Category Archives: Community Building

Louisville’s CARE For Students Program

POSTED ON BEHALF OF DANIEL KNOLL

Edutopia.org, a website designed to share information and lessons with teachers about all kinds of topics in the modern classroom, (seriously it’s a really cool website, check it out) has a page of case studies called “Schools That Work.” One of the subjects Edutopia focuses on is Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). Schools in Louisville have adopted what they hope will become a national standard for SEL called CARE For Students. CARE stands for Community, Autonomy, Relationships and Empowerment. Each of these four pillars shapes the idea that the students in this school district will understand how to share information about themselves with their classmates, develop positive relationships with their peers, and know how to handle conflict when it arises. CARE was developed by a Superintendent named Sheldon Berman, and Mr Berman is very clear this isn’t “touchy-feely stuff.” For Mr. Berman, CARE is “Core social skills that give kids the knowledge and experience to work effectively with others. This isn’t about being nice. It’s serious work to create a sense of community and resolve conflicts.”

One specific part of the CARE project is called a “Morning Meeting.” This twenty minute session starts with educators greeting students personally as they enter the school / classroom. Students then partake in a game or activity for 20 minutes that gets students excited to learn and comfortable sharing with others. There are all kinds of activities that take part in these “Morning Meetings,” and after watching a quick video about the program, the meetings look very similar to the types of check ins we did throughout this semester (such as Wind Blows and Roses and Thorns). I think these types of morning check ins work as an informal activity in a formal educational setting for all ages. Obviously the topic of discussion changes as the needs of the students change with age, school location etc, but the beauty of these types of activities is that they can change to adapt the needs of the community. These meetings set the tone for the rest of the day force students to think about real life conflict situations and how to best resolve them. Personally I plan to incorporate a number of the CARE For Students elements into my own classroom, especially the concept of developing positive relationships through trust and sharing, and setting the rules of the classroom. To learn more abut the details of CARE and how it works in Louisville, check out: http://www.edutopia.org/stw-louisville-sel-social-emotional-learning (Morning Meetings are just a small part of the program.)

The two pillars of Peace Education that CARE best introduces in the classroom are Community Building and Nurturing Emotional Intelligence. By hosting a number of activities focused around sharing and understanding amongst classmates, CARE creates a strong sense of community between students. By having students draft and reinforce the rules and expectations of the classroom, you are developing a community that is successful as a team, and not from the teacher exerting authority over students. By creating this type of buy-in to the program, students are much more likely to keep order within the classroom. The teacher creates a safe space, and the students run with the opportunity to develop SEL. The second pillar, Nurturing Emotional Intelligence is a fairly obvious outcome from the CARE program. By teaching students how to address conflict such as bullying in a productive and safe environment, you are teaching life skills that will set them up for success far beyond their time in the classroom. Conversations about how to build relationships and address issues with others are often absent from modern curriculums, and SEL is an attempt to fill this void in student’s development. I can’t wait to use some of the lessons and techniques discussed in the Schools That Work section in my own classroom.

Peace Learner Commitments

The above podcast was recorded on Wednesday, November 14th 2012 during the Peace Pedagogy (EDU-596) course I facilitate each year at American University.  As a final assignment for the class I asked each student to develop what I called a “Peace Learner Commitment.”  A Peace Learner Commitment is:

“…a pledge to yourself, and shared with our community, to achieve a goal that seeks to build and foster peaceable learning environments.  This environment can be built in the classroom, your community, among your peers, with your family, in the work place, or for yourself.  The choice is yours.

“The key is for an element of this course that resonated with you – skill, content, activity, attitude, technique, perspective, etc. – to bear fruit outside of the (tiny) classroom we shared this semester.”

In the podcast each student shares what their commitment is.  And listening to this podcast, I can honestly say that it has been a privilege spending an entire semester with this outstanding, kind, and inspirational group of learners. The 14 students all came to the course for different reasons, with different needs, and from different professional and academic backgrounds.  Given the diversity of the learning goals and needs, as the professor for the course I really had to give deep thought to what kinds of assignments were going to actually be useful to the class.

