Sense of Community

Sense of community is an ever present classroom/team focus on community building through student involvement, respectful interactions, legitimizing student strengths, shared and positive interdependence experiences, and an awareness of common goals that honor naturally occurring differences.

A teacher who focuses on community building understands that teams don't just happen.  They are built.  Community building looks, sounds, or feels like the following:

• Modeling democracy in the classroom
• Speaking of students with respect
• Teaching students to be respectful of one another
• Pointing out legitimate student strengths
• Making sure everyone has an essential role to play
• Helping student experience and understand the power of positive interdependence
• Establishing positive shared experiences (building positive group memories)
• Making students aware of common goals with varied rountines to achieving them
• Helping students learn how to help one another in productive ways

SOURCE:  Brimijoin, K., Narvaez, L., Tomlinson, C., (2008). THE DIFFERENTIATED SCHOOL:  MAKING REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.