Multiple Methods of Assessment

School Climate is an effective ingredient to an effective school.  Community Building
is an effort to create intentionally a positive climate where individuals are treated
with respect and consideration.  This process involves leading a classroom through
class building, team building, and relationship skill building designed to lead to a
sense of community.

Program created by Jeanne Gibbs

Dates back to 60s when educators began to take a hard look at the
classroom atmosphere and its role in student learning

Gibbs began working in the field of drug abuse many years ago

Tribes was developed in that context

It was developed around these concepts: appreciation, respect,
camaraderie, and cooperation

Its emphasis is largely social, intended to produce a climate in which
maximum learning is possible and where people enjoy school and are
successful

Its purpose is to provide the scaffolding for unhampered learning by building the
skills of community through class building, team building, and relationship skill
building through cooperative learning strategies.

Mission: To develop a positive learning environment that promotes human growth
and learning.

Goal: To engage all teachers, administrators, students, and families in working together
as a learning community that is dedicated to caring and support, active participation,
and positive expectations for all students.

Purpose: To call forth the unique potential of every student.

Teacher’s Role: Facilitator acting as creator and curator of the classroom environment.

Tribe’s Concepts: appreciation, respect, camaraderie, cooperation.

The Very Basics: Growing into ever-widening environments; being capable of interacting
beyond "me" to "we," to community, to nation, to the world; having the resiliency to deal
with it all.

Approach: Building community through four stages of group development using four
agreements among the students with whom you are working. Throughout the process
people learn to use specific collaborative skills, and to reflect on both the interaction
and the learning that is taking place. The Tribes process not only establishes a caring
environment for cooperative learning, but provides structure for positive interaction
and continuity for working groups. This is accomplished through the use of cooperative
learning strategies.

Interactive Learning Groups - Long-term small groups of 4-5 people [a tribe] who
remain together for a term, semester, the year. They are also cooperative groups.
They grow out of the class after it gels as an overall community where all feel included.

Stages of Group Development - Groups tend to pass through four stages: inclusion
[resolved when individual students feel they are part of a tribe and the class],
influence [resolved when all students feel they have impact and none feel dominated], openness
[resolved when students feel trustful to share personal information], community
[resolved when inclusion, influence, openness are successfully dealt with to form
a closely-knit tribe or class working in harmony].

Cognitive & Social Skills - Building the skills of class building, team building, and
relationship skill building.

Curriculum Content - Subject area content: maths, L. A., social, science, etc.

Reflection - Thinking back to see what did I learn, how did I learn it, what went
well, what could go better, and how?

Affirmations - showing appreciation of and for others: acknowledging special qualities,
skills, and contributions - celebrating individual worth and collective operation.

Community Agreements - our way of working together: Attentive Listening,
Appreciation/No put-downs, the Right to pass, Mutual respect.

an atmosphere of trust

a sense of belonging and community

involvement in decision making

kindness and encouragement from peers

the teacher’s energy and morale

the teacher’s authenticity and nonjudgmental attitude

clear expectations, goals, learning outcomes

fairness and equity in participation

A positive climate is built through inclusion, sharing and caring, encouragement of
participation, and high expectations for each and every learner.

Class Building & Team Building

• getting acquainted

• building class identity

• experiencing mutual support

• valuing individual differences

• synergy

Relationship Skill Building

• active listening

• appreciation of others

• assertiveness as necessary

• affirming others & avoiding put-downs

• accepting affirmations gracefully

• using conflict management strategies

Cooperative Learning Strategies

• brainstorming

• choral response

• community circle

• corners

• formations

• inside-out circle

• line-ups

• numbered heads together

• pairs compare

• inside-out circle

• roundrobin/roundtable

• similarity grouping

• talking chips

• team projects

• team discussions

• three=step interview

• turn to your neighbor and ---

• jigsaw

• one-minute paper

• group paper

• gallery walk

• Be considerate

• Take turns

• Use active listening

• Ask teammates first

• When a team doesn’t know all members raise their hand

• Use affirmations / No put-downs

• Do your personal best

• Keep your agreements

 

Classbuilding - inclusion [large-group need for belonging]

Teambuilding - influence [small-group need for intimacy

Relationship Skill Building - openness [choosing how much about themselves they want to
share with others] sharing information, using first names, taking turns, using affirmations,
avoiding put-downs, active listening, encouraging others, assertive communication,
conflict resolution skills

Community - working in harmony to interact and learn to maximum potential.

Teaching Skills: Name of Skill: ______________________________________

INCLUSION: [introduce self, express expectations, be acknowledged as having been heard,
appreciated, welcomed]

• Listening attentively

• Participating fully

• Expressing appreciation

• Reflecting Experience

INFLUENCE [express self, be nonjudgmental, participatory, sharing leadership responsibility]

• Valuing diversity of culture/ideas

• Thinking constructively

• Making responsible decisions

• Resolving conflict

OPENNESS [feeling trustful to risk-take and share self with others & draw others out]

• Feeling safe, trustful, trustworthy

• Able to take risks, challenge self to grow

• Sharing parts of yourself

• Drawing out others

COMMUNITY [resolving uncomfortable circumstances, collaborating, keeping agreements,
reflecting]

• Solving problems creatively

• Working together on tasks

• Assessing improvement

• Celebrating achievement

Indicators of community are: capacity, collective effort, informality, stories, celebration.

• feel included and appreciated by peers and teachers

• are respected for their different abilities, cultures, gender, interests, dreams

• are actively involved in their own learning

• have positive expectations from others that they will succeed.