Guide to Preventing and Responding to School Violence

POSTED ON BEHALF OF AUDREY VAN GILDER

I’ve chosen to loosely relate my final blog post to my Peace Learner Commitment. That commitment was made as a result of all I’ve learned about gun violence while interning at the Brady Center, and in an effort to start spreading the word about intercepting gun violence, I’d like to share this resource with you.

https://www.theiacp.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=MwvD03yXrnE%3D&tabid=378

This Guide to Preventing and Responding to School Violence is a pretty technical examination of all the pragmatic steps that need to be in place should the worst happen – the worst, in this case, being gun violence in a school. As much as we as teachers and caregivers hope that this never touches us, the fact is, America sees a frightening amount of gun violence on a daily basis, substantially more than any other developed nation. Many of these mass shootings (considered at least four people injured or killed by one shooter at one time) happen in schools.

This document is a very thorough resource for not only teachers, but administrators, parents, community leaders, and public safety officials. It is appropriate to implement in full or in part at the discretion of a school. The important thing is that adults in schools are aware of the threat of gun violence. Not only must official emergency preparedness policies be in place, but teachers have a responsibility to keep an alert eye and ear out in order to discourage talk of violence among students. There are often warning signs of the potential for violence with weapons; the answer to confront this threat is not arming more people, but in increased communication among responsible adults about how to address and respond to violent crisis, should it unfortunately occur.

The way I interpret this resource, it can be used as a way to build a safe community. This pillar of peace education can be addressed by an unlimited number of strategies – this is just one to develop in order to serve a community if gun violence ever does become a reality. In addition, this document is a tangible method of skill building for adults in a school. It should be integrated with the crisis response plans that schools already have, and can be the worst-case-scenario guide for schools that already are committed to building peaceable communities.

As sad as it is to acknowledge, many schools in America are stuck in violent environments, in neighborhoods that experience gun violence every day. Realistic measures must be taken by people in charge to make every effort to ensure no gun crosses the threshold of their schools.

Stand Up and Speak Out

POSTED ON BEHALF OF MARIA SCHNEIDER

After reviewing my own reflections for our Peace Learner Agreements I decided that this program anti-discrimination and bullying program known as Stand Up Speak Out (SUSOSH) that I was involved with is something that I am proud of. It deserves recognition, and I believe that it should be implemented in other schools in communities across the country. It is relevant to peace education because of the long-term goals related to the seven pillars: community building, exploring approaches to peace, re-framing history, and transforming conflict non-violently, and lastly building life skills.

[Taken from the Minneapolis South High School website:] http://south.mpls.k12.mn.us/activities_s-z Stand Up Speak Out South High (SUSOSH) is a student driven peer education event at South High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Led by a core group of students on the SUSOSH Leadership Committee and staff advisors, SUSOSH trains over one hundred students in the art of peer education regarding homophobia, sexism, racism, and disability awareness. For two days, these peer leaders facilitate workshops for the entire student body of South High School in hopes of raising awareness and igniting change in the community. SUSOSH participants are committed to social justice at an unprecedented level at South High School.

SUSOSH, started as an initiative by the Gay Straight Alliance, Student Government, National Honor Society and Corinth Matera a dedicated, and well-respected teacher at South High. Based on student and teachers noticing an increase in vulgar and offensive language being used in the hallways of Minneapolis South High the conversation began of how we could transform our school environment to be more accepting and respectful of all people.

I think that this initiative can be implemented in many different learning environments but it is best done in middle and high schools where students and teachers can work together to create a comprehensive and effective social justice action plan to engage students of various backgrounds and grade levels. That way it is structured and can lead the way for transformational change and peace throughout an entire school or institution, not simply in one class or one group of students. As far as how to incorporate this into a class, I think that the need has to be there and a drive from students as well a support from faculty and staff members. Otherwise, there won’t be positive response from students if they don’t see positive leadership from their peers.

One year later, after local teen suicides related to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender bullying, South High was recognized for its anti-bullying measures related to SUSOSH. http://www.shsoutherner.net/news/2010/11/09/south-students-respond-to-recent-suicides/

After exploring this concept of Standing Up and Speaking Out I discovered a similar program on the edutopia site http://www.edutopia.org/blog/social-justice-lessons-activities-resources-rebecca-alber aimed at teachers to help better develop social and emotional learning through social justice lesson plans and resources.

