Reform as Organizational Restructuring

Like many teachers, I want to make 2022-23 a year in which we try to head back toward "normal," or at least something that looks more familiar.   Counterintuitively, I'm going to do that by substantially reorganizing the organizational structure and culture of my room.

I don't hope to return to what we used to have, but I want to get back to the work of encouraging, modeling, guiding, etc., students toward the work of capacity-building in their own lives.  By capacity-building I mean the development of academic, social and relational knowledge and skills that increase the prospects for their personal growth and our collective success.

Sounds kind of buzzwordy.  

I'm going to ask students to learn and practice greater self-governance, with the intent of getting them to participate more fully and effectively in their own development, as individuals and as a community.

I probably can't completely free myself of buzzwords...sorry.

In any case, here is the outline of what I'm going to tell/give students next week.

Interestingly, this image is taken from an article called "Restructuring Won’t Lead to Organizational Effectiveness," but that was about large business enterprises, not a classroom.  And I'm not doing the kind of restructuring they describe.  Still, I hope it's not a portent!

2022-2023 Committees & Guidelines for Classroom Self-governance

All Committees work in coordination and collaboration with Mr. Milton.  Committees will meet briefly on Mondays to review the prior week, and get materials and set proposed Agenda (for meeting) on Wednesday.  Meet first thing Wednesday, in class, to prepare the following week.  Submit plans and other material to Mr. Milton by Thursday.  “Publish” plans for the next week to class on Friday.  (Everyone will be on a committee.  Committee assignments will shift each 6-8 weeks.)

Rules Committee (3-4 members)–Helps establish and monitor classroom rules and expectations.  Collaborates with the Discipline Committee, as necessary, to assure effective implementation of all class rules and expectations.  Collaborates with the Work Committee, as necessary, to assure that class rules support student work and learning.

Discipline Committee (3-4 members)–Establish and maintain procedures that promote self-discipline in work completion and social interaction.  Collaborate with any committees affected by the requirements of effective classroom discipline processes.

Curriculum Committee (3-4 members)–Order and arrange work, with a weekly schedule.  Collaborate with committees whose work connects to and supports the weekly work process.

Work Sub-Committee…??  (2-3 members)--If deemed necessary, the Curriculum Committee may create a Work Sub-Committee to create and oversee the weekly work schedule.

Data Committee (3-4 members)–Collect and review aggregate (not individual) results of weekly and monthly work.  This includes regular skills practice work, i-Ready results, etc.

Social Committee (3-4 members)–Review aggregate (not individual) data (including information collected by the school and by the Committee) on social patterns and needs in our class community.   Also, plan and implement programs and activities to cultivate social engagement.

Social Media Sub-Committee (3-4 members)Support the Social Committee by discussing and addressing social media activity.  Create learning opportunities about issues related to social media, particularly misuse.

Liaison to Administration (1-2 members)–Meet with Administrator(s) to let them know of our class progress; get feedback and support from Administration, and all other communication as relevant.

Let's start at the very beginning...

Is school a gathering?

I read this over the summer.  Very interesting.  

The author--a pretty big time consultant on how to host gatherings, big and small--convinces me that it's important for gatherings to start with something engaging, meaningful and relevant (to the purpose).

Don't start a funeral with details about the parking arrangements, she says.  Print those on a card that people get on the way in.  Or "publish" them somehow before the service.

So I got to thinking that coming to school is a kind of gathering.  We can't make each of the 180 days into an event that would make a gatherings consultant smile, but we can bend our creativity toward adding elements that will make some or most of the days a little different, better, and engaging.  And we can think about the whole "project" of the school year as a kind of slow motion gathering. 

Somebody in the book mentioned a sort of bizarre opening act to their gathering.  They left the room sort of disorganized, and let the guests navigate that.

So here is my room arrangement for the first day.

I will stay outside the door--far enough that students can't see me once inside, and greet everybody on the way in.  

Whatever they do--make a circle, make small group clusters, stand around unsure what to do--we'll have something to talk about, something to consider, something to shape our efforts to form ourselves into a kind of social unit.

I want to see what they do with the situation, then ask them what they were thinking, and how the group dynamic worked (or didn't).

Haven't done this before, and it may not achieve what I'm "hoping" it will, but then my "hopes" are not the point.  They'll do what they do, and we'll navigate from there.  In other words, this will be the launching pad into conversations and activities about building our community together.

I'll let you know how it goes.