As many of you know I was part of the Responsive Classroom blog last year. I am continuing to use RC in my classroom this year. I love the RC framework and how it gives ownership to the students and builds community!
For staff development on Wednesday we had a lady from Origins come in and talk to our staff about RC and what a RC classroom/school looks like. We are thinking about becoming a RC school so we wanted to know what we needed to do. It was very inspiring to hear our speaker talk about making our schools a better environment for not only the students but the staff. We have a lot of things to think about after our meeting...my questions are: How many of you are using RC in your classroom? Does your school use the RC framework as a whole school practice? If you aren't using RC what are you using that helps with classroom management/behavior issues? Also, older grades (3-5) do you use it in your classroom? A big complaint was that there is so much curriculum to teach at the older grades that there is no time for a morning meeting, etc. What do you think about this?
As always, thanks for taking the time to read this and respond!! :)
I do use some RC strategies in my classroom, but given that we are more focused on Love and Logic this year, I kind of mix them together with Love and Logic language.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting question for me, though, is the morning meeting question. I am having the exact opposite problem. When I taught third grade, I had a morning meeting with all 4 components each day. It was about 15 minutes long. While I usually didn't make the activity academic, the message almost always had an academic purpose. Sometimes we reviewed a concept where the kids responded or looked for certain spelling patterns in the message itself. From time to time, I shortened the meeting if we needed more time for something else.
I'm finding it nearly impossible to imagine a morning meeting in a half day kindergarten setting, though! Each day, we do greet each student and the kids have an opportunity to share. We do not have a morning message or activity. I miss those components, but I can't figure out a schedule that allows for the complete morning meeting.
I have used RC for several years, as I have jumped in and out of buildings that have used it to different extents. I definitely found that it was most successful when implemented schoolwide, but it can be successful on any level when a teacher is consistent with it.
ReplyDeleteI hear the concerns about the older grades, although the morning meeting part has never been the issue (as Erin said, MM can be a great time to reinforce a concept). The issue I have had in using RC with older grades mostly came in the "first six weeks of school" piece of it all - my older kids always got sick of the modeling and teaching (and reteaching) expectations far before my younger kids did. However, I still firmly believe that RC can ultimately leave MORE time for academics in the long term at all levels by making the expectations and consequences clear to students and teachers from the outset. A lot of RC teachers find that they spend a lot less time on classroom management than they used to.
As far as Sun Path is concerned, I think we could really benefit from sending at least one person from each team to the summer trainings this year. They group people together with people who teach the same grade level, so our intermediate folks might find some answers that way.
I have completed RC levels 1 and 2 and own several of their books. I can't for the life of me remember which school the books currently live at, but I would be happy to share them with anyone who would like to take a look.
In 4th grade with the overwhelming amount of academic expectations it gets tricky fitting in an entire morning meeting. Last year I did the full out Morning Meeting with all 4 parts. My social issues and problems were a lot less than the previous year. This year I have shortened the morning meeting to the greeting, and actitivy. The activity is solely based on social behaviors and interactions as mush as possible. I have cut out the morning message because of our schedule. We have math the first thing in the morning and their is no time for a message. Our meeting takes place after math, and I have already made all my announcements before we go to math. The timing is not ideal, but it works.
ReplyDeleteAs Erin mentioned, we are what I considere a "Love and Logic" school. I think that RC and LL go well together because of the teacher language aspect. What RC adds to a classroom is community building and social responsibilities, which students always need lots of help with.
Thank you everyone for the great posts. I have completed RC 1 and I would love to do RC 2 now. I really appreciate all the feedback. I am on the Climate Committee at school and I want to share some of your responses with the other members.
ReplyDeleteErin- I never thought about your problem with having half day and trying to fit in every components of morning meeting. I am going to ask our K teachers and see what they do and maybe I can get a suggestion for you!
Liz- you made such a great point by saying that implementing RC in the first 6 weeks will help elliminate other issues and leave more time for academics. I totally agree with that! I loved having my students go to music with you last year because RC carried over from my classroom right to yours. The consistency was great for the students!
Ted- I think it's great that you still try to use RC in you classroom and you have found a way to make it work! I agree with you and Erin that LL and RC go well together! At the end of the day we need to remember that it's all about the kids. I have found that my students need a lot of help/modeling with building community and social responsibilities. RC seems to help meet those needs. I know that just because it may work for one classroom doesn't mean it will work for the next. I think the best part of RC is building community and making the students feel important and needed in the classroom!
Thank you everyone for your imput! :)
I have not been formally trained in RC, but I do use components of it in my classroom. I enjoy having morning meeting and closing circle. I also really think that creating the rules and expectations as a class really helps hold my students responsible for their actions.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping to go to RC One this summer so that I can learn more about how to bring it in to the academics.
I find it very insightful to hear what everyone else is doing in their classrooms. Thanks for sharing!
I mentioned this to Heather, but just for others who may be interested, I have personal copies of the following books:
ReplyDeleteThe First Six Weeks of School
Learning Through Academic Choice
Classroom Spaces That Work
RC 1 Resource Book
RC 2 Resource Book
They are currently living at Sun Path, but I am happy to loan them out to anyone interested. SP folk - feel free to just grab them off my bookshelf behind my desk (leave me a note or email so I know where they went). If you're at another building, just let me know and I'll bring it by!