3 Ready-to-Use & Hands-On Strategies to implement tomorrow

Outcomes/Take-Aways:
Participants learn to build three basic building blocks of how to create a democratic classroom within which students learn the 4 C’s of 21st Century skills: collaboration, communication, creativity (and innovation), and critical thinking; students become civically engaged and empathetic global citizens inside and outside of the classroom. Educators learn how to use the following sequentially integrated strategies:

Class Agreements: Create class agreements in which youth collaborate to create learning community curriculum and assessment norms, classroom environment and management– a system which invites a deeper level of self and group accountability to performance and behavior.

Community Building Through a Social Justice Framework: Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use group grades and theatre of liberation to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion. Inside the context of building a powerfully collaborative learning community, address and discuss issues of identity and diversity effectively to raise awareness of how students can become active change agents for equity both within and outside the learning community.

Class Jobs: Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students. Learn how to lead, not manage, students to become co-leader-teachers. The result is that students become more invested in the learning community and by extension, their own academic success and that of their classmates.

Outcomes/Takeaways

Structures for Equity & Inclusion & Culturally Responsive Teaching
Address and discuss issues of identity, race & equity and inclusion so one can more effectively address one’s own biases and internalized superiority and/or oppression; students begin showing up as more whole human beings with their identities intact; raise awareness of how students can become active change agents for equity in and outside the classroom.

Class Agreements & Accountability
Create a process in which students collaborate to build curriculum and assessment norms, class-room environment and shared ownership of upholding those agreements with “loving accountability” for their community—moving the teacher from management and “control” (an illusion) to leadership and influence. THEN, move beyond reward & punishment; learn to use restorative practices including natural & logical consequences, encouragement; ie: methodologies based on mutual respect (“power with” rather than “power over”).

Class Meetings
Establish a weekly circle forum to work out all “behavioral”, classroom climate issues [ie: opportunities for growth] and to build authentic relationships (student : student and student : educator) & to become a unified team.

Community Building on the Positive
Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use Theatre of the Oppressed to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion. Enable true student leadership to emerge in classroom community. Learn how to build on the positive while ignoring the negative. Learn how to invest in relationships and get invaluable academic and social-emotional returns on your investment.

Class Jobs/Roles
Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students. Build a sense of belonging for each person.

Dual Language & ELL Immersion Strategies
Enable students to gain optimum comfort with languages by entering curriculum around students’ cultures and lived experiences.

Culture of Critical & Systems Thinking Essential for Interdependent Cooperation
Facilitate community learning (a stake in the commons) in which students learn and practice leadership skills to address critical 21st century global issues.

Understanding behavior
Learn to understand the student’s belief behind the behavior in their striving to find a place of belonging. Learn the four mistaken goals of behavior and how you can turn negative behaviors (“confrontational”, “annoying”, “withdrawn”) into positive opportunities for leadership.  

Design your classes to create engaged civic leaders and global citizens.

Outcomes/Takeaways

Structures for Equity & Inclusion & Culturally Responsive Teaching
Address and discuss issues of identity, race & equity and inclusion so one can more effectively address one’s own biases and internalized superiority and/or oppression; students begin showing up as more whole human beings with their identities intact; raise awareness of how students can become active change agents for equity in and outside the classroom.

Class Agreements & Accountability
Create a process in which students collaborate to build curriculum and assessment norms, class-room environment and shared ownership of upholding those agreements with “loving accountability” for their community—moving the teacher from management and “control” (an illusion) to leadership and influence. THEN, move beyond reward & punishment; learn to use restorative practices including natural & logical consequences, encouragement; ie: methodologies based on mutual respect (“power with” rather than “power over”).

Class Meetings
Establish a weekly circle forum to work out all “behavioral”, classroom climate issues [ie: opportunities for growth] and to build authentic relationships (student : student and student : educator) & to become a unified team.

Community Building on the Positive
Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use Theatre of the Oppressed to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion. Enable true student leadership to emerge in classroom community. Learn how to build on the positive while ignoring the negative. Learn how to invest in relationships and get invaluable academic and social-emotional returns on your investment.

Class Jobs/Roles
Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students. Build a sense of belonging for each person.

Dual Language & ELL Immersion Strategies
Enable students to gain optimum comfort with languages by entering curriculum around students’ cultures and lived experiences.

Culture of Critical & Systems Thinking Essential for Interdependent Cooperation
Facilitate community learning (a stake in the commons) in which students learn and practice leadership skills to address critical 21st century global issues.

