You have heard about the path and the principles, now let’s
get down to the nitty gritty! Today I
finally will hit LESSONS in the Responsive Classroom. Before I begin, I do want to share one more
story about trust. I will never forget a
few years ago, during a teacher inservice I was at, where we were discussing
work ethic of students based around behavioral choices. I mentioned trust. One of the teacher’s responded, “Trust? I can’t TRUST my students to do
anything!” This teacher was at the very
same type of school I was. Yet, she
couldn’t TRUST them. In fact, it was
even the way it was said. It was a
foreign concept to this teacher. So, I
write with a purpose. Have you examined
the trust you have for students, for families, for ideas, and more, in your
class? Is this the place you should
start with? For it is this very trust
that leads to the lessons I’m about to present.
Without it, it is but a lesson…
The very
first day I start with this truth, “I do not have a behavior system. There are no red, green, and blue
charts. There are no clips to move. There is you.
You must monitor yourself and follow our rules. I believe every one of you can do this. No matter what, I believe in you.” And, honestly, that’s about it for the first
day. There are so many things to cover
that I let this very idea sink into their heads. Their faces are precious. You can see “What?!” on all of their
faces. For many of them, this is the
first time someone has been this brave with them. I’ve seen this face from 1st Grade
to 5th grade. Every single
one, “What!?” And, we move on!
In the next
few days, we cover a variety of topics all within Morning Meeting. As I stated in the previous post, I only
conduct a team building activity within the meeting setting. It is very important kids sit in a circle
during this time. They can see each
other and that creates an equal opportunity for all students. No one feels left out when a circle is
made. (I did have an autistic student
who preferred to sit slightly outside the circle. Remember to be sensitive to a child’s
particular need. This was one that made
him more comfortable and that matters!) These
team building activities allow kids to be serious, to be silly, to dance, and
to sing within a very short activity.
This builds trust among students.
There is something transforming when that student who won’t interact
does their first little dance and everyone cheers them on. There is something wonderful when a serious
child shares a funny nickname for a name game.
There is power in these moments that you shouldn’t overlook. It unlocks the culture of a classroom. It builds responsiveness and eagerness that
becomes a force of it’s own. They begin
to crave this time together and it is worth the 5 to 10 minutes every day. It
is the backbone activity to everything that you will do, all year.
We then
move on to bigger things. It is key
within this community to build a classroom pledge or rules together. I build a classroom pledge. It usually contains procedures that the kids
suggest are important in our class and school.
This year’s has some repeats, but the kids built it. They also sign the pledge and we say it each
day. It binds us together.
There are
many lessons you can include to build community, but my favorites are always
During the
first few weeks, we build on citizenship ideas such as trust, cooperation, and simple
procedures that must be clearly defined.
Here’s an example. This is one of
the few charts I don’t actually make with my kids. It was just a good chart! Voice Choice is something that came out of a
problem with one of my classes one year.
I have used it ever since. We go
through the lesson in a number of days at the beginning of they year. Then, from there on, we have a common
understanding of the expectations. This
happened today; so let’s go through it step by step from the kids themselves.
1. Identify the problem.
This week, my kids have been WHACKED out! No matter what we are doing, they are crazy! Yesterday I decided it was time to have a
class meeting to discuss what was going on.
I can identify the need for a meeting or the kids can. I haven’t had many kids asked, but they have
occasionally.
2. Circle up! I pulled
the chart stand over (I move mine around) and then we sat together in a circle.
3. State the problem. I
use it for the title of the chart where I will record the information we share
in the meeting.
4. Let them talk! I let
them think, pair, and then they share. I
listen when they talk. See that bubble
on the side. That was not shared. I overheard that! I asked the student to share at the end. I also code the chart. The large arrow is to indicate a future
lesson to clarify rules on helping others.
I didn’t know until this meeting that kids were struggling with helping
each other and being off task. This came
out of the lesson. Look for
discoveries! We talked about all 3
points on this chart separately.
5. Record everything! I
try to record in their words. If I need
to, I do adjust them to the positive. I
record my information with my name by it.
That way students know what my thinking is compared to theirs. We talk about where it matches so that we
are on the same page. Everything works
together to create a mutual language and understanding. No one walks away wondering. It is clear because it is THEIR
thoughts. You wouldn’t believe the
amount of heads that shook yes when the group brought up Halloween being a
major problem for them!
And, the caveman
comment was a student’s. This really
stuck with them after he said it! What
about the brain shuts down comment! They
really do understand what they are doing to themselves and how their thinking
is broken down by their behavior!
6. Give them a chance to come up with solutions!
They can!
That list is theirs! I added the
“Saying no is ok” and “Self-reflect”. The
rest is their thinking! I tied their
response into our yoga routine. We are
working on controlling our bodies during that time using our mind. I connected it back to using it to avoid
distraction. Notice there are no
consequences. That doesn’t mean we
didn’t talk about it. They are now aware
that if the behavior persists, they will write a note home to their
parents. I have them write their own
notes. That makes them take ownership
with the problem and creates an honest exchange between them and their
parents. This is what I envision when I
think of discipline in a student lead classroom, the two sides of that
idea.
7. Practice the language.
Today I heard myself say, “Are you working in the solution zone?” "What solution should you use in that
moment?” Make sure you are choosing a
solution instead of a self-control issue. “
I also noticed that as I practiced this language, so did the kids. The other thing that happened is I began to
see the patterns of behavior from the children that may be triggering the
problem. Now I can focus on those
patterns and work with those children to change the situation. This may be through discussion or through the
process of informing parents. But the
pattern emerged, where as before, it was just a mess everywhere!
8. Go over the chart! I
will spend a number of days simply re-going over the chart. It may happen more than once a day. The chart is there for all future issues of
loss of control also. Our Teacher’s
Job/Student Job chart was referred to at least 4 times today.
The look on their faces is always the
same. The common language and
expectations puts the situation into perspective and eliminates the hemming and
hawing that normally takes place about an issue. It also binds them together as a one-thinker
unit. If new students arrive, the other
students take them through the charts and information to build background. They know where to look and what to do
without me having to tell them, because we are a community who thinks alike and
has clear understanding together.
I repeat these steps with many topics, many times a school
year. Yes, it takes time. Today’s activity took a half hour. But it was the best half hour I have used in
a long time!
Now, here are some oldies but goodies that came from the
Logical Consequences behavior plan from my old school. It even has the professor that came to visit
us on the bottom! I also included a list
of some of my basic lessons that I may or may not do with my class, depending
on their needs. This includes one of my
favorite charts I make every year, “What to do When I’m Finished!”
I hope this helps you to see why the Responsive Classroom is a great program to look at to
help build a classroom community! I can
testify completely that it is the “response” of the students that makes this
program so worth it!
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