Community Building
In Cooperative Discipline (2002) Linda Albert explains that community building is key in controlling misbehavior in the classroom. Community building helps students connect with others, contribute, and feel capable in the classroom (67).
Beginning of School Year
Before the school year even starts, I like to start building my classroom community. I plan on sending out a “new student packet.” This packet will include my parent letter, a list of school supplies needed, as well as a short student survey about their interests. I will also include a copy of my completed survey so that the students can get to know me before they even step foot into our classroom. Students are instructed to bring this survey with them on the first day of school so we can do an activity with it. The survey will ask things such as, my favorite color is___, my favorite food is ____. When students get to school on the first day, there will be another survey for them to fill out, but this time it has more in-depth questions such as, where were you born and what do you do in your free time. Students will take both their surveys and pair up with a partner that I assign (based on their seating arrangement in the pods). The partners will go back and forth telling each other about themselves. Once each pair has had a chance to share, the class will meet in a circle on the shared reading rug. We will go around in a circle and ask each student to recall something that they remembered about the other person. Lastly, I will ask students what they remember about the answers to my survey or if anything surprised them.
On the first day of school, I plan on wearing a nametag so that students are able to easily remember my name. I will ask students their name as they file into the classroom. I will ask them to make nametags for themselves because according to Denton and Kriete (2000), “As students work, their anxiety and self-consciousness begin to fall away. Drawing with crayons and writing their names are familiar activities” (37). These nametags will allow the teacher and other students to call each other by name. Even Linda Albert (2002) has said that by greeting students by name, the teacher is paying attention to students (74). Attention is one of the Five A’s that help students to connect and initiate positive relationships with peers and others (74).
Later in the first week of school, my class and I are going to come up with a “Classroom Code of Conduct” as referred to by Linda Albert in Cooperative Discipline (2009). I will ask the students which actions are appropriate or inappropriate in school. We will explain to each other these actions, model them, and also role-play these actions so students can understand what the expectations are (76). After we are done modeling and role-playing, we will come up with our own code of conduct. Once we finalize this code I will send a summary home to parents for their feedback. If all parents approve, our “Classroom Code of Conduct” will be posted in the room so that student can easily be reminded of appropriate and inappropriate behaviors.
Along with forming the code of conduct or, rules, students will help the teacher come up with the logical consequences that need to be applied when a student chooses to disobey the code of conduct that our class agreed upon. Referring to Linda Albert’s Cooperative Discipline (2009), consequences need to follow the four R’s of consequences – related, reasonable, respectful, and reliability enforced (81). I will explain logical consequences to students; such as if a person is talking disruptively, they sit in isolation in the back of the room where they cannot talk to others. As a class we will discuss logical consequences that we feel are appropriate for given situations.
Throughout School Year
I plan on switching around the seating assignments as needed. Every time I change the seating, I will have each person in the pod write at least once nice thing about the three other people at their pod. We would not do this the first day of getting into our new pods. Instead, we would wait about a week or two until I felt that the students have become a pod community. This community building activity highlights each person’s strengths and it lets all students know that they are liked and cared about by the people closest to them. These statements will be collected throughout the year and at the end of first grade, the students will receive a booklet from the teacher with the nice statements that their friends have said about them. This will remind the students in second grade that they still have friends not far away.