How can this program be implemented in other schools? Who is responsible for doing this? How can we spread the word?

Human Rights Month

POSTED ON BEHALF OF BETH JIMERSON

http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/2012/01/universal-human-rights-month/

I found this online source while searching for human rights activities for the high school class that I teach. This website shares a number of great books for students of all ages regarding varied human rights issues. It also provides links to other sources on human rights and proposes ideas for activities to promote understanding of human rights.

These are great resources for teaching at any age and in any context. They could be used in formal schooling in conjunction with Language Arts/English/History/Geography or Social Studies class, at home with parents or in any kind of non-formal setting such as at church, daycare, after school programs.

The children’s books could be used during story time at school or bed-time at home. The books for older children could be used during Language Arts, History, Social Studies, Geography or English classes to explore the issues presented. The large variety of books provides a wide range of opportunities for talking about peace and human rights. Students can be engaged through dialogue about the book and projects further related to the readings. The books could be used as an engaging way to practice skills such as reading comprehension or inference based around the idea of human rights.

The books and resources can engage a variety of the pillars of peace education. They can inspire community building through activities related to the readings and dialogue created after or during the readings. They can nurture emotional intelligence through fostering reflection and empathy through reading about human rights. Through dialogue of the various subject matters presented in the books, we can explore approaches to peace. Learning about events in history and their relationship to human rights can help reframe history, and the dialogues and activities based around the books can help us brainstorm ways of transforming conflict nonviolently.

Have any of you read these suggested books? Could you think of others to add to the list? Do you have any further ideas of engaging students in discussions about human rights?

The Linguists

POSTED ON BEHALF OF LEAH THOMPSON

I was first introduced to The Linguists film in my International and Comparative Education course during a unit on language rights.  The Linguists is a fascinating independent documentary about language extinction and language documentation.  It follows two linguists, David Harrison and Greg Anderson, on their journey around the world to record and document dying and endangered languages.  Today there are more than 500 languages at risk for extinction and four of these are featured in the documentary: Chemehuevi, a Native American language of Arizona; Chulym, a language spoken in Siberia; Kallawaya of Bolivia; and Sora of India.  While watching the film I was struck by the stories of the indigenous speakers, some of whom were proud of their language and wanted to pass it down to other generations, and some of whom were deeply embarrassed and felt isolated and excluded.  The documentary is an excellent way to introduce the topic of language rights in the classroom, and facilitate a discussion about how language rights are an essential element of culture, history, values, and identity.

Watch the trailer here:

While researching more about the film, I found a Teacher’s Guide for The Linguists on the PBS website.  It can be found at:

http://www.pbs.org/thelinguists/For-Educators/

The Teachers Guide to Endangered Languages provides materials intended for high school or college level students and may be used in a myriad of classes like social studies, political science, anthropology, fine arts, foreign language, etc.  The guide for educators is intended to “expose students to the world’s linguistic and cultural diversity, and the negative consequences of sacrificing that diversity.” It is divided into nine themes, each of which includes a learning goal for students and directions for educators.  The themes are: 1) Culture, 2) Time, Continuity, & Change, 3) People, Places, & Environments, 4) Individual, Development, & Identity, 5) Groups and Institutions, 6) Power, Authority, & Governance, 7) Science and Technology, 8) Global Connections, and 9) Civic ideals.  The guide goes on to explain that, “Languages are repositories of thousands of years of a people’s science and art, from observations of ecological patterns to creation myths. The disappearance of a language is a loss not only for the community of speakers, but also for our common knowledge of mathematics, biology, geography, philosophy, agriculture, and linguistics.”

On the PBS website you will also find a procedure for teaching the unit.  This guide suggests that teachers:

1)    ask students to provide a definition of endangered languages

2)    have students brainstorm and write down all of the languages they know

3)    have students estimate how many languages are spoken in the world

4)    watch the documentary

5)    discuss

Some possible discussion questions could be:

  • Why should we care if these languages survive?
  • Do you agree with the UNESCO declaration statements that “All language communities have equal rights” (Article 10, section 1) and “Everyone has the right to use his/her language in the personal and family sphere” (Article 12, section 2)?
  • How does the loss of the indigenous language affect the members of that community?
  • How does the preservation of language create a more peaceful community?

