Lessons in Community

Building an engaging and thriving classroom community is the goal of every teacher. But while conventional classroom management relies on rewards and punishments to create a culture of compliance, teachers know that classroom communities and children deserve more and better. In Lessons in Community, elementary school teacher Mari Dean shares an asset-based and step-by-step process for reimagining classroom management and social-emotional learning. Whether it's helping students navigate friendship issues, identify their own emotions and learn tools and strategies to regulate, advocate for themselves, or problem solve the day-to-day issues of classroom life, Lessons in Community provides strategies, lessons and stories to get you started or help you take the next step in your journey. Inside this book you'll find: - 24 classroom lessons organized around themes of regulation, relationships, problem solving and agency - Ready-to-use anchor charts, sample teacher language, role play scenarios, and read-aloud suggestions to accompany the lessons - A process and seed ideas for creating your own responsive lessons - Photographs, examples, humor, and humanity from a fellow classroom teacher Grounded in the pursuit of humanizing schools and classrooms where children experience agency and joy, Mari Dean examines both the classroom management practices we must disrupt and those we must work towards to create these places in our own classrooms.

Mari Dean is an elementary school teacher in Northern Virginia. She has a passion for teaching social-emotional skills to children and helping schools reimagine systems where all kids experience agency, joy, and a deep sense of belonging.

1. Introduction 2. Laying the Foundation 3. The Process 4. Prelude to the Lessons 5. Regulation - "I Didn't Mean To!" 6. Relationships - "You're Not My Friend Anymore" 7. Problem Solving - "I Can't Do It" 8. Agency - "You're Not the Boss of Me" 9. "But What About...?": Frequently Asked Questions Around Teaching Social-Emotional Skills