Shared Agreements

What is classroom climate/culture?

What happens if you don't have a positive or safe classroom climate?

How do you create an environment where you get the most out of your learners?  What does that look like?

Yesterday I wrote a post outlining the Dysfunctions of a Team and how taking meaningful steps to build a positive classroom climate creates an environment where students feel safe in taking risks and are willing to go outside of their comfort zone and into the learning zone.  I discussed how a practice of creating shared agreements can lay the foundation for the hard work of learning for the year.

1CoolThing is the idea of sharing and celebrating the great work that teachers do, in hopes that others may be inspired by those ideas, apply them in their own context, and (maybe) even transform what they do.  Here's my TED talk on 1CoolThing.

1CoolThing Story

Today I want to share a 1CoolThing Story, an interview I recorded with Brian Elliott and Jennifer Lee.  Jennifer is a biology teacher at Saratoga High, and Brian is a Special Education teacher also at Saratoga. Together they collaboratively teach two sections of biology.  Before my role as a TOSA, I co-taught with Brian and we did a process at the beginning of every year called "Shared Agreements."  When I transitioned to TOSA and Brian began working with Jennifer, they took the idea of a shared agreement and made it their own.


Last week I ran into Brian and he shared how they were implementing it in their class this year, and how incredible the process has been.  When he described it to me, it sounded even better than what we did before.  It's a perfect example of 1CoolThing.  Anyway,  I swung by their room the next day and took some pictures and videos of it in action.  I asked if they would be willing to meet with me to share in a "podcast" format what they did, how they did it, and why.  They agreed and what follows is their interview.

The video to the right is the podcast on YouTube-->
You can also download the podcast and listen to it on anchor or spotify. 

Kicked off the second day of classes with the #marshmallowchallenge as a way to do some #teambuilding and get students thinking about #sharedagreements for the year! #lgsuhsd #gotogapower #gofalconpower #lee_science_shs #collaboration #communication #designchallenge pic.twitter.com/RXAaEoC05b

— Ms. Lee's Science Classes @SHS (@lee_science_shs) August 25, 2019

This was an experiment.  See my next post on my reflection on this as a medium for sharing ideas.  I'm curious to hear what you thought and if this is an effective method of sharing ideas. 


If, after listening, and you want to try it yourself, here's a rough overview of how I did in my class.  This is from my perspective, but what Brian and I did together was the exact same.

Creating a Shared Agreement

Acclimation

I liked to give students a couple weeks of class to acclimate to the rules, procedures, and expectations of the class.  I also wanted them to have a lab under their belt, and several homework assignments, so they knew what the class was going to be like.

Reflection

Students came to class and I asked them to get a piece of scratch paper out. I asked them to write a list of things that bother them about classes, or don't work.  This is their chance to complain.  I open this to include group work.  I say "Think about every group project you've ever been a part of.  What didn't work?  What caused those bad experiences?  Write these down."  

I then ask them to draw a line down the middle and on the right side, list things that have worked.   Write a list of things that have worked. Things teachers have done that have worked for you: class formats, and actions that you personally have taken that have positively benefited you and your group.

Group Share

Next comes the share. Wrapping around the table (I always have students in groups of 4), one by one students share first their complaints, and then once they're done, they take turns sharing the positive.  They share even if it's been said already.

Once they've shared, I ask them to discuss any overlap.  I also say: "Now that you've been in my class for a couple weeks and you have a pretty good idea of what it's going to be like, what do you feel are the 5 most critical topics or behaviors your group needs in order be successful in THIS class.  Choose one person and write that down on one person's sheet.

Group Share Out

Wrapping around the room I have students share from their table groups and I write up on the board.  I now facilitate this in a way that combines comments if two or more groups are basically saying the same thing.  We typically come up with a list of maybe 10 to 20 topics.  I also add in things that are important to me as a teacher.  This is a collaborative process that includes teachers, students, and even any support staff working in the room.
Here's a video of Brian and Jennifer doing this very step:

Making the Shared Agreement:

Here's the magic now: I tell them that the goal is to come up with 3-5 statements we feel are the most important items we can agree on.  We will write them in the active voice: "We will....", We want to stay away from passive or ambiguous language. These are behaviors or practices we will do, not just something we "hope" we can do. We're committing to this.

Students share out, and with facilitation, we usually arrive at a good list that encompasses the most critical pieces they listed.  I also point out that we're not perfect, and we might not always demonstrate these, but this we collectively commit to.

The last step is to have some students write them on a poster paper, and everyone signs it. We then post it on the wall.

Here's what it looks like, again:

Shared agreements made by students in bio. The vision for how we conduct ourselves in class. Great statements! #community #gofalconpower pic.twitter.com/LSGAwtLkCR

— Mr. Orre's Class (@OrreBiology) September 13, 2017

Final Take Aways

• Every time I do this, I am so proud of my students and what they come up with. It always makes me like a class more, and makes me more excited for the year.

• It takes some trust building to build up to this.  Students need some time to feel comfortable sharing these things with their group, and the class at large. Leading up to this we've done active listening activities, fun games like improv games, and other ice breakers.  

• This isn't a one and done activity.  This hangs on the wall, and when students model these well, I like to point it out.  Conversely, if they're falling out of alignment, I just remind them "hey we have this shared agreement.  What can we do here to get back to what we initially sought to achieve."  I find referencing back to the group shared agreement to be FAR more effective than reminding them of a bunch of rules I created.

