Only one idea...

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Home : 2002 : August : 18

Only one idea...
By LindaR

I've had meetings these past two years, each with different grades and temperaments. I'm still working on it! I'll share with you what I've done (I'm still learning from the above mentioned book):

At the end of the day,
my students and I sit in a circle. I needed to do this daily with my class last year (overflow class, high mobility, major problems, etc.), but as time went on, I tried lessening it to twice a week. Then, towards the end of the year, the kids begged to have our meetings everyday, because they had so many issues to deal with.
In the center is our "Circle of Friends" sculpture, which

is based a tribal Indian tradition of ending the day sharing about the good times, and encouraging one another.

The first time, I read the story behind the Circle of Friends, and let the kids know that whenever our sculpture was in the center, it was class meeting time (the next few meetings, I allowed students to read the story). I wanted the first few times to be just "sharing" the good things, which is easier in the beginning of the year before they start annoying each other

I start out by giving recognition to students who have demonstrated certain attitudes and behaviors that reflect the character that I am wanting to encourage throughout the rest of the year (such as, "I really appreciate the way B. helped S. with her math."). I will also compliment the class as a whole regarding working together as a team, quickly learning routines, etc.

After a few times of doing this, then I introduced the problem-solving aspect of the meeting (whether it was individual, group, or class). I set some guidelines:

**Everything we say here is confidential. That needs a lot explaining, with lots of examples. The kids do a great job contributing to this!

**Establish meeting rules (no put downs, don't laugh at someone, don't interrupt, etc). After discussing certain behaviors that were important for good talking and good listening, these were written on a poster that was displayed only during meeting time.

**I had a "Problem" box, where students could submit specific problems they wanted to discuss during the meeting. At the end of the day, I would bring the box to our circle, and then pull out one at a time to read (these could be anonymous or not).

**I also had a "talking stick," which can be anything simple or creative. Whoever had the stick "had the voice." Everyone else was to listen quietly. I started out with the stick, reading the slip of paper from the box, and then when someone with a quiet hand wanted to respond, I would had the stick to him/her.

**Have students sit as partners to discuss problems that are presented, allowing time for quietly discussing problem.

**Record problems and solutions presented, so that at the next meeting you can ask how it's been going. Thank the class for their great ideas!

I think it's important to help the kids learning empathy, so I've played with various ways to have the students voice their problems. For example, I do not allow accusations, but to say, "I felt angry when M. called me fat."

I haven't perfected this, so any other ideas would be greatly appreciated. I do think, though, class meetings pretty much take on their own personality because of the kids. For that reason, we can't really have it structured like a lesson. I have found that it can be a very rewarding time of bonding and renewal for us all!