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Students will be given opportunities to work as teas to solve certain scenarios presented to them using physical education equipment.

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We do a lot of activities to get to know one another at the beginning of the year. One activity is filling a brown bag with items that they can use to tell the class about themselves.  I share on the first day and then students share throughout the week. We learn a lot about one another and about others unique or similar interests.

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Every day we meet in our community circle. Children then check in; some kids have something they want to share. Some kids have a problem they want help solving. By naming their needs the littles learn how to become in touch with their feelings and how to verbalize appropriate their thoughts.

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As we listen to the daily diatribes against public schools, how 'they waste time' teaching soft subjects; like community; we need to refer back to our curriculum for support.  Daily in the Units of study (both reading and writing) we are teaching our students how to be a better members of our classroom community.  Learning how to be a better listening to a partner in writing transfers to the playground.  Looking at a person while reading a story follows through when meeting a new friend.  Finding a comfortable way to 'coach' and support a buddy to attempt a new writing strategy emerges when trying out a new way to solve a math problem.  Teaching community is not extra, it is good teaching!

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In the past, I have had the pleasure of working within classrooms. I have always found it easier to follow norms/procedures that have already been established in each room as opposed to forcing my own when I am teaching. By  becoming a member of the classroom community and providing consistency for the students, I have been able to quickly resolve any issues that arise during class time.
Katie

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In the beginning of the year we talk a lot about rules and expectations which of course leads to a healthier classroom environment. I like to use stories to illustrate. No David as a character is great for the kids to have discussions of behaviors we don't want in our room and why that is.

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I have used a version of the Tribes Curriculum with the older grades. They form their tribe, come up with their name and symbol and work within that tribe all year on certain projects and problem solving/team building actvities.

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We start everyday with a morning meeting. We always greet each other in a fun way and then pass the talking stick to share based on the topic of the day. Mondays is always a weekend recap, Wednesdays is Status of the Class and so on.

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Over the past few years, I have come to realize that developing a strong classroom community is probably the most effective classroom management strategy.  When students come together as a cohesive unit that takes pride in themselves and one another, I know amazing things will follow!  During the first week of school we focus much of our time discussing kindness... what kindess looks like, random acts of kindness, compliments, anti-bullying, decision making, tolerance, caring, respect, and helping others.  After a week or so, I put out  30-40 quotes that students can look through and find one with which they feel a connection.  Students will then create an illustration to accompany their quote, share with the class why they selected it, how it can be implemented within a classroom environment, and why they believe it can help make our classroom family a stronger and happier one.  We then practice making these quotes 'come alive' within our classroom  by referring to them as acts of kindness are noticed throughout the day.

Jenny

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We do a couple of quick debates each week while we eat our snack. The topics are simple (hotel vs camping). Students choose a side and present their argument. We practice respectfully disagreeing with each other and defending your position while being respectful of other opinions.
Tracy

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This year, I would like to try to go a little deeper with our class promise. Over the next few weeks, we are going to take one expectation at a time and really think about what that looks like, and identify concrete ways that we can demonstrate that we are following our promise.

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Every Thursday we do compliments and thank yous. During our morning meeting, students pass on compliments or thank yous to their classmates for something they notified that week. We spend a lot of time differentiating between inside and outside compliments.
Tracy

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This is always an issue in second grade and we work hard on developing respect for the person speaking and our fellow learners. We do an activity with bubbles early in the year. With them sitting in a circle I blow bubbles with no directions. Lots of them jump up, try to catch them, shout etc. We reset and I ask them to ignore the bubbles this time. It's really hard, but they do it. We talk about how we are going to approach distractions in the classroom the same way throughout the year, and now I know they can do it. All year long we refer to distractions as 'bubbles'.
Tracy

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We read lots of books, like everyone else. When we read Each Kindness, every student gets a rock. They write something that has either hurt their feelings or built them up in the past on the rock. We drop them in a bowl of water and talk about how the ripples spread for both kindness and cruelty. Tracy

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https://padlet.com/bdziabu/p6hjtdu45hat

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Class meetings help make good classrooms even better. The true power of meetings lies in their ability to empower students, to motivate them to learn, and to help them discover their personal best. When both students and teachers are able to voice opinions and thoughts in a quiet, respectful atmosphere, mutual respect and understanding develops. The students realize that it is their classroom as much as the teacher's, and they take ownership and pride in that.

