Community Circle
4th Grade - Mrs. Mazzacano
Read more about the experience...
The literacy block begins and the 4th graders wander into the room and immediately start moving desks and chairs out of the center of the room, buzzing with excitement, and then quickly sit in a circle. You could sense their expectation; it is Community Circle day.
Mrs. Mazzacano sat in the circle with her 4th graders and said, “and a hush feel over the room” and it did. She asks the students to remind each other or the rules of Community Circle and many hands quickly go up. Alex Boecker volunteers, “the main rule is we listen and look at the person speaking.” Mrs. Mazzacano affirms this by adding, “yes, our entire job in community circle is to listen.” All the expectations and norms of this space are geared towards the goal of this time; to create a community that truly listens to one another without judgement. There is a high bar for mutual respect and honoring the expectations and one another so this is a safe space because without that structure vulnerability cannot exist. Jayden Rupsis raised his hand and shared more, “we listen to help them know they are not alone or the only person who feels that way.” In practical ways the space is structured so students do not bring distracting items or as Mrs. Mazzacano explained. “you bring nothing but yourself to this space.” Annica Barry explained, “if someone is talking you cannot talk or react or play with anything.” Liam Denning explained, “you can always share anything but you never have to share.” Morgan Osika explained, “whatever we say here stays here but you can always share with your parents just no telling other friends everything.” Other norms are that students cannot make faces or laugh when someone is sharing and what happens in Community Circle stays here except issues that require extra help for safety. Students are also, of course, invited to discuss anything spoken aloud with the parents but they are encouraged not to share around with other students as this breaks trust they are working to build. They were reminded the distinction between what is private and secret and how to honor what their fellow students share. The goal is to help the students realize they are pursuing true community and not just a social group. This is a radical exercise is affirming one another stories and truth without only listening for the purpose of responding or making it about yourself. All the norms and expectations are designed to communicate ‘We are all people. We are all listening. We are all important and worthy of other sharing our story.’
The students were excited to bring out this small gargoyle statue named “Dedo.” Vivian Svboda explained the legend associated with him, “a long time ago at Notre Dame cathedral there is a legend that a woman wanted to add to the gargoyles but others would not let her so she snuck and put this Dedo gargoyle in the cathedral up high. Years later a worker and his child were up fixing the cathedral and his child fell but his cloak caught on Dedo’s foot and was saved from falling so Dedo saved him! Ever since this time he is known as the ‘Protector of small children.’” The students pass Dedo around the circle twice and can choose to respond to the prompt. Students are never forced to share but if they do share, they need to speak their truth. Dedo travels around the circle twice “because sometimes you have to build up courage to share and we want to give you time and space to do that,” Mrs. Mazacano added. At this point in the school year questions are simpler as they have time to practice the norms and get used to the guidelines for the space. Later in the year the prompts include questions like “When was the last time you really cried?” “what makes you truly happy?” “What makes you angry?” “What do you do when you are angry?”
If students or Mrs. Mazzacano violate the norms they are asked to apologize to the entire community because as she explained, “it is not about making a mistake but it is about learning to be brave and fixing the mistake you made.” She shared that she once had to apologize to her students and explained that was growth for her. She continued sharing that compassion is key, “maybe if someone is struggling with the expectations, we need to pay attention to that and because they are part of our community, we need to ask how we can help them.” Part of growing up is stopping to reflect, practicing self-control, and taking responsibility for one’s actions. The students proudly share this norm because they know this makes the space safer for them. They know they are being held to high standards and they want to rise to those expectations.
Students had lots to say about why they love Community Circle. Miguel Rodriguez- Perez shared, “I like Community Circle because it is calm and I like listening to other people because I hear different details when people are talking.” Annica Barry added, “Something I love about it is that if it something you don’t want to share you don’t have to. It is so nice to know no one will laugh at you and it makes me feel like I can trust them.” Timothy Cain explained why he looks forward to Community Circle, “I think when people are doing this you feel good because they are really listening and they are looking at you and being quiet with no weird faces so it makes me feel good.”
After Dedo makes his way around the close-knit circle twice Mrs. Mazzacano leads the students in a debriefing time by asking, “what did we notice?” She modeled and led a discussion to build compassion and help students dig into nonverbal cues. These 4th graders could teach many adults a lot about compassion, empathy, and vulnerability. When Mrs. Mazzacano shares about Community Circle it is clear she is passionate about creating an environment in her classroom where students are able to be challenged and grow towards mutual respect and appreciation, “for me this is really sacred, it is all about saying to each student “you matter’ and it is planting the seeds of empathy and teaching resilience.”