What Does it Mean to be a Good Community Member?

Using inspiration from many sources, we strive to support students to be curious about their own identity and the identities of others, as well as thoughtful and courageous members of the community.

How do we guide students along that path? We don’t give students all the answers! Rather, we give them structures and routines for sharing about themselves, learning about others and guided conversations to choose and defend their own opinions about what it means to be a positive part of a community. We begin the year with a deep dive into building vocabulary and creating agreements about what it means to be part of our classroom community. 

We continue the work throughout the year, especially within the structure of our daily morning meetings and closing circles. Monthly optional sharing about family traditions, food, and other aspects of students’ home cultures and the perennial favorite “Star of the Week” sharing give students the chance to teach one another about their own identities. Worldly Wednesdays highlight different countries and cultures around the world, as we build an understanding of diversity. Talk-About-It Tuesday and Think-About-It-Thursday discussion topics, focus on justice with questions like, “What does it mean to be an ally for others?” and action with prompts like, “Will you speak up or do something if people are being unfair even if your friends do not?” Fill-a-Bucket Fridays remind us to think regularly about those within our communities who have had a positive impact on us throughout the week, as well as considering actions we can take to have a positive impact on others. Coming up soon, we will take a deep dive into learning about changemakers as we strive to be part of making our communities better for all.