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Every week on Monday, every student shares one positive thing from their weekend and one school-related goal for the week. This gives everyone an avenue to begin positive thinking and a goal setting mindset. We then have a quick discussion about what it takes to accomplish goals and why it's important. I also encourage students to ask each other throughout the week how they are doing on their goals. This is how we start our community mindset every week.

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Each morning when I greet my students at the door, we fist bump.  The first student stands next to me.  When the next student enters the room, they fist bump me and the 1st student, then stands next in line.  When the 3rd student enters the room, they fist bump me, the next two students, and joins the line.  We all greet one another and start our day off as a team.  Most mornings before we switch classes, we set goals as a class and create our mindset for the day.

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We build community by checking in with each other daily. I tell them stories about my family and weekend and they do the same. I encourage text to self connections to stories so they can share and connect with text they read. I try to use lots of teachable moments for taking turns, showing kindness and team work.

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We build community in our classroom by sharing the "Peak of the Week" on Fridays, working together to help others (students must ask 3 other students for help before coming to me), classroom jobs and Kagan team building activities.

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We start by building a team or family feel in our classroom to ensure that everyone feels safe and part of the bigger picture. We greet each other daily at the door and encourage each other to make our goals. We have tasks for students in the room and try to demonstrate leadership by "Leading by Example". We do this in order to be good role models for younger students in our building. We also use the 7 Habits in our daily lessons.

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I have had a kindness wall since the beginning of the school year. Since my classroom theme is superheroes, the wall says "Let kindness be your super power today". Each student has a ziploc bag with their name on it on the wall. I have one too. Whenever the students have a few minutes of free time they can grab a slip of paper and write a compliment to myself or one of their classmates. The students must put the compliments on my desk, so I can ensure that they are appropriate and nice before placing them into the appropriate bag. The main rule of the board is that no student can have 2 compliments before every student has 1 compliment. Once every student has at least 1 compliment, I pick a Friday afternoon and let the kids read their compliments. They love it!

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I do something a little bit different with my classroom jobs. I do something called "Leader of the Day." Every day, a student is picked at random to be the classroom leader. That student does all of the jobs throughout the entire day (line leader, passes out papers, runs errands, etc.) This makes that student feel very special for the whole day. I also tell them that since they are the leader, they are responsible for leading the class in the right direction behaviorally. Some students really take it seriously.

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In  the music classroom we are singing songs about the 7 habits.  I am including a habit a month in my lesson plans.  I am emphasizing leadership skill in my classes.

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In  the music classroom we are singing songs about the 7 habits.  I am including a habit a month in my lesson plans.  I am emphasizing leadership skill in my classes.

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One way I try to build community in our classroom is to check in with kids and allow them to hear about the lives of others. On Fridays, just before dismissal, I ask students to share out what they are doing that weekend. Allowing some time for this helps my students learn about each other and their lives outside of school. It also allows them to find connections with others that they otherwise might not have had the opportunity to connect with.

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In P.E. we like to  use older students to help in the younger classes. For example in our jump rope and roller skating units. We also do cooperative learning activities to promote team building.Also, the friends and family roller skating nights build a sense of community. It is always nice to see the middle school students participating as well.I attend many of the Hancock students athletic games throughout the year.

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In Physical Education class, there are numerous ways to build a sense of community.  We use older students to help the younger ones with more difficult tasks that they can't accomplish on their own.  The older kids really enjoy stepping up and being a PE assistant.  This allows them to build a relationship that normally may have not happened.  Also, Rollercade night is a big hit with many of the families in the Hancock
community.

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I greet each of my reading students as I pick them up from their classrooms and spend a few minutes visiting with them as we walk to our own room. This allows us to check in with each other, catch up on exciting news and start our time together on a positive note.I also allow students to work together cooperatively with partners in order to promote team building.

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I use cooperative learning strategies to encourage team learning. We also chat about our evenings/weekends, and I sometimes share pictures of my family.

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I also have classroom jobs that I change each week.  The jobs give the students responsibility in the classroom.  They feel important because they have a part in keeping our classroom clean and helping our room run efficiently and effectively.  I also do cooperative learning team building activities and lessons to build that sense of community in my classroom.

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I assign everyone a classroom job. They hold the job for the entire week. My students take their job seriously and their job helps the classroom run smoothly and stay organized. They receive a new job the next week. We also will be having a class election for Class President sometime in November. Students who want to be a leader in that way can campaign, make speeches, and run for Class President.

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What have you done recently to build a sense of community in your classroom, school?