Olweus class meeting “sticking together” to improve our school community October 28, 2014

“sticking together” – why is it so Important? During today’s class meeting, we will focus on creating an even stronger sense of community than we have right now. What are some ways to build community? Do we all have to be the same in order to create a community together? Why or why not? What’s the basis of real community? It’s important to know that we can honor differences but still be a community.

“sticking together” – why is it so Important? (continued) It’s great that so many of you think we already have a strong community, but there is always room to improve. What are some advantages of making our community stronger in this homeroom and in the school as a whole?

Activity time! Your olweus teacher(s) will divide you into groups of 4 or 5. Each group must choose a facilitator, a timekeeper, and a recorder. The facilitator helps the group follow the directions, the timekeeper keeps the group moving, and the recorder jots down notes about each person’s story. There will be 1 round of storytelling. each person will tell a story in response to one of the story prompts. Let’s get started …

storytelling prompts Each person in the group can choose his or her own prompt from the storytelling prompts listed below and each group member will share a story. Each group member should take 3-4 minutes to tell his or her story. Storytelling prompts: 1.) Tell about a time when you made a sacrifice for a community to which you belong. (The community could be a team, your family, your group of friends, a club activity, your place of worship, etc.) 2.) Tell about a time when someone surprised you by going out of his or her way to help you. 3.) Tell about a time when something you thought was going to be awful turned out to be great. 4.) Tell about a time when you felt most included in a group.

Sharing stories with the class Once all group members have shared their stories in their groups, each group must decide which story to share with the entire homeroom. Remember, someone other than the original storyteller can tell the story. Who wants to go first? What did the class learn from the story? (students answer this after story has been told) What was it like sharing stories with the class? What were the effects?

Class action plan Now that we have told some stories and listened to some stories, ask yourself this question: “what did the stories have in common?” What did you learn about community, both from the stories themselves and from the process of sharing stories? Did you find you have more in common with your homeroom peers than you thought? Can we come up with a list of recommendations for other homerooms that want to increase their sense of community? Would someone volunteer to be the secretary for this activity? Ty!