5 Ways to Build Community and Connection At Your School This Fall
It’s back-to-school time, and as an educator or administrator, you recognize something. Your students are sitting in classrooms and walking through the halls like they’re coming down from that first cup of coffee that, depending on the age range, you know they haven’t had. It’s that adrenaline drop that happens after registration, back-to-school shopping, and the introduction of new friends, new classes, and new schedules have started to take their toll. But there’s something between adrenaline rush and energy drain. It’s the emotional regulation that happens through community and connection. Here are 5 ways you can build these at your school this season:
The Book Connection
Pick a book for your school to read through together. Educator, you can contribute to your students’ sense of belonging by also having students apply what they’re learning through the text in ways directly applicable to your class. Administrators, you can contribute to this sense of belonging by having an event at the end of the time allotted for reading the text to celebrate students completing the reading and to have them complete a group project at this celebration. An idea for this could be having students take a picture of themselves doing something related to the text before the celebration and then bring the picture to the celebration to be added to a school collage. This project can be made more accessible by having certain periods of time where students can sign up to have their picture taken doing something related to the text.
Bingo!
Create a school community or classroom Bingo game where students are encouraged to talk and to learn new things about each other during downtimes. Each Bingo card could have Fall-related items. For example, “Find someone whose favorite season is Fall”, or “Find someone who enjoys Fall Sports”. Action items could even be included. For example, “Find a student who is taking a music class this Fall and attend a practice or recital” or “Invite someone to Trunk-or-Treat”. Students can even participate in building the Bingo cards to encourage buy-in and a sense of community and agency.
Grounding Activities
Technology can sometimes add another layer of challenge for students needing to connect and experience community. Grounding exercises can help with this. But they might not seem so interesting on their own. What can help is adding them to the natural flow of the class. For example, identify a concept from your course to have students review. Select items like rocks, leaves, twigs, and other items students might find in nature to add to an items list. Provide students with shoe boxes or have them provide their own and use the items from the items list to create a representation of the concept, and then present their projects along with information about a practical application.
Connection Through Vulnerable Creation
Open the doors of the school before the school day starts once a month. Allow students to present poetry and short stories that they write. Doing this outside of school will facilitate the feeling of safety to be vulnerable and the removal of pressures that may otherwise be associated with the school day. It also encourages students to build community with others they may not otherwise interact with.
A School-Wide Playlist
Create a playlist for your school. Set criteria for songs that can be added to the playlist. Then, encourage students to add songs aligned with these criteria. Play the playlist at appropriate times throughout the day so that students can see how they’re contributing to the culture of the school that they’re part of. To make this more accessible, be aware of the needs of sensory-sensitive students. For example, downtimes and passing periods may be a good time to play the playlist. But having some of these time periods where there is minimal sensory input may be helpful for sensory-sensitive students. To increase accessibility across the student body, consider making the playlist accessible on platforms that don’t require payment for enjoyment.
Building a Sense of Community and Connection
Building a sense of community and connection is a helpful way to encourage students and to help with emotional regulation throughout the school year and especially in this Fall season. Educators, admins, and mentors, have you tried any of these? Are there any other strategies you’ve tried that you find really work for your context? Share your stories with us. We’re holding a Fall contest where we’ll be looking at creativity, originality, Fall-relatedness, and connection to building community and connection at your school and with the families and communities connected with students.
The winner will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card and be revealed as the winner in the October episode of The Ruth and Scott Podcast. Entries will be accepted from September 1st to September 12th at 10 PM CT. Register for this contest using the form on this page.
What are some of the things that contribute to student tiredness at the start of the school year?
The adrenaline rush that comes from the busy-ness of the events and occurrences at the start of the school year can result in a kind of crash once some of this busy-ness subsides.
What are some key variables that can help students navigate the space between adrenaline rush and energy drain?
Community and connection are two variables that shouldn’t be underestimated when reviewing student journeys. Together, they help students to reclaim their sense of agency and belonging and to regulate themselves socially and emotionally.
Why is accessibility important in reviewing strategies for engaging students in community and building a sense of belonging?
Making activities and plans accessible to students in terms of differences in variables like ability and economic differences means that you’re meeting students where they are. This helps them to reclaim a sense of agency and to interact with other students and with activities in ways that build and contribute to their sense of agency and their feeling that they belong in the community that’s taking place in your school environment.