Community Building

I was given the opportunity by one of the teachers I am assisting to teach her class this past Friday. A way to not only make Fridays a bit more relaxing, but a way to develop relationships the children would not otherwise develop between each other are through "community building" exercises.

For this particular community building exercise I talked to the class about birth order and how it effects their personalities. I Eventually divided the student into groups depending on their birth order. Each group discussed what stereotypes were associated with certain birth orders (it took a moment to explain the term "stereotype to the class).

Towards the end of class I had them all write what their groups came up with on the board and let each group agree or defend the stereotypes associated with their birth order. At this point in time the class basically lost their collective minds. The youngest who were described as babies would shoot back at the oldest explaining to them their bossy qualities. You could of sworn every single one of the middle children were the martyrs of their family, baring every misfortune.

The community building exercise was a good way for me to gain experience presenting lesson plans, while being able to connect with the kids.