I would like to start a short version of morning meeting to last throughout the entire school year. My morning meeting would mostly consist of a greeting and a share. The greeting is especially important in the beginning of the school year when students are not familiar with everyone’s name yet. But, greeting with names must continue all year long so we are positive that we know how to address someone and the other person cares about you enough to use your name. I will choose the greeting and share for most of the school year. The sharing will start out very simple, such as share your favorite food or share your favorite memory from the weekend. Later in the year, I will start having students share homework tips and reading strategies. Towards the end of the year I will let students take over our morning meeting by choosing ways to greet one another and what they would like to share. According to Denton and Kriete in The First Six Weeks of School (2000), students are to gather in a circle, greet one another, to listen and respond to each other’s news, to practice academic and social skills, and to look forward to the events in the day ahead (14). Denton and Kriete (2000) stated, “The purposes of Morning Meeting are many. It serves as a transition from home to school, helps children to feel welcome and known, sets the tone for the day, creates a climate of trust, increases students’ confidence and investment in learning, provides a meaningful context for teaching and practicing academic skills, encourages cooperation and inclusion, and improves children’s communication skills” (15). Morning Meetings help students to feel part of the classroom community which Linda Albert supports by saying, “students achieve their ultimate goal of belonging in the class, which in turn reduces their amount of misbehavior.”
I plan to take note of all my student’s birthdays and post a birthday chart in my classroom. Each time that a student has a birthday, our class will celebrate by singing happy birthday, getting a Birthday Certificate from the teacher, wear a special Hawaiian necklace, and get to be the line leaders for the day. Linda Albert (2009) says that recognizing birthdays is part of the Five A’s of helping students connect (74).
End of School Year
At the end of the school year students will get the booklets of positive statements that their peers have said about them. I talked about this community building activity before, mentioning that students will write nice statements about new pod members. These booklets that I will make for them are a graduation present, but they still build community. These booklets remind students that even though they are in a new grade, they still have some of these same friends around who think positively about them. It gives students a sense of comfort.
At the end of the school year I want students to reread some of their work samples that we have kept in student portfolios. After each student has read through their portfolio, I want the students to come down to the carpet and form a circle. Each student needs to tell something that they learned about themselves and something that they have improved on. I will also share what I have learned about myself and what I have improved on. I will then go around the room and thank each student for being a participating member of our classroom. I will give one positive statement that sums up each student’s time in my classroom. This community building activity allows students to share something that they have become better at, proving that they have learned and done well in first grade. Each student feels proud of him/her self and their classmates are there to support them. By having the teacher go around and give a positive statement about each student, the students leave with a sense of love and support. I hope that they feel comfortable with me and choose to visit plenty as they reach second grade during the fall!
Beginning of School Year
Before the school year even starts, I like to start building my classroom community. I plan on sending out a “new student packet.” This packet will include my parent letter, a list of school supplies needed, as well as a short student survey about their interests. I will also include a copy of my completed survey so that the students can get to know me before they even step foot into our classroom. Students are instructed to bring this survey with them on the first day of school so we can do an activity with it. The survey will ask things such as, my favorite color is___, my favorite food is ____. When students get to school on the first day, there will be another survey for them to fill out, but this time it has more in-depth questions such as, where were you born and what do you do in your free time. Students will take both their surveys and pair up with a partner that I assign (based on their seating arrangement in the pods). The partners will go back and forth telling each other about themselves. Once each pair has had a chance to share, the class will meet in a circle on the shared reading rug. We will go around in a circle and ask each student to recall something that they remembered about the other person. Lastly, I will ask students what they remember about the answers to my survey or if anything surprised them.
On the first day of school, I plan on wearing a nametag so that students are able to easily remember my name. I will ask students their name as they file into the classroom. I will ask them to make nametags for themselves because according to Denton and Kriete (2000), “As students work, their anxiety and self-consciousness begin to fall away. Drawing with crayons and writing their names are familiar activities” (37). These nametags will allow the teacher and other students to call each other by name. Even Linda Albert (2002) has said that by greeting students by name, the teacher is paying attention to students (74). Attention is one of the Five A’s that help students to connect and initiate positive relationships with peers and others (74).
Later in the first week of school, my class and I are going to come up with a “Classroom Code of Conduct” as referred to by Linda Albert in Cooperative Discipline (2009). I will ask the students which actions are appropriate or inappropriate in school. We will explain to each other these actions, model them, and also role-play these actions so students can understand what the expectations are (76). After we are done modeling and role-playing, we will come up with our own code of conduct. Once we finalize this code I will send a summary home to parents for their feedback. If all parents approve, our “Classroom Code of Conduct” will be posted in the room so that student can easily be reminded of appropriate and inappropriate behaviors.
