WHY EFFECTIVE TEACHERS PROMOTE COMMUNITY IN THEIR CLASSROOMS

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WHY EFFECTIVE TEACHERS PROMOTE COMMUNITY IN
THEIR CLASSROOMS
THE GOOSE STORY
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THE GOOSE STORY

• Next fall when you see geese heading south for
  the winter flying along in a V formation, you
  might be interested in knowing why they fly that
  way. It has been learned that as each bird flaps
  its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird
  immediately following. By flying in a V
  formation, the whole flock adds at least 71
  greater flying range than if each bird flew on
  its own.

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• People who share common direction and sense of
  community can get where they are traveling on the
  thrust of one another. Whenever a goose falls out
  of formation, it suddenly feels a drag and
  resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly
  gets into formation to take advantage of the
  lifting power of the bird immediately in from.
  If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay
  in formation with those who are headed the same
  way we are going.

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• When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back
  in the wing and another goose flies to point. It
  pays to take turns doing hard jobs.
• The geese honk from behind to encourage those up
  front to keep up their speed.. An encouraging
  word goes a long way
• Finally, when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by
  a gun shot and falls out, two geese fall out of
  formation and follow him down to help and protect
  him.

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• They stay with him until he is either able to fly
  or until he is dead, and they launch out on their
  own or with another formation to catch up with
  the group.
• If we have the sense of a goose we will stand by
  each other like that.
• Author Unknown

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WHY IS A POSITIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY IMPORTANT?

• Higher order thinking is woven into every lesson
• Student see value in working together
• Social skills are taught, valued and assessed.
• Students acquire knowledge of different team
  roles as the are shared and mixed
• Students acquire flexibility in thinking and
  other positive habits of mind
• Other??

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HOW DO YOU BEGIN TO BUILD COMMUNITY?

• Begin creating a positive learning culture
  immediately
• Create an ethic of caring in the classroom
• Use warm-ups, culture circles at some point every
  day
• Seek out student voice Ask them what kind of
  classroom they want to have
• Teach social skills explicitly

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HOW DO YOU SUSTAIN AND NORM POSITIVE CLIMATE IN
YOUR CLASSROOM?

• USE COOPERATIVE LEARNING GROUPS
• AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
• Class Members share responsibility for the group
  and the health of their learning community
• Students learn to rely on each other
• Students progress in their use of pro-social
  skills and habits of mind

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TRIPLE T-CHARTATTENTIVE LISTENING
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SOCIAL SKILLS WE NEED TO TEACH TO PROMOTE
POSITIVE COMMUNITY

• RESPECT FOR OTHERS
• TEAM WORK SKILLS
• COMMUNICATION SKILLS
• CONFLICT RESOLUTION SKILLS

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SUPPORT

• ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER
• ENERGIZE THE GROUP
• DISAGREE WITH THE IDEA-
• NOT THE PERSON

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CONFLICT RESOLUTION

• DISAGREE WITH THE IDEA-
• NOT THE PERSON
• RESPECT THE OPINIONS OF
• OTHERS
• THINK FOR YOURSELF

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CONFLICT RESOLUTION

• EXPLORE DIFFERENT POINTS
• OF VIEW
• NEGOTIATE AND/OR
• COMPROMISE
• REACH CONSENSUS

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ASSESS YOUR GROUP

• ONE THING WE DID WELL . . .
• ONE THING WE COULD DO BETTER ON . . .
• SOCIAL SUPPORTING SKILLS
• COMMUNICATING SKILLS
• CONFLICT SOLVING SKILLS
• ON A 1 (HIGH) TO 5 (LOW) SCALE OUR GROUP IS A
  ___.

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• One day--lying alone in the lawn on my back
• with only the drone of a distant train
• on some far-off track,
• I saw before my eyes, 5,000 feet high or more,
• a sight--which to this day I must say,
• Ive never seen nothing like before.

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• The head goose--the leader of the V--
• suddenly veered out, leaving a vacancy
• which was promptly filled by the bird behind.
• The former leader then flew alongside,
• the formation continued growing wide--
• and he found a place at the back of the line.
• They never missed a beat!

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• So thats how I found out how the goose can fly
• from way up North to way down South
• and back again.
• But he cannot do it alone you see.
• Its something he can only do in Community.

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• These days its a popular notion,
• and people swell with emotion and pride
• to think of themselves on the eagles side,
• Solitary
• Self Sufficient
• Strong
• But,
• We are what we are, thats something we cannot
  choose.

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• And though many would wish to be seen as the
  eagle,
• I think God made us more like the goose.

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