•  Listen to the podcast!  This is just how I did it in my classes.  Brian and Jennifer have adapted it in a very creative way.  Listen how they made it their own, and you can get ideas for your own.

Thanks for reading. As you'll hear in the podcast, Jennifer and Brian did this second semester.  This year they're doing on day 3. I usually do it in week 3. You can do this at any point in the year.  Especially when feel you class just isn't what you want it to be. Maybe you need to build a shared agreement?  If you try, share with me on Twitter or in the comments. I'd love to hear how it goes!

The Dysfunctions of a Team and Creating a Classroom Culture

Learning is a risky endeavor.  You're doing something you've never done before, and that brings with it a certain element of fear or uneasiness.  As teachers, we have to create an environment where students feel safe in taking that risk.  An environment where they know if they stumble or even fail, they will be ok because that is part of the learning process.

I've had this poster posted in my room ever since I went through the Passage Works Institute's 5 Dimensions of Engaged Teaching Trainings.  Creating an effective classroom culture is creating an environment where you can push students outside of their comfort zone to learn, but not so far as to be in their excessive risk zone.

Yet, if students don't feel safe enough to take those risks, you'll likely end up with kids unwilling or unable to engage in the class.  They may never speak, be reluctant to do do the work, show signs of anxiety, or in a worst case scenario maybe even not come to class.  Ultimately, they won't learn because they're in the "Excessive Risk Zone."

Every teacher has their own unique and wonderful way of building a classroom culture that supports student learning.  Some methods are innate. These teachers just have "a way" of connecting with their students and making them feel comfortable. I'm always in awe of these great teachers.  Some methods however, are more overt.  In this case, teachers take deliberate action by building in activities, scenarios, and/or tasks that build this culture.

PLC

Earlier this summer I was at a Professional Learning Community (PLC) Training with colleagues from our district.  One of the breakout sessions was on creating "Collective Commitments" among stakeholders before embarking on the PLC process.  Here are my sketchnotes from the session if you'd like see more.  Tim Brown described how and why many teams fail.   He described the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team.  Below is a picture from my notes.

A team, which I would include a classroom community as a team, will fail if there is a lack of trust (which comes from a place of invulnerability). A lack of trust leads to a fear of conflict (which comes from a place of a false sense of harmony). A fear of conflict comes from a lack of commitment in what the team is doing (which comes from unclear expectations).  A lack of commitment leads to an avoidance of accountability or responsibility (which comes from low standards or unclear expectations). And finally an avoidance of accountability leads to inattention to results (which can come from a place of status or ego).  As you can see in the diagram, the more we can mitigate or minimize those sources, the stronger our team becomes.

I argue that these 5 dysfunctions of a team within a classroom occur when a teacher has not adequately created the proper classroom culture for the team to perform (learn).   

The antidote, is creating an effective classroom culture based on trust, empathy, and mutual understanding.  One such tool in creating this is the Collective Commitment or Shared Agreement. 

The presenter argued that the solution to this was creating a collective commitment early in the process.  This was an essential first step because it ensured that all parties involved clarified the values that matter most to them, and then together through a process of sharing, combining, and distilling these down, the group could come to a group of short statements that everyone in the party would agree was their focus.  In a sense these are norms, but in my opinion, better because they are more inclusive, specific, and a product of the group. 

I had a bit of an "A-HA" during this presentation, because I have done this process in my classes. I originally learned about this from Laura Weaver and Mark Wilding's book 5 Dimensions of Engaged Teaching , and began implementing in all of my classes in 2014.  Some of the classes I did this with where the Biology Courses I co-taught with my colleague Brian Elliott.

Here's a tweet I shared back in 2017:

Shared agreements made by students in bio. The vision for how we conduct ourselves in class. Great statements! #community #gofalconpower pic.twitter.com/LSGAwtLkCR

— Mr. Orre's Class (@OrreBiology) September 13, 2017

I've always felt I created a pretty effective classroom environment for learning, and I think this was in part because of who I am as teacher, but mostly because I always devoted a chunk of time in the beginning of the year for team building and getting to know one another.

Yet, once I began implementing the Shared Agreement process, the culture of my classroom community went to another level.  Students from the beginning of the year felt engaged in the classroom community in a way they hadn't before.  Groups were more collaborative during lab work. Kids were more likely to share out their ideas or ask questions than in previous years.  They were more likely to take risks.  Here's a tangible example: Students often don't raise their hand and answer a question unless the KNOW that they know the correct answer. But after doing this process I found students were more likely to take a shot at a questions they weren't sure of, because the class had a shared agreement that stated it was ok to take risks and make mistakes.

Since taking on the role as TOSA, Brian has been co-teaching with another biology teacher, Jennifer Lee.  They are building on what we created in 4 years of co-teaching, and frankly, are going above and beyond what Brian and I ever did.  Last week I checked in with them and they shared how they were doing the collective agreement process in their classes.  It sounded amazing, and their methodology was super innovative.  I even dropped by and took some pictures and videos of it in action.

I asked them if they would be willing to sit down for a 10-15 minute interview to describe their collective agreement writing process and how it's impacted their classes.  They agreed, and I'm super excited to share it with teachers.

In my next  blog post, I will share my interview with Jennifer and Brian, and then I will outline how to create a shared agreement in the classroom.  You won't want to miss this.