1. WHY EFFECTIVE TEACHERS PROMOTE COMMUNITY IN THEIR CLASSROOMS THE GOOSE STORY

2. Next fall when you see geese heading south for the winter flying along in a “V” formation, you might be interested in knowing why they fly that way. It has been learned that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.

3. People who share common direction and sense of community can get where they are traveling on the thrust of one another. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels a drag and resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly gets into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in from. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are going.

4. When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the wing and another goose flies to point. It pays to take turns doing hard jobs. The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.. An encouraging word goes a long way Finally, when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by a gun shot and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him.

5. They stay with him until he is either able to fly or until he is dead, and they launch out on their own or with another formation to catch up with the group. If we have the sense of a goose we will stand by each other like that. Author Unknown

6. WHY IS A POSITIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY IMPORTANT? n Higher order thinking is woven into every lesson n Student see value in working together n Social skills are taught, valued and assessed. n Students acquire knowledge of different team roles as the are shared and mixed n Students acquire flexibility in thinking and other positive habits of mind n Other??

7. HOW DO YOU BEGIN TO BUILD COMMUNITY? n Begin creating a positive learning culture immediately n Create an “ethic of caring” in the classroom n Use warm-ups, culture circles at some point every daywarm-ups n Seek out student voice; Ask them what kind of classroom they want to have n Teach social skills explicitly

8. HOW DO YOU SUSTAIN AND “NORM” POSITIVE CLIMATE IN YOUR CLASSROOM? USE COOPERATIVE LEARNING GROUPS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE: n Class Members share responsibility for the group and the health of their learning community n Students learn to rely on each other n Students progress in their use of pro- social skills and habits of mind

9. TRIPLE T-CHART TRIPLE T-CHART ATTENTIVE LISTENING

10. SOCIAL SKILLS WE NEED TO TEACH TO PROMOTE POSITIVE COMMUNITY J RESPECT FOR OTHERS J TEAM WORK SKILLS J COMMUNICATION SKILLS J CONFLICT RESOLUTION SKILLS

11. SUPPORT J ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER J ENERGIZE THE GROUP J DISAGREE WITH THE IDEA- NOT THE PERSON

12. CONFLICT RESOLUTION J DISAGREE WITH THE IDEA- NOT THE PERSON J RESPECT THE OPINIONS OF OTHERS J THINK FOR YOURSELF

13. CONFLICT RESOLUTION J EXPLORE DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW J NEGOTIATE AND/OR COMPROMISE J REACH CONSENSUS

14. ASSESS YOUR GROUP n ONE THING WE DID WELL... n ONE THING WE COULD DO BETTER ON... q SOCIAL SUPPORTING SKILLS q COMMUNICATING SKILLS q CONFLICT SOLVING SKILLS n ON A 1 (HIGH) TO 5 (LOW) SCALE OUR GROUP IS A ___.

15. One day--lying alone in the lawn on my back with only the drone of a distant train on some far-off track, I saw before my eyes, 5,000 feet high or more, a sight--which to this day I must say, I’ve never seen nothing like before.

16. The head goose--the leader of the V-- suddenly veered out, leaving a vacancy which was promptly filled by the bird behind. The former leader then flew alongside, the formation continued growing wide-- and he found a place at the back of the line. They never missed a beat!

17. So that’s how I found out how the goose can fly from way up North to way down South and back again. But he cannot do it alone you see. It’s something he can only do in Community.

18. These days it’s a popular notion, and people swell with emotion and pride to think of themselves on the eagle’s side, Solitary Self Sufficient Strong But, We are what we are, that’s something we cannot choose.

19. And though many would wish to be seen as the eagle, I think God made us more like the goose.