Building Community in the Classroom Jill Ebeling Third Grade Linder Elementary BSWP 2010

 Problem Because teachers forget to establish relationships with their students, more time is spent being reactive rather than proactive.  Principle Deeper learning and meaning will take place when students feel that they are a part of a classroom community.  Purpose To inspire teachers to connect with their students, and to give teachers some ideas on how to build a community in their classroom.

What is Classroom Community?  Use the colored dot on the front of your packet and move into groups according to your color.  Take a few minutes to talk with your group and reflect on what a classroom community should look like and sound like. (use the paper insert)  And/or share some of your childhood classroom community memories.

Classroom Community ….  Where students feel safe both emotionally and physically  They feel supported from their teacher and peers  Enthusiastic about the days discoveries  Where everyone is honored  Feels free to be his/her own self without any fear of being judged  Where an individuals life is embraced, treasured, and celebrated publicly

Theories Maslow When a child’s basic needs are not met, he/she may have trouble learning and relating positively to others. One peak experience in a person sets up the desire for more. Vygotsky Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development. (Vygotsky, 1978).

Unless a child feels connected to the school experience and the people he or she encounters there, learning will be compromised and emotional survival becomes the primary focus during the school day (Levine, 2003).

When a sense of belonging exists within the classroom, student motivation will be high, performance will be enhanced, relationships will grow stronger, and the classroom atmosphere will be joyful and supportive (Levine, 2003).

Culture of Caring Approach This approach is a strategy that is designed to help students gain academic and social success through creating a safe learning environment.

Eight Steps to Building a Caring Culture 1.Name and Model the Specific Skill 2.Be a listener 3.Dialogue With Your Students 4.Identify Classroom Goals Together 5.Share Interests and Talents 6.Recognize Student Progress and Achievement 7.Encourage Your Student’s Efforts 8.Value Students’ Stories

Beginning Social Skills  Listening  Starting a Conversation  Introducing Yourself  Asking a Question  Saying Thank You  Having a Conversation  Introducing Other People  Giving a Compliment

Advanced Social Skills  Asking for Help  Giving Instructions  Apologizing  Joining In a Group  Following Instructions  Convincing Others

Building a Caring Culture When we see a deficiency in math, reading, and writing we address that deficiency with modeling, scaffolding, and then practice. The same should be true when it comes to behaviors that we want to see in our students (Ebeling, 2010).

Practice Listening The Listening Wheel Sample Questions  What do you look for in a friend?  What is something you feel good about?  Where do you feel most accepted?  What is the best book you have read?  Tell about a place you would like to visit The outside listens first

Did you feel like others were listening to you?  Listening is one of the greatest gifts one person can offer another (Levine, 2003). Student Empathy Assessment (a copy is in your packet)

Highest levels of listening are: Opened-ended Questioning Clarifying and Summarizing Reflecting Feelings (highest of the three)

Teaching Template 1.Skill: __Joining in a group and/or including others 2.Reason for choosing this skill.  I noticed that many students were being exclusive on the playground. 3.Introducing the skill: What is your framing statement/activity?  Has anyone ever felt left out, or you wanted to join a game and didn’t know how? 4.Modeling the skill: How will you model the skill for your class?  What does joining a group or allowing others to join your group look like? What does it sound like? 5.Present the guidelines for the skill and identify what they are.  Took place in class discussion. 6.Assign students to work in pairs to practice the skill.  In groups practice asking to join in, what are you playing?, introducing yourself etc

Not Just Another Lesson… Building a community in your classroom should be a way of being, wherever your students are, and this “way of being” should carry into the rest of their lives.

Rituals and Routines A people that lives as a community takes ritual as the soil upon which its future grows….A community that does not have a rituals cannot exist. ~Malidoma Some

 What rituals and routines have you established in your classroom?  What results have you seen because of this ritual?

Rituals provide an emotional hook leading to deeper connection to an experience (Levine, 2003).

Other Community Building Activities  The Circle of Honor: Have your students sit in a semi- circle with the student or students who are being honored sitting in a special chair. The student (s) in the special chair is to be honored while he/she shares, without being interrupted, a piece of work that he/she did, exciting news, and or a challenge he/she is facing. The skill that is practiced in the Circle of Honor is listening and honor language  Practicing Honor Language: Use a bulletin board or a large piece of paper and label it Honor Language. Encourage your students to write down when honor language has taken place in the classroom or on the playground, and then put in on the bulletin board for all to see.  Teach the Teacher: Students take turns teaching the teacher and the class something that he/she can do well.

“That which is unnamed is invisible. Teachers give students the words to name their world.” ~ Paulo Freire

Reflection Two Take a moment to write down what you would like to try in your classroom or anything else that you would like to do to help build community in your classroom.

By sharing your interests and talents, you humanize who you are and the strengthen students’ sense of connection to you as a person. A classroom environment that promotes community provides a variety of cooperative experiences for its students (Levine, 2003).

References  Alfred P. Rovai. (2003). Sense of community, perceived cognitive learning, and persistence in asynchronous learning networks.  David A. Levine. (2003). Building classroom communities. Solution Tree Press.  How to create a caring classroom community. Scholastic Retrieved from June 26, Light Richard Making the Most of College. of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  Learning-Theories.com. Social Devolopement. (2008). retrieved June 29,2010: Theoryhttp://