Back To School Edition: building community in the classroom
I love September. Fall begins tapping us on our shoulders, reminding us what a cool breeze feels like. It is sunny but not too hot, cool but not too cold. As a teaching artist and teacher trainer, September means it's time to reconnect with my students, to ask them about their summers, to meet new budding artists and welcome them into our community. It means facilitating retreats for teachers and administrators in a hope to inspire them for the school year and to give them time to vision and plan for the year. As an auntie, September means me calling my niece or texting my nephew--who is a freshman in college now--and asking them, "How is school?"
I've spent the last few weeks combing through old lesson plans and digging up community building activities for teachers to use so that they can get to know their students in meaningful ways. I've been thinking a lot about how to get students to talk--to me, to each other--to really engage in conversation and not just give one-word answers or responses that they think I want them to say. I want to get to know them. I want them to know each other.
I want to have the meaningful exchange that Liz from Simple Simon & Company wrote about in her blog post, 25 Ways to Ask Your Kids, "So how was school today?" Without Asking Them "So how was school today?"
Questions on the list include, "When were you bored today?" and "Who would you like to play with at recess that you’ve never played with before?" In her list of questions to ask teenagers, she asks, "What would your school be better with? What would your school be better without?" and "What part of the day do you look forward to? What part of the day do you dread?"
Though these questions are geared for parents and caretakers of children, I think they are good questions for teachers to ask their students. I appreciate these lists because they cut to the heart of the matter. I love the variety of topics, the space it creates for follow up questions that can take the conversation to places the parent or child didn't intend.
In the classroom, I try to build up to the type of risk taking and vulnerability students need in order to have honest conversations. In the first few weeks of class, we spend time in each lesson doing a community building activity. These activities are low risk but introduce the idea of sharing our personal stories with one another. You will notice that they gradually build from large group to small groups, to pair shares. They range from little talking to talking a lot. Over the years, I've learned so many good ones from teachers and fellow teaching artists. Here are a few of my tried & true favorites.
Signature Game
Participants are given a handout with a list of questions and are instructed to ask their peers a question from the list. If their answer is yes, participants should get the signature of the person they asked. *Only two signatures per person. Students must ask each other individually. They can’t simply shout out, “Anybody born in July?” The point of this activity is to encourage students to talk to one another and get to know each other.
Reflection: instructor goes through a few (or all) of the questions and asks participants to share their experiences. [example: Did you learn something about one of your peers? What did you learn? How did you feel doing this activity. What did we find out about who’s in the room—whose birthday is in July? Who’s never been on a plane?]
Modification Tips
This activity can be a game—who ever has the most signatures wins a prize. You can give students a certain amount of time to get signatures and make a competition out of it. You can also make the statements connect to your unit by making all questions relevant to the theme(s) you are covering in your unit
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Everybody Who
Participants sit in a chair and form a circle. (There should be one less chair than there are people, like musical chairs).
One participant stands in the middle of the circle. He/she states, “Everybody who…” and continues with a statement that is true about them externally (in other words, it can be seen by looking at the person). For example, “Everybody who is wearing a black shirt.”
At that point, any participant who this statement is true about must get up and find a new chair including the person who made the statement.
The person left without a chair has to say the next statement.
As the activity progresses, the participants are asked to make statements about things that are not external and would not be known by just looking at the person. For example, “Everybody who has seen violence in their community.” or “Everybody who likes football.”
Modification Tips
If you want the questions to focus on a certain theme, ask the person in the middle to make their statement about that theme. For example, you might say, “For the next 3 rounds, make statements about your favorite places” or “For the next 3 rounds make statements about your community,” so that when it’s time to go into the lesson, students have already brainstormed and thought about place.
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Mingle Mingle
Each participant will receive an index card with a question on it [ex: What did you do this summer? What is the last movie you saw? Favorite ice cream flavor? etc.]
Participants are instructed to walk around the room and find a partner. Participants ask each other the question on their card. Instructor gives time for both people to go, and calls out, “Switch.” Participants switch cards (so that they have a new question to ask their next partner) and repeat until Instructor ends the session.
Reflection: What did you learn about a classmate? Who do you have something in common with? etc.
Modification Tips
Variation for Elementary Students: instead of using index cards, have students walk around the room and call out a number (2, 3, or 4). Students must get in groups according the number you called out. Ask a question to the classroom and have them discuss their answers in their small groups. Continue for a few rounds so that students talk to several people.
Unit Connection: This activity can be used as an introduction activity for the main lesson. The questions can be around a certain theme.
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Sun & Moon
Split the group in half and ask Group 1 to form a circle.
Group two will stand in front of Group 1 (face to face) creating an inner circle.
Instructor will ask a question to the entire group and give time for both people to speak.
Instructor will ask the inner circle to move to the right, and will ask another question. (Questions: talk about a time you were lost, talk about a fun activity you did this summer, etc.)
Repeat. *Facilitator walks around the circle, listening in to get a feel for what students are talking about.
Modification Tips
This activity can also be used to reflect on a unit, introduce a topic, or build trust within a group. Depending on your questions, students can share more personal things or it can be used to reflect on an experience they had in class.