Building Community Part 2: Giving Students a Voice

Do you really want to have a learning community in your classroom? Some teachers say that they do, but then the only person who gets any kind of say in the classroom is the teacher. Students aren't going to feel like they are part of a community if their thoughts and ideas don't count for something. And for some of us, as teachers, that means we have to give up a little of our power. We have to trust that our students want to learn; that they want to be active and engaged. Giving them a voice in the classroom is a necessity. Following are some areas where students can rise to the challenge of helping to create the kind of learning environment that will be attractive to all members of the class.

1. Setting norms, rules, guidelines. So many teachers on the first day of school sit or stand in front of their classes and lecture students on the rules they are expected to follow. Instead, why not ask students to help create those norms. One way to do this is to have students individually brainstorm a list of what they need in a classroom to be successful learners. They can pair-share their lists and then as a class, create a master list of what they feel are the necessary conditions. Using these conditions, the teacher can then ask, "If these are the conditions we need to be successful learners, what norms or guidelines could we create and follow to ensure the conditions are met?" Different groups will need differing amounts of support to create these guidelines. Sometimes, they can be very abstract, such as "We will respect each other." That's ok, but what I have found with abstract norms like this, it can be very helpful to create a Sounds Like/Looks Like T-chart. This will produce a concrete list of actions to guide behavior. I always end the process of developing norms by having the students create a "warning" word or phrase; something we can quietly say to one another when we are getting off-track in following our norms. I also wrote about another protocol for creating norms here. This was done with adult learners, but I think would work just as well with children.

These are the norms created by my graduate class this summer.
The chart paper below the norms is their list of conditions
necessary for a successful learning environment.

This is an example Sounds Like/Looks Like T-chart.
My graduate class created this one about what a community
of learners should be. It helped them get to their vision of what
they wanted in their classroom.

2. Setting procedures. Teachers put a lot of thought into the procedures they use in their classroom. That's good. Good planning for transitions, for when and how to sharpen pencils or turn in papers, or for what a student should do after returning from an absence make a classroom function in a smooth and efficient manner. What if we let the students develop these procedures? We might be surprised when their ideas make more sense than our own. And when students have a voice in the way things are run, they are much more likely to remember those procedures!

3. Starting the year without rules. I wish I could remember where I read about a teacher who actually did this. But I did read it in either a blog or a classroom management book. I admit, it would scare me to try it! But in spite of my fear, I can still see the power behind letting students come to the realization that guidelines are necessary in the successful functioning of a class or a school...or a society!

4. Giving students a voice in the curriculum. I am a firm believer in teaching through an integrated curriculum. But teaching this way requires a shift in paradigm that many teachers lack the knowledge of and courage to try. Mandates in certification require us to be "specialists" in an area and quite often at the middle and high school level, teachers see themselves as a teacher of their content rather than a teacher of students. But there are ways to add student voice to the curriculum. One way is add choice. When creating assignments or assessments, give options for students to choose from. Teachers can also give students a voice in driving the curriculum. If you are a science teacher and you are teaching a unit on space, show students the benchmarks you are required to help them meet, tell them about some of the content and then ask them to brainstorm questions they have about the topic. Their questions can become the essential questions that drive the unit.

If you center your units around a concept rather than factual content this becomes even easier. One activity for gleaning curriculum from a concept is to do a List-Group-Label. The pictures below are an example of this process that my graduate class did as they began to plan an integrated curriculum around the concept of Change.

I was the guinea pig for this activity. The students asked me
to make a list about change. 

Earlier in the week, my 5th and 8th grade daughters were at
class with me and the students asked them to create a list as well.
This shot shows how our lists compared. The left side is my list,
the right; my daughters. It also shows how a teacher could use the lists from more than one classroom to create a cohesive unit that all students would be taught.

After creating my list, I was asked to group them. The color-
coded circles in the first picture show how I did that. Then I
had to label each group. My labels were: Society, Descriptions Of,
and (I can't remember the third one!) Then I wrote an essential
question for each group. My essential questions were:
Can change ever be positive and non-threatening?
I wonder if the changes happening in society are too negative
and too fast for our species to survive? and
Will scientist ever be able to change the speed of the cycle of life?

Students have a tendency of questioning everything we ask them to do. This is a good thing. And we as teachers should be able to answer their questions in an honest way. I think that the more voice students have in their own education, the less they will ask us "Why?" Because in using their voices, they see and understand the why.

Building Community Part 1: Knowing Your Students

Everything that happens in a classroom is a direct result of the time and energy that a teacher puts in to build a safe and caring environment. The classroom is a microcosm of the larger school community, and it can mirror that school community or it can be in contrast to it. Teachers who hope to foster a love of learning, productivity, and a sense of caring in their students know that the foundation for this is in the type of community they create in their classroom.

