Each year as we get to know one another and our new classroom, we think about ways we can ensure that everyone in the Red Room can feel safe and have fun. In other words, we come up with classroom rules and norms to guide us through our year.
At Barrow, we teachers do this in collective and democratic ways, because we know that it’s important for children to feel a sense of ownership and agency in their school environment. To spark this year’s conversation, we read The Circles All Around Us. The book teaches us how as we grow, so does our ability to connect and care for others around us… to move from ME to WE.
In the end, we established three norms for our classroom:
1. Take care of ourselves.
2. Take care of each other.
3. Take care of our school.
We then asked children to come up with their own mini rules and norms that fall within each category.
The Red Room kids want to know how grown-ups take care of themselves, each other, and their communities. Be sure to check out our bulletin board across the classroom and add your ideas on a sticky note!
