Experiential Approaches to Building a Classroom Community: Highlights from Jen Stanchfield’s Winter Workshops for Educators at the Southeast Vermont Learning Collaborative.

This winter SVLC hosted two days of workshops for teachers and school counselors focused on experiential strategies for building a positive classroom environment and active approaches to differentiating instruction.
Thanks to everyone who participated. Your enthusiasm and willingness to share about your experiences as teachers added a great deal to our discussions.

Building a Positive Environment in the Classroom:
On our first day we focused on strategies for building a positive environment in the classroom and school. Our group discussed the importance of taking time to focus on setting a positive tone from the very first day of school. Time spent during those first few days of school building rapport between teacher and student and peer to peer will pay off later in many ways.

For example:

• Research on the brain and learning validates the idea that students learn best when they feel safe and supported in their classroom environment.
• This time spent up front on community building activities helps establish positive behavioral norms and expectations in the classroom, helping teachers with classroom management.
• Starting with community building helps teachers differentiate instruction. By engaging students in activities that practice behaviors such as communication, problem solving, conflict resolution, respect and responsibility teachers can help increase  student’s ability to perform in small groups, stations, group projects and other differentiated approaches to teaching. Attendees later reported that they tried several activities from our workshop in their own classrooms with great success.

Below are two of these favorites:

Handshake Mingle:

This activity is great for introductions, reviewing names, and helping a group become comfortable with each other. It also makes a great active processing/debriefing or kinesthetic academic review activity.

Handshakes could be: high 5 partner, low 5 partner, ankle shake partner, fishing partner etc. Revisit each partner through the sequence. A variation is to combine the handshakes with “get to know you” questions, or later in a classroom group’s experience use this activity with reflection or review questions. It is always helpful to remind students to make sure they know their partner’s name as they rotate through the group. I am always amazed at how participants come out of this activity remembering names of people they have just met.

Directions:

• First, have everyone find a partner;
• Ask the group members to give each other a simple handshake greeting such as a high 5. Then have participants recognize this person now as their high 5 partner. Remind the partners to make sure they know each other’s names.
• Next ask them to find another new partner; for example this could be their low 5 partner (demonstrate). Introduce themselves to this new partner.
• After they greet that partner, have them go and find their High 5 partner, then their low 5 partners, moving around each other amongst the group to find those original partners.
• Then ask them to find a new partner; this is their ankle shake partner. Start the sequence again- find high 5, then low 5, then ankle shake partner.
• Next have students find a brand new partner who becomes their “fishing partner” (one is the reel and one the fish- demonstrate).
• With each of these rotations have students introduce themselves. Remind them to make sure they know their partner’s names.
• We used “dance” partners as well as “pop a wheelie” and demonstrated “lumber jack” and “Sumo” partners
• Have student’s help you come up with new handshakes, or present their own. I have used “rock on” partner, “butterfly” partner and “pop a wheelie” partners.
• Continue this sequence- adding on with new partner activities as appropriate. You will witness laughter, positive interaction and fun.

Participants really will remember each other.
 Later on you can use the partners to form groups, or as a closing at the end of a class activity have them run through this sequence to reflect on their thoughts regarding a class lesson with their partners.

Our group’s notes from this activity:

• Use handshakes that are appropriate for your group- taking into consideration, age, space, social atmosphere, setting, (but don’t be afraid to experiment!). Have students make up their own.
• Even more introverted or “too cool for school” group members “buy in” to this activity- probably because it starts with familiar and simple greetings like High 5 and Low 5, it moves quickly, and everyone is doing the activity at the same time- no one person or pair is in the “spotlight”. Also participants can participate at their own pace or comfort level- if they want to opt out of a handshake or adjust it, they can.
• Teachers noted that I started with simple handshakes that everyone was comfortable and familiar with such as “high 5’s” at first, and then led up to more “challenging” or “silly” handshakes as the group became more comfortable with each other
· This can be used as an active academic review method or reflection activity. The first time you introduce it, it can be community building/ice breaker- later are in a group’s time together you could use it again to reflect on specific questions/ academic content.

Reference: Stanchfield, Tips & Tools for the Art of Experiential Group Facilitation, 2007 Wood ‘N’ Barnes Publishing.

Name Meanings:

When people have more meaningful and interesting information to associate with a person it will help them make a stronger connection and better remember their name.
 In classroom settings where students already know each other’s names this activity helps them learn more about each other, and can lead to a discuss around the importance of honoring a person’s name i.e. pronouncing it correctly, using it appropriately etc.

Directions:

• Simply ask the group to line up silently by the number of letters in their name, or preferred nickname.
• Once the group is successful, have them go around and share their name and what they know about its origin, i.e. whether it was a family name, or what they know about its meaning.

This activity has become a particular favorite. Groups find it interesting and fun, helping them connect and learn more about each other. It even works with large classrooms. I have seen 24 middle school students successfully complete this activity-giving each other their full attention. Students seem interested in listening to and sharing this kind of “personal” information.
”Name Meanings” could stimulate conversation with students and their family members too. It can be tied into a family tree activity. We also talked about how it could support differentiated instruction by helping students get comfortable with “seminar style” classroom sharing.

Reference: I learned this activity from a group of teachers in Laconia, NH. Stanchfield, Tips & Tools for the Art of Experiential Group Facilitation, 2007 Wood ‘N’ Barnes Publishing.

Thanks to everyone who attended the workshops and shared your ideas and insights about teaching. I look forward to seeing you at another workshop sometime soon.

Join me and Marie Paige this summer at the Southeast Vermont Learning Collaborative for our 3 credit summer course July 6th-8th entitled: Experiential Strategies to Differentiate Instruction and Foster a Positive Environment for Learning.