Jeremy Bentham said: "It is vain to talk of the interest of the community, without understanding what is the interest of the individual." A teacher who understands the importance of building that sense of community knows this is true. Students will not feel a sense of worth or importance if the teacher does not know who they are: what are their strengths and weaknesses, their likes and dislikes, their hopes and fears. Following are some activities that can help a teacher get to know his/her students:

1) Million Words Assignment: This assignment involves giving homework to parents, which makes it a winner in the eyes of most students. Parents are asked to write, in a million words or less, all about their child. This activity not only allows teachers to get to know their students, it opens the lines of communication with parents in a positive way. Most parents love nothing more than to talk about their children. For the few instances that this assignment is met with parental resistance, it can be offered to aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, or previous teachers.

2) Star Activity: Each student receives a star cut-out. They put their name or a picture of themselves in the center. The teacher can decide on a prompt for each point; for example: # of siblings, favorite genre of book or music, last/first movie seen, favorite color, season, food, etc. After filling out their stars, the students can do Mix-Freeze-Grouping to find commonalities. Another option is to have one student start by reading their points and then one-by-one having students connect to each other's points to create a physical web. This web creation could also be done by pinning the stars to a bulletin board and connecting common points. Language arts teachers have the added benefit of using any information gleaned from the stars to help direct students to books which they might find interesting.

3) Two truths and a lie: In this activity from Spencer Kagan, also called Find the Fib, students think of facts about themselves that their teacher and classmates wouldn't know. On an index card they record 2 facts and then make up something that could be true but is not. Students then share their 3 statements and the class has to guess which is the fib. This activity can also be great for language arts teachers to help students see the stories in their lives for writing. A variation for sharing is to have students turn in the cards and the teacher reads the statements. The class has to first decide to whom the statements belong and then which one is the fib.

4) Whip around: This is a quick activity in which one person (the teacher or a student) gives a prompt (such as: What is the furthest you've been from home?) and then each student in turn quickly gives their answer. It is another activity that can be useful for mining the stories in their lives.

5) Good new, bad news, any news: This activity can be a quick way to have a "morning meeting." Students are encouraged to share something in the way of news in their lives. Because middle school students love to talk and mostly about themselves, teachers who use this activity usually limit it to once a week. A variation is to ask students to respond in the form of a simile or metaphor. For example: My weekend was a whirlwind because we visited family in three cities in two days and my Aunt Lucy got married.

These are just five simple activities to get you started on getting to know your students. Having a full tool box for community building and then using it throughout the year will ensure your classrom community will become and remain one where students feel safe and accepted. Please feel free to share in the comments any tried and true activities you use in your own classroom. And stay tuned for Part 2 in Building Community: Giving Students a Voice.

The Beauty of a Good Read-aloud

I love to read-aloud to kids. Honestly, it probably goes beyond love...I'm obsessed with it. I adore when I have to cover classes for coaches at the end of the day because it gives me a chance to share a great story with kids. When I find the right read-aloud, I could sit in front of a group of kids and read ALL DAY. So, what a treasure I found in Alan Sitomer's soon-to-be-released book Nerd Girls: Rise of the Dorkasaurus.

My copy of Nerd Girls was given to me by my good friend Linda (@linda704 on twitter-you should follow her. She's even a doctor.) She picked it up for me at the Michigan Reading Conference and had it signed by the author; I positively adore owning books signed by the author. It makes me feel so special. Anyway, soon after I arrived home from the conference, I read Nerd Girls. Oh. My. God. It is so funny. I knew immediately that this was a book I HAD to read aloud. To girls.

Luckily for me, our 6th grade has a split gender reading program. So I went into one of the all-girl classes and asked the teacher if I could use her class. That day, I began reading to the girls. They were enthralled for a couple of reasons. First of all, I showed them that the book was signed by the author. Many of the kids in my middle school have learned to get geeked out by that because I have shared so many of my signed books. Secondly, I explained to them that the book was and ARC, and advanced reader's copy. Once they understood that it didn't mean they had to be "academically gifted" (advanced) to read it, they realized it was pretty awesome that they were getting to experience this book before it ever hit the bookshelves. And thirdly, it is apparent very early on that this book is Funny. That's right, Funny with a capital "F."

It is the characters that make this story. The main character is a cynical, wry outcast. She bands together with two other outcasts to defeat the popular girls (The ThreePees) in the school talent show. It is a great story of friendship, courage, and character. It yields so many different topics to talk about with kids.

