A Community of Learners: Building a Supportive Learning Environment
By Bob Lenz
11/16/07
Recently, a nationally recognized expert in classroom management visited the campuses of Envision Schools to help coach our teachers. Though he had plenty of advice about how we can make our learning environments more structured so student learning is accelerated, he was also effusive about the sense of respect he witnessed between students, between students and teachers, and between adults in the schools.
Like many visitors to our organization’s campuses, he sensed a strong sense of community. A learning community does not just happen; it is created intentionally at every level of a school and organization. At Envision Schools, we employ several strategies to create this type of environment:
Explicit Value
We are explicit that we hold community as a core value. We describe it in our literature, and leaders and teachers state it to students and their parents constantly at events, in private meetings, and in letters home. We also explicitly state to the adults in our organization that we are a professional learning community and that we plan our professional development to help foster and sustain our core value of community.
School and Organizational Structures
We organize our schools and our schedules to build a sense of community. Schools are organized by teams or families, in which a group of educators share a cohort of students. Teachers serve as advisers to sixteen students, and the advisories meet two to three times a week in our lower division (grades nine and ten) and daily in the upper division (grades eleven and twelve). Each week, teachers have three hours of common planning time with content-area colleagues and four hours of facilitated collaboration time with their team or family colleagues. We also build time into our master schedule for at least one community meeting (either by team, division, or whole school) each week.
We meet as a whole network of schools five times each year, and teachers collaborate and share curriculum and project ideas across our schools almost every week, either in person or virtually through email, instant messaging, or our Project Exchange online community.
Classroom Activities and Community Meetings
In the classrooms and advisories where we see the strongest sense of community and respect, we observe teachers regularly facilitating activities to develop these qualities. Most of these teachers greet their students at the door with a handshake or even a hug. These classrooms and advisories have norms or agreements posted prominently in the room. The norms (“Respect each other,” for example, and “Listen”) are not just words on a poster; teachers and students hold each other accountable to them daily.
Students are often organized in circles -- and often without desks. Every class begins with a brief check-in, during which the students and the teacher share how they are feeling, even if it’s just a nonverbal thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Teachers explicitly teach collaboration skills that help groups working on projects to be more successful, and they simultaneously build community. Teachers also confront issues of diversity, race, and class in the context of their curriculum, teaching collaboration while explicitly building a learning community.
Community meetings offer school leaders an opportunity to teach and build the whole school learning community. Each school has developed its own rituals and formats for their meetings: Some schools start each meeting with a chime and an inspirational reading. Others have students facilitate the meetings, and they begin with a quote of the day.
Schools use community meetings to address critical schools issues, to explicitly teach values such as community, and to share information. Sometimes, they’re just about fun -- like one featuring an adviser Hula Hoop contest. Community meetings also serve as an opportunity to showcase student performance in the context of a project. Though every school’s community meeting looks different, the outcomes are the same: Students and teachers feel more connected and part of a community.
As with most aspects of high-quality schools, building community begins with a vision and happens because the school leaders and the teachers intentionally design structures and activities to reach the vision. When our students graduate, we challenge them to lead the formation of community wherever they go, for the rest of their lives. Once you have the privilege to experience true community, you have the obligation to create it.
How do you foster community and respect in your schools? Please share with us.
Teachers & Substitutes
Submitted by Jen (not verified) on October 1, 2008 - 09:08.
I am a recent graduate who is substituting. Although most of the faculty is willing to help or even offer a seat in the teacher lounge I have found that there is little the district is doing to foster a relationship between the teachers and substitutes, or the community and substitutes. I understand that I do not have my own classroom, but I am still working with the same children on a daily basis. I would like to see more of an effort to build a relationship to make substitues feel more comfortable and involved. After reading about the Professional Learning Communities, I have to wonder if substitutes and other non- full time staff should be included. Does anyone have this in their district?
Creating a sense of community
Submitted by Sara Hutchinson (not verified) on September 30, 2008 - 17:54.
Building a community involves purpose, expectations, respect, safety, communication, and teamwork. Creating an environment that fosters these elements helps produce positive relationships and rapport between students, teachers, parents, and colleagues.
Something I am trying out in my classroom this year is a theme. The students were a huge part in picking out the theme, giving them ownership and choice. I liked having them be so active in picking out the theme because it is something I know they are interested in and will help motivate them.
The theme is sports and I am directing it to many aspects of my classroom. As their “coach,” I direct them in “getting in shape,” “practice,” “scrimmage,” and “play.” For my discipline policy I made an “Out of Bounds” bulletin board. It is amazing to see how naturally things fit into the theme and make it fun!! I am honestly still in the beginning stages, but already I can see improvements in working together, communicating effectively, and encouragement.
Rural High School
Submitted by Shannon Lowmiller (not verified) on September 29, 2008 - 16:06.
I teach in a rural high school just outside Alliance, Ohio. We have professional learning communities. Each department meets twice a week for 25 minutes each time. Once a month, we have building committee meetings and whole staff meetings. This organization has great potential to foster a sense of community. The only problem is we seem to get bogged down in testing and analysis of test results that we don't have time to discuss strategies to address the results.
