Classroom Community: Sharing Pencils
Teaching has always been one of the most challenging career choices and the month of October is another challenge in itself. I do want to acknowledge that and add: the challenges seem to grow year after year. One thing that always kept me grounded was focusing on my students and their daily interactions with each other. The more I poured into work focused on identity, community, and belonging, the more energy I was able to put into instruction. In return, students fed off of that energy and we were able to engage in meaningful academic discussions as well as discussions about equity and justice. This is possible when students:
can show up and be themselves
are taught what community is
are taught how to be an active community member
I’ve always stressed how important it is to establish a strong classroom culture, one centered on belonging from the very beginning of the school year.
BUT it’s also important to note that it’s never “too late” to start over or have a classroom culture reset. It can take place at any point in the school year.
Back in July, I shared about pencil sharing as a strategy to build classroom community—that I’ve used in my own classroom. I wanted to take this opportunity to break down just how impactful this community building strategy can be. Everyone supports everyone was one of our 3 classrooms norms, in simple terms this means: no one gets left behind.
At the beginning of the year, or wherever you are right now: fill up your student station area or a pencil bin with freshly sharpened pencils, maybe 10. Let students know that they are welcome to borrow a pencil when they need it at any point during class.
From time to time students will forget to put the pencils back and you may find that the pencil bin is left with— 0 pencils. A student will more than likely ask you: “can I have a pencil? this is when you will remind the class of one of the norms: everyone supports everyone, no one gets left behind. And you will ask “who has a pencil for ______?”
From experience, at first, students may look at you with blank stares and meet you with silence, but eventually students will catch on and be joyfully willing to share a pencil. Not only are students taking care of one another and supporting each other, they have a sense of awareness that reminds them everyone isn’t on their “A-Game” every day, including themselves AND that it’s OK to lean on a community member for support.
Understanding that we’re all different AND our community is stronger with those differences can be a hard concept to grasp. “No one gets left behind” can start with taking care of each other in something so small as lending a pencil.
