conversation at the table he learned my daughter was having a birthday party and he asked if he could be a part of it. His parents lit up with joy at the prospects their son wanted to be a part of his mentor’s life outside of school. I wasn’t sure how appropriate it was but I felt compelled at the moment state I would check with the others throwing the party and let them know. He ended up coming to the party, having a great time and was able to see the community that I have created in my life. I mentioned to his teacher the next day how nice it was to see him helping me out with the 4 year olds at the party and she made it clear it was inappropriate for him to take part in my personal life outside of school, even though it was truly positive for all involved. I have yet to talk to him about the situation but I wonder how a sense of community can be built when restrictions around exploring new experiences are placed, and then reprimanded when crossed. More specifically, boundaries that neither party knew existed and now must endure an uncomfortable interaction because of it.

Overall, this experience helps me understand that creating the boundaries for the community, making clear what each one of them means, and be consistent in their enforcement will be crucial in establishing the trust required for kids to feel safe in my classroom community.