What Does Community Look Like in Our Classroom?

As we dive deeper into this idea of community, we discussed what this looks like within our classroom walls.  We shared our ways of knowing how we function as a community to help ensure all of our needs are met.

We invited the children to document ways they see others working together as a community using the iPads.  The children had access to the iPads anytime there was a moment they wanted to capture with a picture.  We later printed the pictures to discuss as a class about why they felt these moments represented our classroom community.  Below are some of the pictures with the captions from the children.

I was curious to see how the children would define the idea of community with the dialogue and reflections that have occurred the past few weeks.  I recorded their words on the white board to be able to modify and change as ideas surfaced.  There were two moments that stood out to me during this Morning Meeting:  the idea of  a specific number in the  community and the idea of animals and humans as one.  One child first shared that a community should be a group of six or more.  It was then challenged if a community could be a number less than six.  With further discussion, it was decided a community would be declared with two or more individuals.  Then the idea of mixing animals and humans in a single community surfaced again.  The children were in agreement to use soley the word animals as humans are also animals.

---

Community:  A group of animals (because humans are animals), two or more, that help each other with work, problems, times of sickness, and show kindness.  They respect each other.

During our time in the forest, we discussed our skills that can help our community in a different setting.  Below is the list of what each child shared out about themselves and what they can offer to our outdoor classroom community.

E. - tracking
Cassian - identify birds
Cora - forts
Julian - forts/ creation 
Lily - identifying trees
Jocelyn - finding big sticks for fort building
Pierre - identify animals 
Emma - starting games
Astrid - identify/helping animals, good at cheering people up (check-in buddy)
Charlotte - helping animals, directions in the forest
Zoe - drawing logs (observational drawing)
Georgia - improving stick tents/ forts
Alice - exploring and helping animals, making sure things are safe
Sal - snakes
Harry - identify animal footprints, blueprinting for forts (plan, design)
Connall - still thinking of his contribution to the community 

I can't help but wonder if the idea of community will move past the 20 of us and throughout other parts of our lives.  Can communities intertwine?  How did past communities affect us today?  How does the environment affect our community and the resources it offers?