Community-building circles give students the opportunity to get to know each other and establish positive connections, including agreements about how they should treat each other. Thus, community-building circles help build familiarity and trust, and strengthen connections between students.
Types of community-building circles can include:
Check-In & Check-Out – At the beginning or end of the class, have students respond to a question or statement. This can also be used as a form of an Exit Ticket. Closure questions invite reflection on what has happened in the circle.
Classroom Norms – Classroom norms deal with expectations and procedures for a particular class. Engaging students in a discussion about how students should act and how they can all work to enforce those expectations changes the nature of classroom management.
Classroom Content – Strategically integrated in circles, this lets students know that their ideas and feelings do matter and have an effect on the class and academics in general.
Academic Goals – Circles can be used as a great tool for setting academic goals. Students can use circles to establish plans for the next class period, the coming week or the upcoming unit of study. Teachers facilitate students thinking process, and help them come up with solutions.
Staff Meeting Circles – Can be conducted in any type of meeting (staff, department, PD, etc.).
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