Tribes

Being in a Tribes classroom, I've observed the following things I really like:

1) Energizers - simple activities that involve learning and education, but are breaks from the everyday grind. After an energiezer, students are much much much more focused.

2) Appreciation statements - students are asked to share appreciation they had for the classmates (and sometimes teacher!), which I think is a wonderful way to build up a positive attitude and other students self-esteem.

3) Good questions - As teachers, we ask more than just, "do you understand?" In my class, we ask personal questions to conect the content to the lives of the students, questions related to how well they worked together, and extension question, to make them think a little out of the box (such as, how does this art lesson apply to something you've learned in math).

4) Reviewing the Tribes Agreements everyday - Mutual Respect, Right to Pass/Participate, Attentive Listening, No put downs. Discussing these agreements brings them to the surface of the classroom atmosphere, which is different from the typical use classroom rules that were never discussed (except at the start of the year) until somebody broke them!

5) Soon we'll move in to the Tribes formation, where the teacher facilitates from the center of the class and acts as a hub for the groups of three to revolve around. I'm excited for this, and will let ya'll know how it works out!