Using this film, with some background information about language rights, and the learning activities presented in the Teacher’s Guide, can serve as an informative resource and allow students to consider the power of language, and all of the benefits and consequences of language use.  Perhaps students will begin to consider how language plays a role in their school, such as the perceived challenges that some students may face when they are educated in one language, and use a different language at home or in their community.  And perhaps educators will be encouraged to consider the role they play in this process, whether they provide support and encourage students to maintain their native tongue, or promote an “English only” attitude in their classroom.

I think this resource most supports the pillars of community building and exploring approaches to peace. Understanding the diversity of languages of the world, and of one’s school, encourages students to get to know the people with whom they are learning.  They will be able to see how language can play a unifying role, and also how language differences should be respected and celebrated.  In addition, it is hopeful that students will be engendered with a sense of responsibility and accountability to preserve and revitalize the languages of their community and the greater world community.  By recognizing the role that language plays in a peaceable community, students will explore an alternative approach to peace.  The film depicts the role of language in the world community, and class discussions can break down the concept and localize the concept to the role that language plays in the students’ home community and in their school.

I will conclude with the quote that inspired this blog entry, courtesy of my Honest Tea bottle cap I opened at lunch this week…

“War is what happens when language fails.” Margaret Atwood

Moose, Elephant, Walrus

POSTED ON BEHALF OF ANNSLEIGH CARTER

This week, I tried to look at games and activities that could be done with elementary school children. I work at an elementary school and sometimes work with children in the extended day program. I (and probably the children) get bored with playing Tag and Sharks and Minnows over and over again, so I wanted to try to find some fun activities that also promote peace and collaboration. I found a website called peacefirst.org, which has a “Digital Activity Center.” Here is the link: http://www.peacefirst.org/digitalactivitycenter/resources/search. I have already passed this along to my school to use, and I will be sharing a few of the activities at our next staff meeting.

I like this resource because you can narrow down your search by selecting your age group, type of activity, skills you want to promote, and then a theme. The themes and skills are all aligned with those that we have been studying in the class. I think this is a really great, well-varied database, but I was instantly drawn to a game with a fun-sounding name: Moose Elephant Walrus. (http://www.peacefirst.org/digitalactivitycenter/node/295).

This game is geared towards elementary students, and falls under the themes of “Friendship, Inclusion/Exclusion.” To start, you have the kids make a circle. You demonstrate for them how to make a moose, an elephant, and a walrus with three people. Here is how the site tells you to make the animals using only three people:

Moose: The person in the middle places the thumbs of their open hands to their temple, creating moose antlers.  However, moose have extremely large antlers, so the people on either side hold up their hands (with fingers spread out) adjacent to the middle antlers.

Elephant: The person in the middle sticks one arm straight out in front of them to create the trunk.  The people on either side use both of their arms to create the elephant’s ears.

Walrus: The person in the middle tucks their fists up under their neck, letting their elbows jut out to form tusks and their fingers point down to form whiskers. The people on either side lean in then clap their hands to the outside, creating flippers.

So, one person stands in the middle, spins around and then stops and points to someone in the circle. The pointer yells out one of these animals and counts to three. The person pointed to and the people on either side of that person must make that animal within three seconds. If one of the three fails to make the animal in three seconds, he/she becomes the pointer. That way, the circle is moving, the children have to work with different people, and they all get to be silly.

The lesson plan provides the following debriefing questions: “What happened during the game? What did we find out about how to play the game successfully? How can we use what we learned through this experience in situations outside of the game?” I think these are really good questions, but I might add a few to unpack them further, such as “What did it feel like to be the person who got picked? What did it feel like to be the person who had to go in the middle? Was this game fun, and if so or if not, why? Do you feel like you got to know the people in your class better from this game?”

