Collaborative Community Agreements

I have a lot of ideas swirling around in my head about how the school year is going to begin. We just found out that our school year will be starting in the virtual world, so I'm trying to wrap my head around what that will look, sound, and feel like for both me and the students. I took some amazing PD this summer (and have met so many inspiring educators online!) and I have been thinking about how I can use what I have learning in my own context. It's going to be different to try to build relationships online with this new batch of students, and I'm thinking about how I can give them agency in setting up our classroom. Because even if their physical classroom is at home, we will still build our classroom online through the conversations and connections we have with each other. 

I am taking ideas that I have heard in a few different places. First off, I participated in my first Twitter chat this summer that was built around Ron Ritchhart's new book The Power of Making Thinking Visible. For seven weeks, on Thursday nights at 9:00PM, I was fortunate enough to connect with educators from around the world through the #PMTVchat. It's worth checking out because there is a lot of great thinking there. (And it was so much fun!)

I also took two classes on systems thinking through Project Zero - "(Re)Designing Unjust Systems: Reimagining Voice, Power, and Participation" and "Mapping Systems with Our Students". Both of these workshops allowed me to really think about the systems that are in our classrooms and our world. I thought a lot about the power in relationships and in thinking habits. Take a look at JusticexDesign - their work is amazing.

So I started thinking about an idea to start the year. I would like for my students (third graders) to take a look at the system in their classroom and design some community agreements after looking at what is there. Here's my idea so far:

• During the first week of school, take some time to investigate systems - What is a system? How would you define a system? I'm thinking of using the book "Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar?" by George Shannon because it is about a concrete system that kids can relate to. Maybe I might have them map out the parts of the system, and have them consider the questions from this Agency by Design framework on mapping:
• What do you know about your system? What more do you need to know? What new questions do you have about the system and the individuals in it now that you have mapped it? What are some ideas you have for how to improve the system?

• Next, I am hoping to examine a classroom as a system. I am looking for either artwork or books that are about a classroom. In this part, I'd love to also start exploring the systems of power that are present in a classroom. I think again I would ask the students to map out the system that they see in the classroom and ask the questions above.

• From there, I hope to have the students examine what they see as a classroom system and suggest improvements. What do they see working as a classroom system? What would they like to improve? What will make the classroom system work for everyone? I'm not sure how to document this part.

• Finally, from all this work, I am hoping that we can look at our suggested improvements to the classroom system and articulate 5-6 classroom agreements that we can use for the year. 

I think all this work will take about the first 3-4 weeks. Hopefully, it will also help us get to know each other better and inspire some great conversations. 

I wrote this because I am also hoping that I can get some feedback on this idea. What can be improved? What am I missing? What should I keep?