The
Power of Classroom Meetings
In
this article in Middle School Journal,
Jamie Silverman and Molly Mee (Towson University) describe middle-school
students with serious concerns:
-
An
eighth grader wears his cleanest shirt to school for fear that a bully will
call him out and post a photo on Snapchat ridiculing his meagre wardrobe.
-
A sixth
grader eats lunch in the bathroom because three girls who were her friends in
elementary school turn away and whisper when they see her and won’t let her sit
with them at lunch.
-
A
seventh grade girl who believes she should have been born a boy tapes her
developing breasts and is called “slut” by a bully and shoved against a locker.
Skillful implementation
of classroom community circle meetings, say Silverman and Mee, might bring
about happier outcomes:
-
In a
meeting, when students are asked, If you
had one wish, what would it be? the first student gathers up his courage
and says he wishes he had a few more tops to wear this winter. The next day, he
finds a shirt in his locker with this note: “Hey Man, I’ve outgrown this anyway
and thought you may like it.”
-
In a
circle meeting, the question of the day is, What
is the hardest thing about middle school so far? When it’s her turn, the
sixth grader says that she’s having a hard time meeting new friends. A girl
sitting next to her asks if she’d like to sit with her at lunch, and later she
notices that her former friends smile at her.
-
In the
seventh grader’s circle meeting, the question is, What is the one thing you wish you could change about yourself?
When it’s her turn, the girl says, “I wish my parents didn’t expect me to play
every sport. I kind of like singing, but I don’t want to tell them.” As she
says this, she notices a classmate who seems to be resonating with her
situation and is resisting conforming to others’ expectations, and feels
kinship and support.
What are the norms and
procedures that can make community circle meetings helpful to struggling
students? Some key routines:
-
The
teacher begins each community circle with an open-ended question.
-
The
teacher says all responses are to be respected and remain in the classroom.
-
Students
must be holding a “talking piece” to speak in meetings.
-
The
teacher says that when students have the talking piece, they can comment on
what a classmate said, or defer their comment, or simply say, “I agree with
what --- said.”
-
The
teacher encourages students to snap (or choose a different signal) to
acknowledge and agree with peers contributing thoughts or experiences.
-
The
teacher says that if students feel unsafe or in potential danger, they must tell
an administrator or guidance counselor.
In addition to the
three prompts mentioned above, here are suggested questions to kick off circle
discussions:
-
What do
you like about yourself?
-
What is
your favorite activity outside of school?
-
Whom do
you admire and why?
-
How has
someone been kind to you this week?
-
If you
could say sorry to someone this week, who would it be and why?
-
What is
the most challenging thing about being a middle schooler?
-
What do
you enjoy most about attending this school?
-
What
would you change about this school if you could?
-
How
would it make you feel to know people were talking about you or a friend?
-
What
would you do if you knew someone was saying untrue things about you or a
friend?
-
How do
you handle confrontation?
-
What
would you like to learn about handling difficult situations with peers?
-
What is
one positive thing you have learned about a peer in this class who isn’t a
close friend?
-
What do
you like about participating in community circles?
“Community
Circles: Mitigating the Impact of Trauma on the Middle-School Student” by Jamie
Silverman and Molly Mee in Middle School Journal,
September 2019 (Vol. 50, #4, pp. 35-41), https://bit.ly/2pkLysV;
the authors can be reached at jsilverman@towson.edu
and mmee@towson.edu.
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