It would not be hard to find activities on this site that promote all 7 pillars of peace, but I think “Moose Elephant Walrus” promotes Community Building and Nurturing Emotional Intelligence. It promotes community building because the goal of this game is to work together. It forces children to work with whoever is next to them (hopefully different people throughout the game), which creates opportunities to get to know different people in a fun way. This game fits the Nurturing Emotional Intelligence pillar because it focuses on ideas of friendship and inclusion. It demonstrates how it feels good to be included when you’re not the one who’s “out,” as well as the anxiety you might feel when you are “out.” There is also sort of a yogic element to this game because kids get to stand up and use their bodies.

I think that if you wanted to do this same type of activity for high school aged kids who would be turned off by the cuteness of this particular game, the equivalent might be the game Sarah Jackson introduced to our class in which students have to group themselves together in the number that the teacher calls out. These games share ideas of community building and emotional intelligence, but are geared towards different age groups.

Technology in the Classroom as a Peaceful Learning Practice

POSTED ON BEHALF OF MARIA SCHNEIDER

I myself am not someone who is fascinated by technology, nor someone who chooses to use it day-in and day-out. I am maybe one of the few people who still do not have a smart phone, an iPad or a kindle and there is something about not owning such devices that gives me peace. Ironic I know because I decided to look into using technology in the classroom as a way to increase peace in the learning environment and cater to learners with all different learning styles. I think that I don’t appreciate technology as much as others because I often do not know how to use programs, devices, websites etc. and that I become frustrated and stop using them altogether.  My frustration however, might not be so strong if I was well versed in how to use programs effectively and incorporate them into different contexts; thus I decided to explore ways to incorporate technology into the classroom to build peace and a positive outlook on learning form the eyes of students.

The eLearn Magazine: Education and Teaching in Perspective http://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=2047484 features several different blog postings about tools, methods, and resources for educators and facilitators in both informal and formal classroom settings. I found many of the articles to be interesting and provide information that I was preciously unaware of. The Top 100 Tools for Learning http://c4lpt.co.uk/top-100-tools-2012/ also provides a long list of resources that can be used to teach and enhance all different lessons for various age groups.

Though these tools can be used in any setting I think they would be the most beneficial in a formal classroom setting with middle, high school and/or college students, as there is more structure within the allotted time of the class/course. In addition, branching out with various tools and technology helps bring variety to enhance all learning styles and build intelligence in community building, emotional learning and life skills building.

I would use the Top 100 Tools for Learning in group projects, presentations, and as I lead class sessions. Being introduced to meditation and yoga in the classroom I think that Skype is one tool that could be utilized to hold a yoga class/meditation session, iMovie, Garage band and iTunes are programs that could be used to create movies and podcasts and share them with other students. I hope that by incorporating these tools more widely into the classroom that students are able to realize that learning does not occur simply from listening to the teacher, and raising your hand to respond but that it happens collaboratively in different ways that can be interactive and fun as well as educational and academic.

*[One precaution that needs to be taken is realizing that not all student may have access to internet resources outside of the classroom. Because of that it is important that you find alternative routes to using technology in the classroom, media center, renting equipment (high school/college), using community resources at public libraries and community centers. Incorporating these devices and technological programs can be done more often in the actual classroom to eliminate the opportunities for students who do not have access to computers to feel left out from those who do have access.]

Men Make a Difference in Prince Georges County

POSTED ON BEHALF OF MARG BRENNAN

Every year in October, Prince George’s County schools participate in National Men Make a Difference Day throughout different schools. Below are two news briefs, photos, and a slideshow about the event that were released by the county:

http://www1.pgcps.org/communications/press.aspx?id=165385

http://www1.pgcps.org/communications/press.aspx?id=164724 (various events throughout the day)

https://picasaweb.google.com/PGCPSphotos/2012MenMakeADifferenceDay?authuser=0&feat=directlink

At my middle school, the event runs for the entire day. Fathers, uncles, siblings, cousins, and many other community members are invited to come in for breakfast, participate in workshops throughout the day, and attend or participate in any student classes. We had over 100 participants this year (which in the three years I’ve been at the school has been the greatest turnout yet) and my students thoroughly enjoyed bringing guests into the classroom and interacting with the other participants. Some spoke about their careers or families and answered any questions that students had.  Participants could join the children for lunch and they had a closing lunch provided for them, as well as a round-table discussion with students. Some of the participants were already established mentors within our community and informed students of resources available to them.

