The Start of a Grand Adventure

A new school year is upon us, and we at Seabury Middle School are coming together as a community. Through problem solving games like the poison cup challenge, team building games like building a "me, also" web, and through community norming, the students are building a network of learners to support the work they will do this year.

Consulting with Mr. Mackenzie

When students are in school, they are in their "growth" zone, at the edge of their comfort zones. That's the place where learning happens. As such, they need to feel like they can rely on one another, that there are people around them who have their backs. For this reason, we start with building our community.

The students met to determine community norms for managing our physical space and the way that students interact with one another. They sat with the proposed norms for a few hours, and then had a chance to revise the norms before proceeding with final approval. Now, the students have five elements to their code of conduct:

• Be kind and treat others with kindness.
• Respect other people’s need for safety by not intentionally harming each other physically or emotionally.
• Respect other people’s property.
• Respect other people’s sensory needs and be polite when expressing your own needs.
• Take responsibility for your own actions.

At Wright Park, Working Together as a Team