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"Talking Circles in Fourth Grade"
A group of children have gathered in a circle. They have come together with the intent of sharing, listening, problem solving and deepening their understanding of individual and group dynamics. There may be laughter and tears shared in the process. The children are working at solving a problem brought before the class. The understanding of ways to support each other will come from the context of this circle. This is the place the children come to share their hopes, their stories, their dreams, their problems. Here, trust and emotional safety allow children to take the risk to be honest and vulnerable. We call this gathering our Class Meeting or Talking Circle. Talking Circles are an integral part of my fourth grade class. They are the foundation for building community and nurturing relationships. From personal experiences in the circle, all children learn that they are valued and that every voice is important. Each child contributes and participates in a meaningful way in generating solutions to challenges that arise in everyday activity. Class meetings/Talking Circles may take a variety of forms but what remains constant is that we all gather in a circle, students and teacher alike. We come with respect, with a positive attitude, and with an open heart. The form the circle takes on a given day is discerned by the class. In a traditional Class Meeting, unresolved problems between students are written down and placed in a box for discussion before the meeting. A student is chosen to take his/her place in the center of the circle. Three children from the circle are then chosen to give a compliment to the student in the center. Compliments are specific and related to behavior and/or supportive personality traits. The compliments get the meeting off to a positive start by recognizing the value and in put that each person offers. The students are then ready to brainstorm possible solutions to raised concerns and as a group decide on several ways to approach or handle a variety of situations. The children's focus on what motivates behavior, aids in the actual problem solving. As a result of the positive influence of Class Meetings on their environment, students chose to create a compliment box to parallel their use of the problem box. Compliments from this box are taken out and shared as the circle settles. The children have enjoyed noticing that the compliment box has become more used that the problem box as the year proceeds. A variation of the Class Meeting is what the class refers to as Give, Get, or Pass. A feather or another object of choice is used as a "talking stick." Each student has the opportunity to give a compliment, receive (get) a compliment or pass. When receiving a compliment, the student chooses from a number of raised hands to select the person from whom he/she wants to receive the compliment. A student always has the option to pass but is still thanked for his/her presence in the circle. Another effective sharing is the traditional Talking Circle where an object of choice is passed from student to student. Our class has chosen to use a variety of objects from nature as a talking stick. Oftentimes we pass a goose wing to remind us of our place and connection within the circle. While there are a variety of feather shapes and sized on the wing, all are necessary for flight. So too are all in the circle necessary for our sharing. Students share what is important to them. The sharing may be a feeling, a concern, a story...anything brought up by the student is welcomed. Students thank the person after they finish sharing. All students have an opportunity to share before closure. Last year marked the end of my first full year of teaching in a classroom. The children's voices continue to remind me that we build community and relationship with each experience, each moment, each day. The end of the year brought this home as the children were processing a familiar teambuilding activity called Traffic Jam. The class was discussing the group's dynamics and the process they had used to meet the challenge put before them. When asked who had been instrumental in solving the problem a student shared, "The solution needed everyone's voice. You know...It's like the goose wing." Clearly the level of respect and the value of each person's contribution in the process was honored. The basis for this mindset came from the participation in Class Meeting/Talking Circles. The final day of school lasted for one hour. We gathered together in a circle, each present, focused, and listened for what would arise in the moment before us. Speaking from the heart, the children shared their experience in the group. "It wasn't like a regular classroom. It's not that we didn't learn the other stuff too, like addition and subtraction. But we learned about life. We were all the same in the circle. No one was more important than anyone else." "I learned about being a friend." "I wasn't interested before. Now, I'm interested." "When you've solved many problems, you know what to do later in life." Here, each child felt they had a place where they were welcomed, valued and could grow in the way they needed and above all be supported in the process. Children felt empowered in being able to look to themselves and to others as active problem solvers. These lessons will support them in many of life's challenges. Reflecting on our circle, one student shared: "For this year, class meeting was important to me. It was the time when my class worked on a problem and solved it. In my class some people even begged for class meeting before lunch. Mrs. Cleveland, my teacher, had many metaphors for class meeting things, like the goose wing. Every feather of the goose wing has a different part to hold it together. It is related to life, in that everyone is important to the whole group. And the ripple effect: when you send a ripple out, it will bounce off a shore and just come right back at you. The ripple effect has many other meanings. Next year, I hope to have class meetings in fifth grade because they bring the class together." Ultimately, students become active participants in their own education and are fully engaged in a life long process that will carry them well beyond classroom walls...a process that speaks to each child and affirms, "You are valuable and you hold an integral place in the circle of your community." Pat Cleveland
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