Self-Governance Committees

The Committees that will govern our classroom met today for the first time, and I'm excited for how it all went.  

As you can probably imagine, things started slowly.  A lot of committees were trying to figure out what exactly they were supposed to do.  That seems normal to me!

Once they got going, many groups seemed to take on their tasks with diligence and enthusiasm.  A colleague told me he heard students talking (positively!) about the whole thing while they were in his room.  That's always a good sign.

The Social Committees were particularly interesting.  Many of them seemed eager to create some sort of way--a survey of their own?--to gather information about how their own class was doing.  They're not so excited about answering the same survey--twice a year, every year--from the program the district bought.  But they did seem willing to pursue their own information.

The Rules Committees were (often) talking about things like how to manage phone usage in class.  After I told them that my preference for phones is ZERO and I know theirs is higher than that, they got focused on how to get some phone flexibility I could live with.

The Discipline Committee really should be called the Self-Discipline Committee, as I want them to help us all cultivate our self-management capacities.

The Social Media Committees started in on developing presentation materials for us.  They are responsible for creating material for the class to consider the effects of social media on the brain and on community. 

The Data Committees didn't have a lot to do yet.

The Curriculum Committees started mapping out our first unit.  One group had a spirited discussion about when to start the unit and how long it should take.  Another group said, "This is a lot of work."   I told them, as I told every class, that I'd be happy to run everything myself...and then things would be the way I want.  But I think they might enjoy and benefit by this involvement. 

Nobody expressed much interest in me taking back over.

Finally, the Liaison to Administration Committees.  Some of them started circulating around to find out what the rest of the committees were doing, so they could report to the principal.  One curriculum already asked their liaison to ask the principal about whether we could move our i-Ready reading assessment in order to start our Boys in the Boat unit earlier.

I have a lot less authority than I used to have.  And they stepped up to take over.  I had one student--out of 35 groups-- come and say his committee mates weren't doing anything.  I saw one other committee that I think squandered their time.  Other than that, most seemed productive.

33 out of 35...I like that.

I surveyed students at the end of the hour.  There is some confusion/uncertainty about what we're doing, but I think it's a) not wide or deep and b) is healthy or worthwhile confusion, which we can work through.

Next meeting--Thursday.