REFLECTION ZONE: Building and Sustaining Community

Building and Sustaining Community

Tap Someone Who/Acknowledgment Ritual

Students sit in a circle on chairs. The teacher explains that we are going to be acknowledging people today.  What does acknowledging someone mean?  The students will be able to acknowledge someone anonymously.  What does anonymously mean?

The teacher asks all players to close their eyes, and then selects four students to be the “tappers.” The tappers open their eyes and stand. Everyone else must still keep their eyes closed. If someone opens their eyes he/she should be removed or tabbed out, so this behavior stops. The teacher states categories of people to tap.  (Prior to starting it would be a good idea to talk about appropriate places to tap, such as the shoulder.)  The teacher would then say, “Tap someone who... and the teacher says various categories.  Students may tap as many people as they feel meet the category shared. The categories can start simple without any judgment, such as:

Tap Someone Who…

is wearing Chieftain colors

has earrings

brought their planner to class

As your group gets to know each other better and their comfort level increases, you can add to the depth of the prompts, such as:

made you smile this week

is a good friend

helped you today

made you laugh this week

you admire

you would share a secret with

you would karyoke with

is good at sports

is musical

you learned something from

helped you out

is a leader

you would like to wish a Merry Christmas

 
Reflection Questions:
How did it feel being tapped? Why?
How did if feel to be the Tapper? Why?
What other categories can we include next time?
How does this activity help make us a more caring classroom?

All My Favorites
At the beginning of the year I ask students to fill out a form on all their favorite things.  It is a list of categories, and students fill in the blank with their response.  For example, I will ask them their favorite television show, musical group, athlete, book....  I read them and file them. Then during the year, when I write problems I try to incorporate their favorites into the word problem, instead of using a generic Sally or John.  It’s something pretty basic, but including their favorites sometimes makes them more interested in what we are learning. I think it plays a small part in building a community they are happy to be a part of.  It also keeps me current on the most populars with my age group. :)