Building Community in the Classroom Maha Bali, PhD Associate Professor of Practice, Center for Learning & Teaching, American University in Cairo Image by Scott Maxwell via Flickr CC-By-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/lumaxart/2137737248/in/photostream/
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Building Community in the Classroom
Maha Bali, PhD
Associate Professor of Practice,
Center for Learning & Teaching,
American University in Cairo
Image by Scott Maxwell via Flickr CC-By-SAhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/lumaxart/2137737248/in/photostream/
Tell us about yourself…• If you picked a galaxy jewel: tell us something you
think you share in common with many others in the
room
• If you picked Ferrero: tell us something you think is
unique about yourself
• If you picked something else: tell us something you
think most people in the room didn’t know about
you
Reflection• Why do you think I used chocolate?
• As a community-building strategy, which is a better
pedagogical choice: Ferrero or Galaxy Jewels?
• When would chocolate be a bad strategy
altogether?
• I will share how/why I use this activity in my own
classes
Workshop OutcomesDuring this workshop, I hope you will:
• Experience diverse community-building activities
that can be used for different purposes at different
times during a semester
• Explore possible ways to adapt or create new
community-building activities for your objectives in
your classes
Exercise: Why & How? • Why would you want to build community in the
classroom?
• What do you currently do to build community?
Strategies, ideas, etc..
• What kind of challenges do you face?
• Share with group on your table
OPPORTUNITYISNOWHERE
• What do you see?
• Different ways/purposes for this
exercise?
• Things can sometimes go wrong…
My Why & How• My reasons for building community in
my classes
• How I get my ideas:o Internet including google search and my PLN
o Corporate world
o Other workshops/teaching (e.g. FYE at AUC, some teacher
handbooks)
o I make many of them up (e.g. the chocolate activity we
just did)
Role of Community• “There are three facets of a classroom and
school environment: 1) the physical environment, 2) the emotional environment, and, 3) the academic environment… To establish a positive classroom climate, safe emotional environment, and to begin building community immediately requires deliberate, conscious planning and strategies.”
• Anne Shaw (2013, August 13), Director, 21st Century Schools, “Back to School StrategoyBuilding Community” Edutopia article: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/back-to-school-strategy-building-community-anne-shaw