Community+-+Practicum+I+Wiki

= Contributions to Practicum 1 Wiki = Below are my contributions to the Practicum 1 Wiki:

= Classroom Management Page: =

Helping Hands! (Eddie)
I decided to put this strategy in the Classroom Management section of this wiki because I feel that involving students in classroom functions and giving them responsibilities helps build the sense of community and serves to pro-actively develop a healthy classroom environment.

My AT runs a program in her class called "Helping Hands". She began the week by asking each student to trace out their hand and cut it out of a piece of paper. Students were then invited to colour and decorate their "Helping Hands" as they wished. At the end of the week, my AT collected all the "Helping Hands" and revealed the "Helping Hands" board. On the "Helping Hands" board are a variety of classroom activities, such as:

a) Post lunch clean up. b) End of day clean up. c) Materials distributors. d) Board cleaners. e) Chair stackers. f) Textbook dispensers.

Each week my AT will give each student in the class a "Helping Hand". This means that for that week, the student is responsible for completing that classroom task. I think this is an excellent strategy because it makes the students responsible for their own classroom, it brings structure to the classroom, and ensures that every student is actively engaged. But most importantly, it helps build community. And from my perspective a healthy community is the first step to effective classroom management.

= Inclusion Page: =

Building Rapport - Community Circle (Eddie)
My teacher used TRIBES this week! Each Friday, my AT holds a "community circle". At the first community circle my AT introduced her class to the TRIBES agreements and told her class that this was something that was very important to her and that she would encourage passionately. She then introduced her class to TIGGER! Tigger is a stuffed tiger (Tigger from Winnie the Pooh). When in the community circle, only the person holding tigger can speak and everyone else must show them mutual respect and actively listen. In the first community circle my AT asked everyone to share their anxieties and fears about their first week of school, including herself! She then asked her students to do "appreciations" and to go around one by one saying one thing they were appreciative of. I thought this was an incredible way for my AT to build rapport with her class, especially when she revealed her own anxieties about the first week with them!

A Simple Hello, How are you? (Eddie)
On the first day of school I observed my AT do something extremely simple, but that was also extremely powerful in building rapport in the classroom. On the first day of class, when my AT was doing attendance for the first time, as she called out each students name she would pause and then say "Hello George", or "Hello Sally", and if she knew something about the student (such as sports they played or new an older sibling) she would ask about them. This one very simple act went a long way. It was clearly visible that as she welcomed each student to her class one by one, by saying their name and with a warm smile a rapport was being built. Immediately her students felt welcomed.

At The Door (Eddie)
A powerful rapport-building technique that I observed my AT do was to wait outside her door each morning and welcome each student as they walked in. I thought this was a great start to the day. Each morning my AT would stand outside her door and with a warm smile on her face, welcome each student into the class with a warm and open "Good Morning". I felt this was a very simple yet extremely powerful rapport-building technique.