I have a some great students this year. Each one is whip smart and they are so creative. Unfortunately, they don't have the best chemistry as a group and I have witnessed them being uncooperative with each other over the years.
To get ready for them, I spent the summer refreshing my classroom management techniques, and reading The Power of our Words. I have been considering how my teacher language can affect their behavior.
Now that the school year has begun, my big focus is on how they treat each other. I felt that in order to help them be more successful, I should focus on the IB attitudes at the beginning of the year to improve their ability to work together and their understanding of what I expect.
I started by developing a clear set of essential agreements based around the IB learner attitudes. We took 3 weeks slowly breaking down what each attitude looks like and feels like.
At the beginning, I saw that their interpretation of empathy was affecting how they treated each other. They had memorized that they should "put yourself in the other person's shoes." But their idea of what that looked like was not fully developed.
They thought that it meant leaving people alone if they were feeling sad or frustrated. They were confused about how to look from another person's perspective. We talked through the other attitudes and when we returned to empathy, they were able to include being caring and understanding of others.
After exploring all of the attitudes, they each voted on their top 3 to guide the class. Here is what they came up with.
Essetnail Agreements:
Creativity: Find New ways to solve problems
Appreciation: think positivly
Enthusiasm: Be energetic
From there, I turned their descriptions of each attitude into pockets. Every day, in morning meeting, they choose a focus for the day and we give examples of what that might look like in class, recess and lunch. I was inspired by an image I saw on Pinterest of a 2nd grade classroom teacher's blog. Each morning they set their focus attitude for the day. We discuss what that might look like in the days lessons during morning meeting. I do my best to identify their application and make connections explicit as we go through the day. For example: I really appreciate your practicing empathy in identifying Marzi's frustrations in this chapter.
To tie their renewed appreciation of the attitudes together, they led the PYP assembly's discussion of being open minded last week. First we brainstormed what it means to be open minded, then they led a school wide discussion about social issues on the playground. They used the Circle of Viewpoints Thinking Routine http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03e_FairnessRoutines/CircleViewpoints/CircleViewpoints_Routine.html
to discuss the perspective of a student looking for a seat in the cafeteria and a student conflict on the playground. They're applying their understanding of the attitudes more and more. I feel like they are developing into mindful learner's and are beginning to take leadership in modeling the IB learner attitudes.
I've also been teaching them how to use redirecting language with each other. This has improved their communication skills and given them more control over their classroom. They have become empowered in partner and group work and are taking ownership of their learning.
