Circle meetings are a powerful tool that have helped my K/1 students in more ways than I could have ever imagined. I have held a circle meeting every single day this school year, and I can't imagine a day without them. I first learned about circle meetings from the continuing ed courses I took last summer to get my Character Development Certificate. Circle meetings were one of the take aways from the courses that I felt passionate about trying as soon as the new school year began. So this past August, starting day one of the 2016/17 school year, I gave circle meetings a try. As with anything, I have made changes to our daily circle meetings as the school year has progressed, but the meetings have now been fine tuned and are better than I had anticipated.
My six kinder students, nineteen first grade students, one mainstream student, and I begin our morning forming a circle on the carpet. The students actually form their circle while I quickly take attendance. There are some students that enjoy taking the lead and make suggestions to students for how to fill the gaps of the circle. I hear things like, "Jenny, come over here," or, "guys, lets spread the circle out," etc. When I first helped them create a circle, we held hands, but now we don't do that. This group of students prefer to create the circle by moving their own body and not by being pulled by the student's hand next to them. Pulling hands wasn't a problem, it's just something my students decided against. Our circle meetings are very much something that the students get to make decisions about. They all have a voice - we are a classroom family, after all, and families communicate with each other. Forming the circle takes about two minutes.
After the circle is formed, I come over to my spot of the circle (I have a designated spot), and I ask the students to plop down. Then, we think of a body movement we want to use that day for our classroom greeting. A body movement can be anything, and students love giving daily suggestions. Some ideas include flapping arms like birds, holding a pretend umbrella up, making dolphin flukes with hands and moving them. The ideas are normally related to whatever we've been studying in the class, seasons, weather, etc. After they've selected a body movement, I say, "1, 2, 3," and then the students and I say, "Good morning, classroom family." The classroom greeting takes about two minutes.
Then comes the emotion check-in. We have a chart in the class showing different emotions and what a person might look like when they're experiencing that emotion. I numbered the emotions 1-10. 1 is happy, 2 is tired, 3 is excited, 4 is sad, 5 is proud, 6 is hopeful, 7 is loved, 8 is shy, 9 is sorry, and 10 is surprised. I ask the students to think about how they're feeling that morning, and then I say, "1, 2, 3, show me." The students show the number of fingers that represents the emotion they're feeling that morning. If they're feeling an emotion that isn't listed, they hold up a fist. I take note of everyone's signs, and then ask students to put their hand(s) down. Then, I call on a student to start and I ask, "Jenny, how are you feeling this morning?" The student responds with, "I'm feeling _______ because ________." I try to give all students a turn (they'll tell me if I don't call on them :)), but on days when we are really crunched for time, I have the students turn to their neighbor and tell them how they're feeling. Most students only share one emotion, but some students share multiple emotions. I've never experienced a student that took up a ton of sharing time, meaning, I've never had to cut a student off.
The emotions/feelings "happy", "excited", and "sad" are used the most often. "Proud" is common after reading levels have been assessed or Clever certificates have been handed out. "Tired" used to be popular at the beginning of the school year, but after checking out a book from our school library and talking to the students about the relationship between learning and sleep, "tired" lost its popularity. I used to allow students to pass if they didn't feel like sharing, but we talked about that as a class and came up with different things to be happy about, like, "I'm happy because it's a beautiful day today."
The emotion check-in is by far the most powerful part of our circle meeting. I never quite know what the students will share. I've seen quiet a few tears, which always happens right after I ask, "______ , how are you feeling?" It's as if they are touched that someone is taking the time to ask them how they're feeling and really wanting to know. I often think about how adults ask people in passing how they're doing. We ask, "How are you?" as we are walking by, and we normally hear the response of, "Good," or, "Fine," but if we really wanted to know how someone was doing, we wouldn't ask it as we were walking by them. If we really wanted to know how they were feeling, we'd stop, look them in the eye, and ask. Anyway, me asking each student every single school day how they're feeling is important to me. Some of the responses I have heard are, "I'm feeling sad because my cousin died yesterday," "I'm feeling sad because my mom had a tummy-tuck," I'm feeling sad because my dog had surgery," "I'm feeling sad because my mom and dad got in a fight," "I'm feeling sad because my bunny ran away," "I'm feeling sad because my dad went to jail," "I'm feeling sad because my older brother and sister went back to Mexico," etc. The list goes on. I've heard so many happy and excited things, too, but the sad emotions are the ones where true compassion and empathy lessons come into play. Whenever a student shares that they're feeling sad, we give them an air hug by hugging ourselves and sending the hug to that suffering student. We also do that to hurting family members that aren't with us. When students feel trusted enough to have another student share why they're sad with them, something magical happens. There's a deep bond. A bond that connects them to one another and makes them realize that they are not alone. People at school care about their well being and are there for them. When students feel like they can expose their true thoughts and feelings, show who they really are, they find out that they are perfect the way they are. They are not weird for feeling the things they feel. They are not the only ones who think the way they do. They are not the only ones who have experienced loss or a fight between parents. I think they take ownership of their true identity and feel more comfortable in their own skin.
I throw in advice and guide the conversations, but it is the stories the students share with each other that helps to heal the pain. We use "thumbs up" as a nonverbal form of communication. When one of the students shared their cousin died (through his tears), I asked the students how many of them had lost someone or a pet. Almost every single student put up their thumb. They shared things they thought that helped them get through the difficult time. We talked about how this student would need extra kindness throughout the week, and how a warm smile would help him feel better. When one of my students shared that they were sad because their parents were fighting, other students offered stories of how their parents have fought, too. When one of my students shared that she was worried about going to her grandfather's funeral, students shared what it was like when they had gone to one. We encouraged the student to report back about the funeral, and she did.
I could honestly write a daily post about the conversations we have in our circle meetings. I have learned more about my students this year than any previous year and this is my 11th year teaching. Through circle meetings, my students have learned how to identify their emotions, how to self-regulate their thoughts and emotions so they don't get out of control and act them out through a poor choice on campus, how to have empathy and compassion. They've learned how to be a good listener by tracking the speaker and allowing the speaker to finish their comment before adding on. They've learned that although we look different on the outside, we are all so very similar on the inside. We, not just students, have emotions and thoughts. We experience sadness, happiness, etc., and although students are just "kids" and not "adults", their emotions and thoughts are the same size to them that they are to us adults. They need to be heard.
The emotion check-in can take anywhere from 5-15 minutes depending on what topics are brought up. There are so many teachable moments presented by the students sharing! If a circle meeting ends up being quick, I add others things in. Sometimes I read a children's book that teaches about something I've noticed some of the students are struggling with. Sometimes, we do role playing and act out different ways to communicate with our friends about an issue we're having. Sometimes, we have emergency circle meetings if there's something that is affecting the majority of the class and I need their input about it. Every day brings something new.
I am honored that my students feel comfortable enough to share their true emotions, thoughts, and feelings with me and their class, and I feel privileged to help guide them through the process of navigating such complex things. I love being a teacher, and I love my classroom family!
