22
Behold the Power of
the Class Meeting
The day was stifling hot and making all of us cranky. I had just blown my whistle and kids were making a mad-dash for the blacktop where we line up. As I was walking over, I began watching the commotion and waiting to see what I would be dealing with when I arrived. Billy was picking a fight with Tommy and as his body tensed up he extended both arms and pushed Tommy down. Since the majority of my class was in line already, it created a nice little domino effect and several more kids went down. I immediately announced to the class, “We are going to have an emergency class meeting when we get back to our classroom!” The power of a class meeting cannot be underestimated.
According to Frey and Doyle (2001) “Although many variations exist, classroom meetings provide a safe environment to address student issues, practice effective communication skills, and resolve conflicts among students” (p. 213). One needs to look no farther than the Internet to find many choices on how to conduct a class meeting. While some structures may be more effective than others, teachers should find a system they are comfortable with that works best for their students.
When we got back to our classroom, I asked the kids to circle-up. They immediately went into their circle formation and looked to me for further instructions. I always sit in the circle with them on their eye-level to take more of a participant role. I opened the meeting with “Who would like to begin our discussion about the situation on the playground?”
Styles (2014) states, “Trust the ability of your students to lead meetings, participate in discussions, choose solutions, and make decisions that will affect the classroom” (para. 6). It is easy to trust my students to lead our discussion because the ground rules have already been established. Students are not allowed to mention someone’s name when the comments we discuss are about negative events. This can be hard to remember in the beginning, especially for the young ones, but they do catch on quickly. “Well someone pushed kids down on the playground and that breaks our playground safety rules.” Billy realized what he did was wrong, and now he had the chance to problem-solve with his classmates alternative solutions for handling his emotions. This was an excellent opportunity for a shared writing with the whole class. I got out my chart paper, and we began brainstorming and listing ways that Billy could have successfully handled his anger.
Emergency class meetings are sometimes necessary to solve immediate problems, but regularly scheduled class meetings are just as vital to a positive, classroom environment. According to Landau and Gathercoal (2000), “Keeping schools safe while preserving productive learning environments is an increasing concern for educators everywhere. Teachers and administrators are seeking strategies that will help students to learn to act respectfully and responsibly” (p. 450). I usually begin my regularly scheduled class meeting with a teacher read-aloud. I choose a book that exemplifies the topic I want to
by Melissa J. Hayslip
Melissa Hayslip teaches 3rd grade in Wheaton, MO. She served as a reading coach on the RtI team for six years. She earned her master's in literacy with K-12 reading certification from Missouri State University. She will take an active role in Title I for the 2014-15 school year.
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