Class Covenants: Thinking Backwards
At Mustard Seed School, we often talk about community. We ask students what it means to be a strong community member. We think about how our individual actions affect other members of our community. We talk about events that happen in our surrounding community. We pray for our local and global community.
At Mustard Seed School, we often hear the word covenant as well. In worship, we study God's covenant with His people. As a staff, we sign covenants each year of our employment. We ask students what it means to have a covenant, a promise, between two people, or among a community.
At the beginning of each school year, these two Mustard Seed "buzzwords" are united when classes form a community covenant.
Students often brainstorm about hopes for the year, dreams for success, and ways that their classroom community can flourish and grow together. As they move through each grade, students become well-practiced in forming a community covenant with appropriate language. They learn how to speak about respecting each other, materials, and space. They can quickly think back to previous covenants, language, and the ways that each covenant framed their years together. Each year, their understanding of a community promise deepens.
This year, students in 6th grade are going through a different kind of covenant process. To begin our process of building a community covenant, we began thinking backwards.
I asked students, "In the past, what has gotten in the way of your classroom community?"
Silence. Then, questions.
"You mean, what has gone wrong?"
"I thought we were supposed to think of dreams and hopes together before we got to the ugly stuff!"
I could sense that students immediately became both surprised and uncomfortable.
This question eventually led us to an insightful, thoughtful discussion about the many things that can get in the way of community. Gossip, lack of respect for materials, secrecy, inappropriate language, exclusion, and personal boundaries rose to the surface as sources of past frustration. A sense of relief soon flooded our room as students realized that it was okay to talk about where we have made mistakes in the past.
The question became -- now that we know these things about ourselves, how can we write a covenant that addresses those issues? Our mistakes are now safely out in the open. How can we be better? How can we grow from these experiences?
In looking at the past, at our mistakes, students were able to reflect honestly and openly. It opened a door to streams of words that needed to be said. Relief, forgiveness, and hope were tangible in our room.
These open reflections are leading us to form a true covenant, a promise to one another, that is authentic and real. I can't help but wonder how authenticity, honesty, and integrity will continue to be present with us in our year together. I wonder how we will continue to "think backwards" about things that are challenging in our lives. I wonder how we will continue to reflect with one another together.
At Mustard Seed School, we often hear the word covenant as well. In worship, we study God's covenant with His people. As a staff, we sign covenants each year of our employment. We ask students what it means to have a covenant, a promise, between two people, or among a community.
At the beginning of each school year, these two Mustard Seed "buzzwords" are united when classes form a community covenant.
Students often brainstorm about hopes for the year, dreams for success, and ways that their classroom community can flourish and grow together. As they move through each grade, students become well-practiced in forming a community covenant with appropriate language. They learn how to speak about respecting each other, materials, and space. They can quickly think back to previous covenants, language, and the ways that each covenant framed their years together. Each year, their understanding of a community promise deepens.
This year, students in 6th grade are going through a different kind of covenant process. To begin our process of building a community covenant, we began thinking backwards.
I asked students, "In the past, what has gotten in the way of your classroom community?"
Silence. Then, questions.
"You mean, what has gone wrong?"
"I thought we were supposed to think of dreams and hopes together before we got to the ugly stuff!"
I could sense that students immediately became both surprised and uncomfortable.
This question eventually led us to an insightful, thoughtful discussion about the many things that can get in the way of community. Gossip, lack of respect for materials, secrecy, inappropriate language, exclusion, and personal boundaries rose to the surface as sources of past frustration. A sense of relief soon flooded our room as students realized that it was okay to talk about where we have made mistakes in the past.
The question became -- now that we know these things about ourselves, how can we write a covenant that addresses those issues? Our mistakes are now safely out in the open. How can we be better? How can we grow from these experiences?
In looking at the past, at our mistakes, students were able to reflect honestly and openly. It opened a door to streams of words that needed to be said. Relief, forgiveness, and hope were tangible in our room.
These open reflections are leading us to form a true covenant, a promise to one another, that is authentic and real. I can't help but wonder how authenticity, honesty, and integrity will continue to be present with us in our year together. I wonder how we will continue to "think backwards" about things that are challenging in our lives. I wonder how we will continue to reflect with one another together.