Community and the Pair/Small Group
The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.
-- Jane Addams
The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt.
-- Frederick Buechner
We can begin by doing small things at the local level, like planting community gardens or looking out for our neighbors. That is how change takes place in living systems, not from above but from within, from many local actions occurring simultaneously.
-- Grace Lee Boggs
These exercises are designed for students to get to know other students in the class on a more personal level. It is okay for students to have connections outside my classroom. It is okay if not every student is the best of friends with other students. My aim in these pursuits is simply to have students understand others in their community, such that the learning and school community is healthy.
Community and the Pair/Small Group - Strategies
One activity we tried this semester was giving our table groups compliment slips! It was wildly successful! My students put a lot of thought into what they had to say to each other, and everyone was excited to give and receive these little bits of positivity. Many of my students were very excited to take this little project home to keep on their walls.
Scroll through the gallery below for more suggestions. Note: I have not had the chance to try these ones out yet!
This was a hard one to research for, so if you have any other suggestions please let me know!
One that does not appear on here is game boards - you can print game boards off pinterest, number the squares and have the numbers correspond to a questionnaire of getting-to-know-you questions. The fun takes a bit away from the nervousness of sharing with another person. There are plenty of lists of questions on the internet that range from "meeting for the first time" to "I've known this person for several months."
This was a hard one to research for, so if you have any other suggestions please let me know!
One that does not appear on here is game boards - you can print game boards off pinterest, number the squares and have the numbers correspond to a questionnaire of getting-to-know-you questions. The fun takes a bit away from the nervousness of sharing with another person. There are plenty of lists of questions on the internet that range from "meeting for the first time" to "I've known this person for several months."