1. Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.
John Wesley

2. Building Community in the Classroom
Class Meetings
Building Community in the Classroom

3. Class meetings usually serve one or more of the following purposes: to plan and make decisions, to “check in,” and to solve problems or raise awareness.

4. Both academic and social issues are appropriate topics for consideration. Depending on their purpose, class meetings can be a regularly scheduled part of the school day or week or can occur as needed.

5. Their versatility makes them a valuable classroom management tool-one that helps students actively contribute to their academic and social learning.

6. Why Have Class Meetings
Kids are involved in constructive decisions making. It is a forum for students to voice and directly effect how they want their class to be.
It creates a climate of trust and respect between kids and kids and teachers
It helps build self esteem by having kids involved in decisions that affect their world.

7. Kids develop a sense of responsibility for their actions
It enhances speaking, listening, leadership skills.
It is a forum for students to support each other as each person takes charge of their own learning.

8. What is an Effective Class Meeting?
The teacher “shares the control” with students by letting them help set the agenda. The focus is always on school, not home.
Students do most of the talking and the teacher acts as facilitator. The teacher teaches students to really listen to and respect each others’ ideas.

9. Students work together to improve the learning environment, friendships and cooperative group work through class plans.
Individual students with problems or conflicts seek help and ongoing support from their classmates.

10. Eight Building Blocks for Effective Class Meetings
Form a circle.
Practice compliments and appreciations.
Create an agenda.
Practice forming a circle.
Chairs usually better than on floor except for perhaps young children. Chairs create a sense of boundaries.
Think about your placement in the circle. Maybe change where you sit every time.
Sit at the kids level, if they are on floor sit on floor.
Teach kids to be specific when giving compliments
Show overhead on encouragement and what it means.
Teach kids to accept compliments
Each child can choose to give, get or pass.
Can use the term acknowledgements with older kids.
Agenda – box on desk.
Using names may come later to create sense of responsibility

11. Develop communication skills.
Learn about separate realities.
Practice brainstorming and role playing.

12. Recognize the reasons people do what they do.

13. Questions when setting a topic for a meeting.
Is the topic open-ended, inviting participation from all children?
Is there really room for different ideas and viewpoints?

14. Do you really want student input? Have you made a decision already?
Will the children be able to act on their ideas or suggestions?
Are you willing to support decisions made by the children even though you feel they might fail?

15. Sample Topics Relationships What can I do when a person is bugging me?
What can I do when I’m feeling left out?
What can I do when someone hurts my feelings?
How can I help my friends do the right thing?
What can I do when my friend won’t share me with my other friends?

16. Working in small groups
What would help us bring the best out of everyone when we work in small groups?
What could we do to help from the teacher without getting too embarrassed?
What could we do when our group ins’t working very well together?

17. Attitude toward school
What really works for me at school?
What can I do when school is not much fun?
What can I do when I’m becoming turned off to school?

18. Places and activities that are not routine
How can we make a field trip, guest speaker, or assembly work for everyone?

19. Lunch and Free Time
How can we make lunch free-time enjoyable for everyone
How can we help our friends do the right thing during lunch and free time?

20. Diversity/teasing How can we help everyone feel welcome and respected?
What can we do when we see or are targets of teasing and harassment?

21. Creating a Comfortable Atmosphere
Getting to know you activities.
Add-on Graffiti Boards
Artifacts
Class Data Base
Find Your Match
Forced Choice
I am Thinking of Someone
Partner Interviews
Photograph Display
Webbing
Getting to Know You Activities
Add on Graffiti Boards – buletin boards or large pieces of paper – sentences or phrases such as “I linke school wehen” or Favorite Books” – everyone (teacher t00) writes answers
Artifacts – item connected with someone or something important or memorable in a person’s life. Keep in paper bag or box while telling about it and then show.
Class Data Base – Students and teacher make a class chart or graph showing information about individuals hobbies, birthdays, favorite food or book, etc. (not height or weight)
Find your match – form groups or go around and find people.
Forced choice, Answer and discuss – would you rather read a biography or write an autobiography,, would you rather visit antarctica or hawaii, would you rather draw a picture, act out an story or sing a song, learn about insects or earthquakes, play softball, piano or chess.
I am Thinking of Someone – guess the classmate or teacher being described by a series of hints
Partner Interviews-write or draw about what they learned
Photograph Display – teacher takes polaroid or other snapshots of students, posts them. Students could add to theirs, pick a picutre and write about it, write a caption, interview and write stuff up there.
Webbing – student holds a ball of yarn and tells the class his name and a fact about him. Then rolls the ball of yarn across the circle, repeating this
Ground rules – Anyone can pass or “elephant” (humor)
Talking stick

22. Establishing Ground Rules
Listening and Getting a Turn to Speak
Avoiding Accusatory or Shaming Discussions
Even Ground Rules Take Time
Listening and getting a turn
Important to help students see that class meetings are about them coming to understandings as a group, and that this reqiures them not to hog the floor and to speak and listen to teach other. Need to help students learn to speak to each other
Older kids can learn to have conversations without raising hands, without interuppting, etc. with practice and time
Raising hands, teacher can still call on them, but direct with speech or nods to talk to others. NOone has hands up while someone is talking
Teddy bear, talking stick, wand.
Avoiding put downs
Ground rule
Discuss problems without naming names
Eventually need to learn to speak respectfully but deal with problems and take responsibility
Norm is on solving problems

23. Duration Depends on age and experience of students
Depends on topic(s) and purpose of the meeting
Primary concern is not too long or too short
Let students evaluate at end of meeting
Don’t want students to feel abridged or frustrated because they didn’t get to express their concerns
If an important topic comes up you want to be able to address it.

