Author's Journal: Class Meetings

On a sunny afternoon in October, one of my teachers (I'll call her Nancy) stepped into my office and arranged herself for a chat. Her forehead held a serious wrinkle, and the frown on her face led me to turn from my computer and give her 100% of my focus.    We exchanged pleasantries, and I asked how her day had been. 

"Emily, I don't know what to do. I need your advice.  My class is not coming together as a group the way I expect.  I'm doing everything I normally, do, but they are just naughty! Do you have any suggestions?"

Nancy is a teacher who runs her classroom on relationships.  Hers is a class of optimism and hope, of enthusiasm and creativity.  Her primary grade students behave and do their work because they care about their teacher and they know how important it is to her.     However, this class was different.  They were not so interested in pleasing their teacher. They had not experienced the Seeds of Hope before, and definitely exhibited signs of not belonging.

"Nancy, what do you know about class meetings?"   I moved to my file cabinet and pulled out my professional development handout for the work I do with teachers in building classroom communities.   While we talked, I made Nancy a copy of the handout.    She thumbed through the pages and we talked about the logistics (when, where, how often...).   I offered my support.  "I can be there as another adult, or I can model whatever you need to see."

Nancy reflected a moment, and said, "No, I think I got it. I'll let you know if I need anything. Thanks!"  She left, and I returned to my paperwork, hopeful.

Segue to two weeks later. Nancy burst into my office.  "Thank you. Just thank you."

I looked at her, grinned, and asked, "You are welcome!  For what?"

"Class meetings. They have transformed my classroom. Thank you."  She turned in a swish of skirt and hopped back to her room.

 A few months later, the truth came out.  Nancy confessed, "Emily, I only said I'd do class meetings so I could prove to you they wouldn't work. I was so set on seeing my students as naughty kids, and I couldn't really see them improving. Especially not with something as simple as class meetings.  I wanted something to punish them.  I was so surprised when it turned things around.  But they just needed community, and belonging. They needed to be heard in a safe place. Just like teachers! I will never run a classroom without class meetings."

This year, though I am no longer at her school, Nancy called me up to tell me about her new class and how they began class meetings the first week.  "A parent even told me how grateful she was for class meetings, and how vital they were for the kids.  You'd have been so proud!"

Emily Gibson, California, 2014