Chris

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5th grade also uses lots of books to build community, both picture book selections and read aloud novels. This year we are taking on a #classroombookaday challenge, committing to sharing a picture book EVERY school day.

In the first week, we present students with a "Welcome Bag" that contains various items such as an eraser, heart shaped sticky notes, Smarties, etc. Students brainstorm possible ideas or themes that the items could represent that set the tone for our classroom expectations and how we will interact. Eraser? Everyone makes mistakes and has the chance to start over. Smarties? The different colors represent the many ways that we are intelligent. These class generated ideas are mounted and displayed throughout the year, along with our agreement to make the classroom a safe and respectful place for all.

We will also be working on some explicit Growth Mindset teaching this year, and we always anchor our 5th grade expectations in Camp Miniwanca's motto of "My own self, at my very best, all the time."

Bridget/Emilee/Christy

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In the past, I have done an activity that is similar to "Peaceable Person."  I cut out a big heart and we go around the circle each saying a word or two that is "hurtful".  As they say the hurtful word they crumple up a little bit of the heart.  After everyone says a hurtful word, we then go around and say something kind to the heart as we "unwrinkle" and smooth out a little bit of the heart each time something nice is said.  Once it gets back to the teacher we talk about what they notice about the heart and how even though we said something nice, there are still wrinkles in the heart. So, when you say something hurtful or mean, kindness helps but the hurt can still be there.  Each one of us signs the wrinkled heart and it hangs in our classroom to remind us how powerful words are!

Stacey

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We do a lot of building routines and procedures together as a class at the beginning of the year.  I take a lot of pictures of the students doing the specific routine/procedure and anchor charts are displayed that they are encouraged to use and to help one another refer back to throughout the year.  This year, I also plan on having students create their own videos through the program SeeSaw to inform parents of what it is like in the "life of a kindergartner" and the expectations for our classroom.

Stacey

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I have also been doing a lot of reading on growth mindset and plan on implementing this into my classroom with doing community building lessons on the brain and how we can synergize to make not only our own thinking grow, but also our classmates (and teachers).

Stacey

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As an extension to our classroom community, we are adding grade level community building activities.

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Together Everyone Achieves More. This year I would like to incorporate more student involvement in the rules and expectations in the music room. I would like to create a social contract for each grade and have a discussion about what they mean.
I would like to learn more from all of you how you create a positive classroom climate.

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I find that Stem Activities are helpful with team building and peer relationships.

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I will be implementing Growth Mind Set for the first time this year to help with both individuals and our classroom community.  You can find activities that fit your grade level on Pinterest and/or Teachers Pay Teachers.
Alison

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I like to work on our classroom through books.  I start the year with The Invisible Boy, Hundred Dresses and Have you Filled a Bucket.
Alison

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Many people are aware of social contracts, especially at the secondary level.  In Kindergarten and 1st grade, a variation of this idea is the the Peaceable Person Activity.  The jist of the activity is to take a large sheet of paper and draw a body silhouette around a willing volunteer.  Next, have the students list all the ways they would like others to act while in school (You'll get things like "to be kind, to share, to play nicely, to not bite", etc...) and write these "inside" the silhouette.  Then have  students share behaviors they would not like to see (like, "no hitting, yelling, using mean words, kicking", etc...) and write these "outside" of the silhouette.  Throughout the year, the silhouette becomes a quick, easy reference for expected behavior while at school :)

Chris