24. Discussion and Facilitation Strategies
What the teacher models
Questioning and response strategies
Wait Time
Follow-up Questions
Encouraging participation – partnerships to discuss beforehand
Questioning and Response
Emphasize that you are not looking for a right answer and there may not even be one
Wait time – three to five seconds at least
Tell students you are giving students time to think about response
Wait time after also lets them know you are considering their response
Follow up questions
personal connection – “Think about your best friend” Think about how you might feel”
compare and contrast “ what is the difference between someone who is a friend and someone who isn’t
cause and effect: “what do you do when..”
Benefits and burdens-Are there some hard things, as well as good things about…”

25. How To Manage and Encourage Participation Brainstorming
Small-Group Discussions
Partner Chats
Partner Idea Lists
Collected Ideas
Individual Reflection and Writing
Partner idea list – you want them to brainstorm and record
encourage them to listen carefully to each other – no interrupting
have them discuss lists, telling each other what they do or do not like about each idea and star he ideas that are most important to both partners
Collected ideas – one group give one idea, all groups with same idea raise hands. Invite another group to offer a different idea.

26. Consensus building Definitions Narrowing Choices Benefits and Burdens
Unlivable Only
Livable Only
One “Why”
Three Straws
Apply Criteria
Definitions
Everyone can live with the decision, even if it is no one’s first choice
We keep giving ideas until nobody disagrees. If anybody disagrees, we give more ideas.
Benefits and Burdens
students explain what they consider the advantages and disadvantages of each idea.
record ideas
can they eliminate or combine any of the options
unlivable only – students name the choices they can’t live with, and explain why (or write down)
cross out the unlivable ideas as students voice the; or if students write them, read aloud and cross out
livable only – students name all the choices they can live with
raise their hands if they can live with it. They can vote as many times as they want
for each option, count the number of raised hands and mark that number beside the idea
one why – students each choose one idea nd explain why they chose it
eliminate any options that have no support
three straws – students cast three straws to distribute in any way he or she chooses
apply criteria – help students identify objective criteria that affect the issue
use a simple matrix to assess the impact of these considerations, options down one side and criteria across the top

27. Troubleshooting Nobody talking Side conversations
Shocking or “funny” or “stupid” statements
Someone too disruptive
Everybody talking
Is it because they are so interested – Ask them to tell their idea to a partner
Is it because they are not interested - Rephrase the question, add interest, or drop
Is it because they have not heard the topic – Get their attention, check your timing, review the ground rules
2. Do they understand – Rephrase the quesiton, give mor info
Are they interested – add interest or drop
Do they need to think more, to formulate their ideas – work with partners, or write ideas down
3. Is the discussion hitting too close to home – give students time to write individually about the topic or table
Is the discussion of no concern to them – Acknowledge the fact and shorten the meeting
Do they have a problem with self control – help them develop self control, work out a plan ahead of time
Is it really in order to get attention or to cover up embarrassment – deal with this directly. Keep you rsense of humor. Sometimes you may have a private talk with person if repeated
Is it from an inability to express themselves clearly – rephrase, do you mean, or sk them to rephrase and give
them time.
5. How can I stop the behavior and not build resentment? How can I help the person take responsibility for his behavior. Ask person to leave the group until she or he is able to return without being disruptive

28. We learn from our mistakes only if we are not afraid to make mistakes
We learn from our mistakes only if we are not afraid to make mistakes! Rudolph Dreikurs

29. Planning and Decision Making Meetings
Ways we want our class to be
Class name
Back-to-school night/open house
Substitutes
Choosing to learn

30. Check In Meetings Is this the way we want to be? What did we learn?
How did it go with the substitute?

31. No problem is too difficult once it is recognized as a common task!
Rudolph Driekurs

32. Problem Solving Meetings

33. Problem Solving Meetings
My friends won’t let me play
Cliques
Problem Solving

34. Things to Think About

35. When is a problem suitable for a class meeting?
Is this an issue that can be discussed in a climate of trust, ensuring the safety of each child?
Can the group’s collective energy be directed toward finding solutions to problems, not consequences for actions?

36. Does this issue affect all of the children or most of them.
If the issue involves specific students, do all parties involved agree to have the problem taken to the class?

37. Is this the best time to address the problem?
Problem Solving model – show overhead

38. Developing a Class Plan or helping a Student with a Problem
Identify the question.
Brainstorm many possible solutinos/strategies.
Discuss a few solutions/strategies.

39. Choose a solution or a few strategies and write a plan(1-2 meetings).
Use the plan during the next few weeks.
Check on and change the plan, if necessary, at the next few meetings.

40. Ways to Begin Meetings Explain meetings
Talk about student’s hopes for the meeting
Record student ideas
Have a partner chat
Engage students’ personal experiences
Introduce vocabulary or concepts

41. Remind students of earlier meeting results or topics
Read a related story

42. Ways to End Meetings
Post a list and ask students to keep thinking about it
Synthesize what the ideas mean
Preview the next meeting
Reflect on the meeting – process, results, learnings
Ask for volunteers to create a document about what you did

43. Establish a timeline for completing activities
Celebrate what you have accomplished
Add final observations