Understanding behavior
Learn to understand the student’s belief behind the behavior in their striving to find a place of belonging. Learn the four mistaken goals of behavior and how you can turn negative behaviors (“confrontational”, “annoying”, “withdrawn”) into positive opportunities for leadership.  

Design your classes to create engaged civic leaders and global citizens.

Outcomes/Takeaways

Structures for Equity & Inclusion & Culturally Responsive Teaching
Address and discuss issues of identity, race & equity and inclusion so one can more effectively address one’s own biases and internalized superiority and/or oppression; students begin showing up as more whole human beings with their identities intact; raise awareness of how students can become active change agents for equity in and outside the classroom.

Class Agreements & Accountability
Create a process in which students collaborate to build curriculum and assessment norms, class-room environment and shared ownership of upholding those agreements with “loving accountability” for their community—moving the teacher from management and “control” (an illusion) to leadership and influence. THEN, move beyond reward & punishment; learn to use restorative practices including natural & logical consequences, encouragement; ie: methodologies based on mutual respect (“power with” rather than “power over”).

Class Meetings
Establish a weekly circle forum to work out all “behavioral”, classroom climate issues [ie: opportunities for growth] and to build authentic relationships (student : student and student : educator) & to become a unified team.

Community Building on the Positive
Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use Theatre of the Oppressed to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion. Enable true student leadership to emerge in classroom community. Learn how to build on the positive while ignoring the negative. Learn how to invest in relationships and get invaluable academic and social-emotional returns on your investment.

Class Jobs/Roles
Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students. Build a sense of belonging for each person.

Dual Language & ELL Immersion Strategies
Enable students to gain optimum comfort with languages by entering curriculum around students’ cultures and lived experiences.

Culture of Critical & Systems Thinking Essential for Interdependent Cooperation
Facilitate community learning (a stake in the commons) in which students learn and practice leadership skills to address critical 21st century global issues.

Understanding behavior
Learn to understand the student’s belief behind the behavior in their striving to find a place of belonging. Learn the four mistaken goals of behavior and how you can turn negative behaviors (“confrontational”, “annoying”, “withdrawn”) into positive opportunities for leadership.  

• Class Agreements: Create class agreements in which youth collaborate to create learning community curriculum and assessment norms, classroom environment and management—a system which invites a deeper level of self and group accountability to performance and behavior.
• Class Meetings: Establish a weekly forum in which student leaders and Educator leader work out all “behavioral”, performance, classroom climate issues as well as a space to build unprecedented authentic relationships (student to student as well as student to educator). The result of which is a return on investment for content and achievement in academic and affective domains.
• Community Building: Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use group grades and theatre of liberation to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion.
• Class Jobs: Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students.
• Peer Accountability Structures: Lead class to create a learning community in which students hold each other accountable and elicit the best from one another for both behavior and learning outcomes.

4 Hands-On Strategies for K-12 Educators Developing Democratic Classrooms

Outcomes/Take-Aways:
Participants learn to build the basic building blocks of how to create a democratic classroom within which students learn the 4 C’s of 21st Century skills: collaboration, communication, creativity (and innovation), and critical thinking; students become civically engaged and empathetic global citizens inside and outside of the classroom. Educators learn how to use the following sequentially integrated strategies:

Class Agreements: Create class agreements in which youth collaborate to create learning community curriculum and assessment norms, classroom environment and management– a system which invites a deeper level of self and group accountability to performance and behavior.

Class Meeting: Establish a weekly forum in which student leaders and Educator leader work out all “behavioral”, performance, classroom climate issues as well as a space to build unprecedented authentic relationships (students to student as well as student to educator). The result of which is a return on investment for content and achievement in academic and affective domains.

Community Building: Create a powerful team in which all students are integral to the whole; use group grades and theatre of liberation to build group integrity, cooperation, collaboration and compassion.

Class Jobs: Share ownership and responsibility of class, teaching and community with students.

Gain the basic understanding of all negative human behavior and how to work with each student who seems out of reach — whether it is the student who demands your undue attention, the student who likes to show their power over you, who goes as far as taking revenge out on you, or the student who seems hopelessly withdrawn and unwilling to do any work or participate at all.

Understand the fundamental differences between praise and encouragement. Praise is disempowering yet prevalent in our homes and schools. Learn to build on positive and to minimize mistakes. Our society is obsessed with pointing out mistakes which leads to discouragement and disengagement.