Our district has an unusual configuration that creates a challenging social dynamic. Half of the students in the district attend school at the K-12 campus in Remer; the other students in our district attend the K-5 school in Longville, then are bussed to Remer for grades 6-12. Previously, when the Longville students came to Remer for sixth grade and forward, they were placed in separate classrooms.

During my first 20 years in the classroom, I worked with half of the students in a variety of classroom settings, from departmentalized to self-contained classrooms, but the results were always the same: when all those sixth graders entered junior high school, they seemed lost, confused, and isolated. They seemed to be jockeying for their position in the seventh-grade social hierarchy.

As I reflected on this chronic situation, I came to the conclusion that a ponderous problem existed when the two classes merged without any opportunity to bond beforehand.

Planning for community
I embarked on a mission to alleviate this seventh-grade-stress syndrome. I was certain that if both sections were regarded as one class (with two team teachers) in sixth grade, the students would generate a stronger sense of community, rather than pitting one community against the other. My team teacher and I proposed the idea to the district, and the plan was approved.

Our first teaming group was extremely successful, both during sixth grade and in the following year. Students, parents, and staff saw a model seventh grade class the entire year!

I continued to scout for even more ways to build community, and I participated in a Responsive Classroom workshop. After studying and thinking about the structures available to encourage a greater sense of community, I decided that the sixth grade class would begin each day with Morning Meeting.

I started with simple, safe greetings, sharing, and group activities, and progressed to more complex, trust-building activities. My goal was for the sixth graders to experience a strong sense of community generated by feelings of belonging and significance. I hoped to see more friendliness, cooperation, and empathy for classmates.

Assessment
I chose several ways to collect data to see if my hope was becoming a reality. One way was to interview the eight students new to our school, three times -- in September, October, and November. I asked questions regarding the new friends they made, their sense of belonging, and worries or problems. The responses told me that the plan was working:

Angela said she had many friends and was having fun, and the classroom felt like home. Jerry said that our class was fun, there were more kids from whom to choose, and that he felt as if he belonged. Lauren said she had more friends than last year, and that they cared about her.

I also kept a record of who sat next to whom during Morning Meeting, to catalog peer preferences when students were free to choose. By the end of my data collection, it was impossible to determine from looking at seating preferences which students had been in school together for the previous six years! The positive results of this project were apparent.

I am convinced that Morning Meeting contributed to building community between the two schools. As early as October, the group had become a cohesive community. The goal of the integration of both schools had been achieved.

Reflection
I have always been a reflective educator, thinking about how my instruction is being received, and monitoring and adjusting my teaching to improve student understanding. However, I initially felt a bit overwhelmed with this project, anticipating that all the data collection would be time-consuming and burdensome. I could not have been more wrong!

I have come to view action planning that includes the collection of hard data as the most efficacious of classroom assessment practices. Action plans can be professionally transformational for teachers who do not automatically use reflection in their practice. And for those who already do reflect on their teaching and student learning, data collection can validate or challenge their reflections. It can personally transform beliefs and perspectives into reliable information. I enjoyed the opportunity to improve my reflection process by using action planning to become a more effective teacher.

Susan Akre teaches sixth graders at Northland Elementary School in Remer, Minnesota. She participated in Origins’ three-credit graduate option last summer and fall.

This article first appeared in Origins: A Newsletter for Educators, Winter 2007