I think that this event can be incorporated into any subject or class. As a math teacher, I really enjoyed having the participants in and out of my classroom all day, but I would have said that regardless of the subject I teach, as their contributions really didn’t have much to do with math specifically. With more planning, I think that these participants could be incorporated into subject-specific lesson plans, but it was definitely not necessary to do that.

Many of my students do not consistently have a positive male role model and most responded very well to the visitors in the classroom. For these students in particular it was helpful that some of the participants were established community mentors and it opens some doors for students outside of school. Because many of our guests spoke to students about careers and future decisions, the type of event we planned I think works best with middle and high school students, who have the capacity to have those conversations; the same type of event could definitely be used with younger children as well, who are just as much in need of the mentoring. The formal educational setting worked well, although I could definitely envision this in a less formal community venue as well.

In my opinion, the potential for the knowledge, skills and attitudes that students could develop from participating in this event and engaging with the guests is significant. I speak to many parents and guardians that start conversations with something like, “Well I’m trying my best, but I’m working two or three jobs and it’s just me.” I have several students who don’t have the opportunity often to have meaningful conversations with adults beyond their teachers and this provides the opportunity for them to really learn from others in their community. Students learn about opportunities to become involved in events outside of school – many are not involved in sports, after-school activities, or any outside activities and end up with a lot of unsupervised downtime; they are exposed to different opportunities with events like these.

From my vantage point, this event supported multiple pillars of peace education, but I saw the most from Community Building (as discussed above) and Skill Building. Some of these role models really went above and beyond and discussed relevant issues with students.  I watched some of my more resistant students open up, even if it was only in the form of letting them help them with classwork. I am often asked when “so and so’s dad” or “that police officer” will be coming back to the room. They touched on things like conflict and related it to when they were in middle school or trying to fit in and figure out who you are. For many of my students, this message, and especially where it was coming from – men from their community that they were able to relate to – had an impact. My students are at an age where they start to make decisions that will have a lasting impact on the rest of their lives and they often do not have the capacity to make the best decisions in those situations. This program, which I wish happened more often, plants some seeds for more informed, thoughtful decisions.

Tourettes and Public Speaking

POSTED ON BEHALF OF KI’TAY DAVIDSON

Content

The content of this lesson is centered on a spoken word performance performed  by a young man on HBO’s Brave New Voices (a series focused on illuminating the power of youth poetry) .  This video was found on youtube and can be easily accessed on the internet.

Context

This lesson plan is tailored to high school students in their junior or senior year and students predominantly in lower level classes, alternative schools and special education. Moreover,  this lesson plan would be most beneficial to students working with a speech pathologist.  The entire lesson is focused on speech and learning differences and empowerment through ownership, creativity and self acceptance. As a result, the classroom atmosphere would need to be formal, and a “safe space.” Overall, the presentation of a young person being proud of their disability will be both empowering and unique for most students in these classrooms. Hopefully, each student would leave with a divergent perspective on disability and would reclaim their own power and skillset to succeed not in spite of their disability, but because of their disability.

Goals and Objectives

Schedule of the Lesson (50 minute class):

(1) Watch video as a class (5 minutes)

(2) Write poem about yourself in relation to the poem (15 minutes)

(3) Perform poems in front of class (if students do not want to perform in front of the class they can perform to the  teacher by themselves on a separate date) (30 minutes)

Overall, this lesson plan will incorporate peace education by focusing on multiple intelligences and community building.  Public speaking is a skill that is beneficial and useful for most individuals; however, rarely are students given the opportunity to present or sharpen their speaking skills. As a result, this lesson plan will have each student write a poem about themselves and an asset that many have labeled as negative, but they feel is positive. From there, each student will have the opportunity to share in front of the class or present separately to the student. The teacher can tailor the length of this activity depending on the number of students. As a general note, each student should expect their poem to be about 1 to 2 minutes. Each student will have emot, as well as an activity that boost their public speaking skills.

Furthermore, this lesson plan will incorporate community building by facilitating an activity that promotes active listening, shared experiences and empathy.  Students may hear other stories that relate to their own and will respect the courage of their peers to share potentially vulnerable experiences in their own lives.