Setting the Ground Rules

(This post was originally created 9/20/08 as part of a parent newsletter and is just being posted as a blog entry to 1DDiaries today)

Today was our 15th day of school, which means the school year is about 8% completed. During these past fifteen days, we have accomplished a lot!

Many of the accomplishments can be counted -- we've completed one math unit on shape attributes and patterns, and are well into a second unit on number lines. In Science we've begun to observe the tree outside of our window and use a hand lens to give us a better opportunity to observe the amazing world around us, and then document our observations in a journal.

We have read fiction books where mice were the main characters (authors Kevin Henkes and Leo Lionni) and non-fiction books where we learned many facts about how mice live in real life. We have gone to the computer lab and made drawings of mice using KidPix and recorded our facts on our drawings. We have taken many assessments to see what skill levels we have acquired to date in reading and spelling and math. The first two weeks of school have been very busy in 1D.

However, many of our accomplishments are harder to document. We have had discussions about how friends support each other's learning through attentive listening and celebrate each other's successes. We spoke today about how each week we give awards at our weekly assembly. Each week I give an award to a student who has made an exemplary improvement, acquired a new skill, made an insightful contribution to a classroom discussion or done something that I really want to point out to the whole community. My students need to know that each child in the class will receive an award sometime during the year. Receiving the award should be a surprise to him/her, although I try to let parents know in advance so that they may plan to attend the Assembly if their schedules permit. It’s important for my students to know I notice when they work very hard. They ARE working hard – ofcourse we all have days when we work with a little less enthusiasm! – and have completed some really good work during the week. It is crucial for me to provide the motivation for all my students to WANT to learn, to work hard and have the desire to be excellent and extraordinary students even if they are NOT going to get an award on that week!

We have had more than one discussion about what it feels like when a classmate acts in a negative way: sometimes a person doesn't have to say anything to make another person feel anxious or worried. Will she hurt me or won't she hurt me? Sometimes a student makes a mean face or gesture in response to another's words. Sometimes body language alone can make another child feel worried that he or she is going to be get hurt. Students generally will tell me when they are worried or anxious or just feeling bad about an interaction on the playground or the cafeteria. Sometimes we can have general, whole-class conversations about these incidents, and but occasionally it is necessary to sit down with the children involved and talk through what each child’s perceptions of the situation are. It’s important for each child to feel safe as well as having their voices heard.

More often students get upset with a friend for angry words and then reverse course, forgiving and forgetting what the accuser did within minutes! There are also times when the students need to know when a gesture or words they saw or heard were not meant to be hurtful. Sometimes we have misunderstandings or a miscommunication. Frequently we have accidents and a child needs to accept responsibility. These are big words and huge ideas for six year olds to digest. We role play, and talk about how to respond when someone hurts our feelings or does things to us that we don’t like. We have to practice saying words that are hard to say: “Please stop!” “I don’t like this game. I’ll play something else.” We learn to advocate for ourselves. We talk about how sometimes we don’t mean to hurt someone. Accidents happen; however, if, through his actions or words, a child accidentally hurts someone, he needs to accept responsibility for what he did and apologize.

We have to talk about rules of the game, know and understand that everyone – EVERYONE -- must be included in our games and that no one may be left out if he or she wants to play. For some first graders, thinking about, considering and talking about how someone else feels is the hardest thing they’ve ever had to do.

First Grade, like so much of life, can get very complicated. The students in 1D are a sensitive, thoughtful and responsible group of children. They have great empathy for each other and are quickly developing into a community of learners. We are working on developing rules that will guide us in our classroom behaviors for the rest of the year. So far, we have come up with the following Rules for our Morning Meeting:

* Show Respect;

* Listen quietly without calling out to the speaker;

* Raise your hand to speak;

* Pay attention to the speaker.

Setting the “ground rules” is just one of many ways we develop community as we get the school year underway. As the year unfolds, we’ll look more closely at some of the ways we work together to build our understanding of how each person contributes and strengthens our classroom community.