Classroom Set Up
 Our 'Civics' Wall
Developing a classroom culture that celebrates our grade as a communiy enhances that community and fosters a sense of belonging. Add some fun and laughter, kindness and care, safety and routine, and you're optimizing the environment for learning. |
Believers Door Sign (1 pg word doc)
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Gathering
Each morning, our classes come together to meet and pray before we begin our school day. A great way to build community and belonging, to celebrate events and achievements. All students take a turn to prepare and lead our Gathering in pairs. 
Gathering Procedures 2012 (2 pg word doc) |
Gathering Cover
(1 pg word doc) |
The Soap Box poster (1 pg jpg) The Soap Box is just a lovely little place for kids to put up their news. We don't have time for 'show and tell' or 'bring and brag' but the kids obviously miss it from their younger years so I encourage them to use sticky notes to share. I've always needed to tell them the origins of the soap box as a platform for public speaking and they're often fascinated by it. Kids put up things like 'we won basketball last night', 'I'm going to Dad's this weekend' and 'When are we going on an excursion?'
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Door Sign Poster (1 pg jpg)
The Parking Lot poster (1 pg jpg) A handy strategy when you're busy teaching and focussed on one topic. Kids who come up with observations or questions that are great but would take you completely off the subject, can use post-it notes to stick their ideas in the parking lot so they can be addressed at another time. This maintains necessary focus but reinforces the value placed on student voice.
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