Along with forming the code of conduct or, rules, students will help the teacher come up with the logical consequences that need to be applied when a student chooses to disobey the code of conduct that our class agreed upon. Referring to Linda Albert’s Cooperative Discipline (2009), consequences need to follow the four R’s of consequences – related, reasonable, respectful, and reliability enforced (81). I will explain logical consequences to students; such as if a person is talking disruptively, they sit in isolation in the back of the room where they cannot talk to others. As a class we will discuss logical consequences that we feel are appropriate for given situations.
Throughout School Year
I plan on switching around the seating assignments as needed. Every time I change the seating, I will have each person in the pod write at least once nice thing about the three other people at their pod. We would not do this the first day of getting into our new pods. Instead, we would wait about a week or two until I felt that the students have become a pod community. This community building activity highlights each person’s strengths and it lets all students know that they are liked and cared about by the people closest to them. These statements will be collected throughout the year and at the end of first grade, the students will receive a booklet from the teacher with the nice statements that their friends have said about them. This will remind the students in second grade that they still have friends not far away.
I would like to start a short version of morning meeting to last throughout the entire school year. My morning meeting would mostly consist of a greeting and a share. The greeting is especially important in the beginning of the school year when students are not familiar with everyone’s name yet. But, greeting with names must continue all year long so we are positive that we know how to address someone and the other person cares about you enough to use your name. I will choose the greeting and share for most of the school year. The sharing will start out very simple, such as share your favorite food or share your favorite memory from the weekend. Later in the year, I will start having students share homework tips and reading strategies. Towards the end of the year I will let students take over our morning meeting by choosing ways to greet one another and what they would like to share. According to Denton and Kriete in The First Six Weeks of School (2000), students are to gather in a circle, greet one another, to listen and respond to each other’s news, to practice academic and social skills, and to look forward to the events in the day ahead (14). Denton and Kriete (2000) stated, “The purposes of Morning Meeting are many. It serves as a transition from home to school, helps children to feel welcome and known, sets the tone for the day, creates a climate of trust, increases students’ confidence and investment in learning, provides a meaningful context for teaching and practicing academic skills, encourages cooperation and inclusion, and improves children’s communication skills” (15). Morning Meetings help students to feel part of the classroom community which Linda Albert supports by saying, “students achieve their ultimate goal of belonging in the class, which in turn reduces their amount of misbehavior.”
I plan to take note of all my student’s birthdays and post a birthday chart in my classroom. Each time that a student has a birthday, our class will celebrate by singing happy birthday, getting a Birthday Certificate from the teacher, wear a special Hawaiian necklace, and get to be the line leaders for the day. Linda Albert (2009) says that recognizing birthdays is part of the Five A’s of helping students connect (74).
End of School Year
At the end of the school year students will get the booklets of positive statements that their peers have said about them. I talked about this community building activity before, mentioning that students will write nice statements about new pod members. These booklets that I will make for them are a graduation present, but they still build community. These booklets remind students that even though they are in a new grade, they still have some of these same friends around who think positively about them. It gives students a sense of comfort.
At the end of the school year I want students to reread some of their work samples that we have kept in student portfolios. After each student has read through their portfolio, I want the students to come down to the carpet and form a circle. Each student needs to tell something that they learned about themselves and something that they have improved on. I will also share what I have learned about myself and what I have improved on. I will then go around the room and thank each student for being a participating member of our classroom. I will give one positive statement that sums up each student’s time in my classroom. This community building activity allows students to share something that they have become better at, proving that they have learned and done well in first grade. Each student feels proud of him/her self and their classmates are there to support them. By having the teacher go around and give a positive statement about each student, the students leave with a sense of love and support. I hope that they feel comfortable with me and choose to visit plenty as they reach second grade during the fall!