GOC’s 4th and 5th students participated in classroom meetings last week on campus. Fifth grade will meet with Dr. Edwards on Tuesdays, and 4th grade will have class meetings on Thursdays.
The purpose of classroom meetings is to build a sense of belonging and community among the students. They have three central components:
- giving and receiving compliments and appreciations,
- skill-building time (three main topics: empathy training, impulse control, and emotion regulation (skill-building is later replaced by actual problem-solving), and
- encouraging and connecting with others.
We took time to teach how to give and respond to compliments and appreciations and asked what students think of when they hear the word, “conflict.” We ended our time, trying to learn each other’s name. We’ll continue that last part because the bell rang. Students are never forced to talk in class meetings, but each student is given the opportunity to talk when he/she is passed the talking stick or ball.
If your child doesn’t typically come to campus, he/she will miss out on classroom meetings. We’d love for ALL our 4th and 5th grade students to spend this time together. Please consider having your student learn on campus on the days his or her class is having class meetings.
We also had a great turn-out for the food drive! Thank you for helping those in our community!
Dr. Edwards
gocounseling 