There has been a fair amount of shenanigans in Tolerance Club in the last few weeks. Don't misunderstand me; it's not that I don't appreciate the kids who voluntarily show up for an hour after school each Monday, and it's not that I don't know that kids have a lot of pent-up energy after seven solid hours of schooling. Even so, the behavior of the group has become, well, intolerable.
It was with this in mind that we adult sponsors planned to spend the first half of our meeting today having the students re-establish group "norms."
(Actually, I would have preferred to call them "rules" or even "agreements," because the term "norm" brings with it a lot of freight, especially in respect to the imposition of questionable business models on education-- I'm talking to you PLCs. Take for example this definition: Norms keep a group functioning as a system instead of a collection of individuals. Um. Does anyone else recognize that as a line from a dystopian novel? No? Well it should be.)
But I digress. So, we had the students brainstorm a list of rules that they could agree to follow when they attended Tolerance Club. The first one was to treat each other with respect, and when pressed, they defined that as sharing supplies and listening when others spoke. The list went on, and seemed pretty comprehensive until someone wanted to add "Have fun" for number eleven.
A hand shot up. "But what if we can't have fun and follow these rules?"
"I don't know. Is having fun more important than being respectful?" I countered.
"Maybe," he shrugged mischievously.
"Erase having fun then," I said, and we did.
"Wait," another student interjected. "You don't want us to have fun?" she asked with more than a hint of indignation.
"Oh, we want you to have fun," I told her, "It's just not required."
It was with this in mind that we adult sponsors planned to spend the first half of our meeting today having the students re-establish group "norms."
(Actually, I would have preferred to call them "rules" or even "agreements," because the term "norm" brings with it a lot of freight, especially in respect to the imposition of questionable business models on education-- I'm talking to you PLCs. Take for example this definition: Norms keep a group functioning as a system instead of a collection of individuals. Um. Does anyone else recognize that as a line from a dystopian novel? No? Well it should be.)
But I digress. So, we had the students brainstorm a list of rules that they could agree to follow when they attended Tolerance Club. The first one was to treat each other with respect, and when pressed, they defined that as sharing supplies and listening when others spoke. The list went on, and seemed pretty comprehensive until someone wanted to add "Have fun" for number eleven.
A hand shot up. "But what if we can't have fun and follow these rules?"
"I don't know. Is having fun more important than being respectful?" I countered.
"Maybe," he shrugged mischievously.
"Erase having fun then," I said, and we did.
"Wait," another student interjected. "You don't want us to have fun?" she asked with more than a hint of indignation.
"Oh, we want you to have fun," I told her, "It's just not required."
"the imposition of questionable business models on education-- I'm talking to you PLCs."
ReplyDeleteIs this related to Common Core?
No, it's a collaborative work model called "Professional Learning Communities."
ReplyDelete