After reading the book to the girls, I showed them that many books will have short, often single sentence, reactions from readers and other popular authors. These mini-reviews help people decide if they want to read the book. Because Nerd Girls is not yet out in stores, the girls wrote their own mini-reviews. And because the girls know that I have been sharing their reactions to the book with Alan on twitter, they are pretty excited to know he'll be able to read their reactions here. So without further ado, I give you the girls!

Nerd Girls was awesome; I loved it. The book was funny and sad. Girls can relate their life with this funny spectacular book.                  ~Taylor M.

"Girls will laugh."  ~Jade

A great book that tells the true meaning of friendship, something that not everybody really knows. GO NERD GIRLS!!                     ~Taylor J.

Nerd Girls is funny and the drama from the ThreePees keeps lots of readers on the edge.   ~Lauren

I absolutely loved it! I can't wait to hear the others! I love it because I can relate to the Nerd Girls, I'm just glad I got to read something so interesting and funny! I hope people love this book as much as I do! Once I started reading it I couldn't wait for the next chapter to start. Outstanding!   ~Serena

It was a very very good book. It kept me hanging on the edge of my seat.     ~Breanna

I thought it was great. I hope to hear more and it was funny and I loved the name Nerd Girls. I loved the talent show. It was so interesting to hear what happened, so detailed and funny--that was the best part.               ~Marissa

The book Nerd Girls is a very cool, funny good book. My favorite is the ending.     ~Lauren

Nerd Girls was outstanding and wonderful! You will never want to stop reading it!  ~Trisha

Wow! Nerd Girls was so amazing!       ~Sadie

Nerd Girls rock. Girls can relate to this funny spectacular book. These girls are true dork-a-sauruses. ~Hannah

Girls will love Nerd Girls!   ~Amber

Nerd Girls was really funny. I almost cried at the part....Also is was funny when the ThreePees lost....Nerd Girls put readers on their edge of their chairs because it is so funny.   ~Andria (This entry edited to remove spoilers.  :-D)

Nerd Girls was funny and exciting and they have a very fun adventure.   ~Meagan

Nerd Girls is definitely a book I would consider reading again. It's the best book I have read in a long time and I would encourage people to read it because it was a good book and has so much understanding of girls.  ~Emily

This book is brilliant. It may be by a guy but it is about girls and it is great. So when Nerd Girls is on the shelf, buy it. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat.    ~Jamie

Nerd Girls was amazing and I absolutely loved how it always left you in suspense from one chapter to the next.     ~Morgan

Awesome book. I loved it. It should be a series!              ~Alyssa

Nerd Girls was a really great and inspiring book. I thought it was pretty funny because I've never heard a book where the main character had the same last name as me. My favorite thing about the book is that it shows "Good attitude will get you wherever you want to go."     ~Kylie

Nerd Girls was a great book. It inspired me to never ever let anyone put me down and it taught me that it doesn't matter what you look like, it is what's inside that counts.       ~Alexis

A funny, interesting, and disgusting story.     ~Jasmine

Nerd Girls is a funny and awesome book and now I want to buy the book. Nerd Girls is the best book every. I like the part where the Nerd Girls get back at the ThreePees.         ~Summer

Nerd Girls was cool. I can't wait for Nerd Girls number 2!            ~Demona

I loved Nerd Girls. I can't wait for the second book to come out. I couldn't wait for Mrs. M to come back and read a chapter every day. It was the best. I want to read it again.           ~Emily

Wonderful, funny, and creative. Urges readers to keep reading.     ~Zoey

Aydan had two reviews to share:
Alan Sitomer has outdone himself with Nerd Girls. Once you pick it up, you won't want to put it back down.  ~Aydan

Warning: This is a well-executed book with an awesome plot and hilarious characters. It also has dangerously strong powers that suck you in in the most amazing way. Be careful!!      ~Aydan

And Maddie loved it so much she wrote four:
It was funny...hilarious...Nerd Girls rock. With friendship, determination, and a lot of laughs.   ~Maddie

I'm gonna tell my children and grandchildren about this book for ages to come!   ~Maddie

Funny. Probably the best book of all with funny characters everywhere.    ~Maddie

Sitomer is a true genius, a mastermind. I can't wait for the rest of the series to come out!   ~Maddie

So that is what the girls had to say. And really what can I add to that? Not a whole lot. However, if you need further proof that this was a great book, I have one more piece of evidence. I have read many books and stories aloud to students. Many that they have loved and that have caused them to want to read the book on their own. But one thing that had never happened before DID happen at the end of Nerd Girls. When I finished the last chapter, the last page, the last word, and then closed the book....the girls all began to clap. It was the first time one of my read-alouds garnered an ovation. It was so sweet and awesome that it almost made me cry. Thanks, Alan Sitomer, for a great, great book. For the opportunity to share a wonderful, relevant story with some fantastic girls. And thanks girls for being such great nerdy listeners!