Lunch 'n Learn

While chatting on Twitter early last June, someone mentioned hosting a brown bag Lunch 'n Learn. That's my sort of thing, I remember thinking, mostly {if I'm being completely honest} because I liked the way the alliteration made the idea to gather and grow during lunch sound more appealing. Tasty, even. 

The very next day I went walking with my friend April and we started cooking on an idea for this year's first Lunch 'n Learn at Bales.

Our topic would be Morning Meeting and I would invite someone with some experience, say a veteran teacher like April, to share her expertise. To sweeten the invitation for both the speaker and my staff, I'd even offer to make the lunch, {How do chicken salad sandwiches sound?} with the help of a few of my favorite volunteers, of course. Well, that created a win-win, and April's presentation last Friday was AmAzInG.

She talked about her roots as a pioneer, the lone teacher in her building, actually, who was doing a morning meeting when she started teaching twenty years ago. She said it transformed her teaching. And she fondly reminisced about how she recruited a few other teachers to try it, just by modeling how tightly it connected her class. 

She talked about the why behind the coveted circle time 

and she shared benefits of the four (now five) parts to each meeting.

She gave some examples of how her class meetings 

would look, sound & feel.

And she shared resources ... 

to enrich our Morning Meeting ritual and experience.

 So today I'm grateful, that April would share her time and talent with us, and that some of our teachers would give up their duty-free lunchtime to learn and grow.

The important take-away?
You may think you don't have time, but you
do have time. And it'll be a valuable investment!

Next up, a Lunch 'n Learn for caregivers? 

Who knows!

Have you ever hosted a Lunch 'n Learn at your school?

If so, we'd love to read your reflections in the comments.

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Building Community

Happy August! Today I've got back-to-school on my heart and mind. 

Check out this shot of Bales Intermediate, my new school.

Consider this Zig Ziglar reflection:

How do we connect with kids so that they know that they matter, 

so that they feel loved? I started the day on an hour-long Twitter Chat {#sunchat} set aside specifically for as an intentional icebreaker idea swap.

Here's the first resource that grabbed my attention from the Four O'clock Faculty blog connecting Pixar ideals with student motivation. 

How will you help your students become better people?

One of Rich's big points has to do with the power of the morning meeting. In fact, he says that it is the "most important part of a classroom." And I wholeheartedly agree. Here's my school family, a few years back, circling up to reconnect.

So how will you build community when you get back to school,

 first with your faculty, and then in your classroom family?

What does your ideal community look like, sound like, feel like?

A small-group activity that Clifton Taulbert facilitated in Juarez asked us to choose one word to describe our ideal community, then share those words with our table-mates before weaving them into a 30-word vision statement.

Once you've created the vision, then the real work starts. Icebreakers help to relax and energize people before an activity, task, or cause. They serve to build trust and help break down barriers, so that our work together goes more smoothly.

A photo booth was also suggested, like the one set up in Mexico.

Look at how good it feels to be wanted!

Click {here} for details about a B2S Selfie Adventure.

Other icebreakers suggested in the Chat this morning include:

Compliment Booklets, PlayDoh Sculpture, One Word Project, B2S Dancing PSA 

Click for original post and more details.


Check out Ten Timely Tips.
Make Autobiographical Trading Cards.
Play Conversation Jenga.
Take this compass personality inventory.  
Play the Name Chain Game.
  Non-Icebreaker B2S Things To Remember.
Writing Prompts To Launch The School Year.



One year we asked our teachers to design a school shirt,
after which we had them model their designs.

Endless possibilities to connect abound when you're building community! Need more inspiration? Visit my Pinterest page for Classroom Connections & Team Builders. 

What's your favorite community builder?

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Talking In Circles

Today I'm excited because look what came in the mail from my friends at the Josephson Institute of Ethics in CA. It's one of their AmAzInG new products 

that I predict you're going to love.

The best part? They're available for all grades K-12. 

I've got the one for grades 6-8 opened up right now and I'm looking at the September, Week 1 page. Basically, there's a quote or a story (with some activities sprinkled in as well) followed by some open-ended reflection questions to get your superheroes thinking,  kind of like this:

Grade 6: What does the quote mean to you? What makes you happy? How does what you say make others happy?

Grade 7: Give three examples of ways in which you can reframe something you've said to make it more positive, happier. What can you do to change what you're about to say before you say it?

Grade 8: Think of three people who always use uplifting words. What character traits do these people have in common? How do these traits help them succeed?

That's it. Five meaningful minutes. More if you've got the time. Use it with a think, pair, share. Have them think about it silently, then find a partner and swap thoughts. Finally, come back to whole group for highlights and closure, time permitting, of course. They'd work well for writing prompts, too.

Imagine if this were planted in your talking circles each day. 

I'm so grateful to Character Counts! for this positively impactful product. 

Click the picture of the product for purchasing info.

Tomorrow our book study continues at Teacher To The Core. I can't wait to read what Katie has to say about obedience.

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