This week on practicum I was there for only half the day as we had math assessments in another school for the last half of the day. While I was there I got to do my read-aloud. I must say the book (The Giver) keeps getting more and more interesting and the students love it!

What I would like to touch on this week is the class meetings we have every week. I’ve been taking notes each week the meeting occurs and finally I have a chance to write about it.

The meeting usually consists of three main parts. The students gather into a circle and once ready, my s.a. passes along a teddy bear. Only the person with the teddy bear should be talking and the rest listening respectfully. I have seen that this actually works really well. And if a student without the teddy bear is being disruptive, just a simple reminder “you don’t have the teddy bear right now” is sufficient to fix the problem. First, each student must give another student/teacher in the class a “star”. That is, offer a positive comment to someone for anything that occurred in the previous couple of days. Students have the opportunity to pass once and then on the second try they must give a star. So there is opportunity to have time to think if a student is stuck. I think this is so important in a class – especially in the higher grades – as it directly allows for positive situations to be heard. A lot of the time students only focus on what’s not going well, but this in a way forces them to realize there’s so much positive happening as well. And just generally, the atmosphere of the classroom is more friendly and community-like. Also, young adolescents of this age value their peer relationships so much. Everyone wants to be heard and have a sense of belonging. And this class meeting provides a safe setting for each student to have a voice.

Next, the students are able to record positive comments throughout the week and put them in a jar. My s.a. then pulls out these comments during the meeting and reads out to the entire class. This works really well because sometimes students forget what happened a couple days earlier or don’t want to say it directly. So they have a chance to remain anonymous as well. Also this conveys to students that they don’t have to wait until the meeting, positive comments can be given at any time.

Lastly, there is a jar for “wishes” as well. These wishes are problems or topics students want to be addressed. This allows for students to be able to voice their opinions in a way they feel safe and comfortable. The students do care about the wishes that are made as a lot of them do have something to say, or advice to offer to help the given situation. In fact I noticed a lot of the students try to share what their own knowledge. For example, a wish that came up was “I wish people would stop touching each other so much, and in response students said “I’ve always thought act how you want to be treated.” And then the teacher can debrief on the topic and provide concluding ideas or solutions.

I think through the variety of topic discussed this class meeting is a student-entered approach to help students develop many skills. Most importantly, by leading their own discussion, they are working on their interpersonal skills. By speaking out, students are developing communication skills that help understand how to have group discussions and problem-solving. For example, the concept of democracy is modelled as a way of problem-solving when the students discuss class matters/options like choice of grad events. During the meeting they can vote on topics like this and a fair decision is reached. Also, these meetings allow the teacher to get a sense of student dynamics and relationships in the class. For example, one of the male students in my class hangs out with the girls more than the boys. And in the meeting, another boy said, “I would like to give **** a star for being an adorable friend.” My s.a. sensed this comment was not very positive and was then able to address the issue with involved students. In the end, I think the class meeting is a good arena to build positive, strong interpersonal skills – especially since these skills are so vital to students of this age group!