I like what Bob Lenz said about "norms" posted in classes and teachers greeting students as they enter. I will adopt those ideas for my class.
Our local library organizes a "One Book, One Community" project each year. They encourage several local high schools to have teachers use the book in classes as well as advertise to the public. The author comes for talks at a community location as well as at the schools. Being involved in this program seems to help build a sense of community.
Building A Supportive Learning Environment
Submitted by DaMesia Starling (not verified) on July 22, 2008 - 15:45.
As often heard so many times in Education, it takes everyone in a school setting to ensure the success of the students. I believe that collaborating with other teachers is very helpful. With me being in this profession for 5 years, I rely on my colleagues quiet often. Where I teach, we have a strong sense of community, we meet once a week in our various teams to discuss assessments, and any evaluations we have made. As far as parental involvement, we have some parents that will do whatever it takes for their child. My primary responsibility are my student's and whatever it takes, my kids are worth it.
Teacher Collaboration
Submitted by barbara (not verified) on October 1, 2008 - 14:17.
I agree with your comment, teacher collaboration helps a lot. My school has strong feelings on this as well. At the end of each year a groupd of teachers/staff memebers representing each of the 'groups' in our school sit together to formulate the master schedule for the next year. During this time (of talking and debating) our Principal tries her best to give each teacher on the grade level common planning time and lunch within minutes of each other so we will have two opportunities during the day to get together to share if we would like. In order to 'force' some that might not see this as a valuable tool, they require us to fill out minutes for each of our meetings. I think when people have the opportunity to share and collaborate - great (or greater) things can happen.
Clear expectations
Submitted by Katrina Countryman (not verified) on July 21, 2008 - 18:42.
From the first day of kindergarten I set the tone for community by informing my students that it is our classroom and we are all friends in a community of learners. Students are encouraged to help, listen to, and respect one another. In Pat Wolfe’s article Brain Research and Education: Fad or Foundation, he states that “The environment must be physically and psychologically safe for learning to occur” (2003).
Our school counselor introduced the cougar PAWS program last year and it worked great because all staff and students understood what the school rules and expectations were.
Play safe
Act responsibly
Work hard and try your best
Show respect
When a student was caught performing these tasks, they were given a small cougar paw to write their name and teacher’s name on and then placed it in a drawing. On Fridays a predetermined number of names were drawn. Winners were given a cougar pencil, their picture was taken and placed up on a special bulletin board in the lobby. Many of our teachers were glad to back up this behavior plan because we have not had any clearly supported plan in place.
Wolfe, P. (2003, Fall). Brain-compatible learning: Fad or foundation? Retrieved May 24, 2007, from http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/forum/fall03/brain.html
Reprinted with permission. From the December 2006 issue of The School Administrator.
PAWS Program
Submitted by barb (not verified) on October 1, 2008 - 14:21.
I really like the PAWS program that your school has. Our school guidance department put together something similiar using the program character counts. It is nice when students are recognized for doing nice things, and not only for the honor roll...which not everyone usually makes. I am also a knidergarten teacher and agree with your feeling (setting the tone) with your students. I actually have my students help create the class rules. We talk about being safe at school, about learning, and about having a good time...and then we come up with a list of things that we feel are important to help us learn, be safe, and have fun. The students really get into helping create the list and are quicker to remember/follow the 'rules' as they were the ones that actually created them.
Hello Katrina, I loved your
Submitted by Kate (not verified) on September 30, 2008 - 17:29.
Hello Katrina,
I loved your school's program. I am also a kindergarten teacher and have difficulty making character education exciting. Your idea is simple, straightforward and fun! Thank you for sharing.
Professional Learning Communities
Submitted by Jeff Arenson (not verified) on July 18, 2008 - 13:15.
I have been at a few schools which have 'Professional Learning Communities' as well as those which don't. The schools with them, as expected, operated much better than those which didn't. At the very least, it allows a channel of commmunication between administrators and teachers as well as teacher to teacher. If a PLC is going to work, at the highest level, then all teachers need to buy into the concept. Unfortunately, there are many who don't. I do find, for the teachers who use them, they provide a place for teachers to discuss issues which are pertinent to their school and students. Like all changes in pedagogy and professional development, you will only get out of a PLC what you put into it. I do believe that all schools should provide the opportunity for teachers to interact. This would at least give the teachers who care about their profession, the students, the community and their school a chance to reap the benefits.
Building a Supportive Learning Environment
Submitted by Kelly (not verified) on July 17, 2008 - 13:53.
Having a supportive classroom environment is conducive to learning. Students feel comfortable and are more likely to take chances.
Our school structure is organized to foster a sense of community. We are organized by pods where we have built in planning time with our pod teachers as well as grade level colleagues.
In our school the guidance department does an excellent job of teaching character traits. Each morning students listen to announcements encouraging them to be productive and caring students. We having "Caught Caring" sheets students fill out if they see another students doing something nice for another. These "Caught Caring" slips are read at the end of the week on the announcements.
Teachers encourage a positive classroom environment daily through encouragement and role modeling.
I am very interested in establishing community meetings within my own classroom this year.
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