It could also be something wonderful to share for back to school night.

Take some photos of your students working together, learning together, having fun together…and make a slide show and put it to music.

Better yet – allow your students to get together and put together a slide show and/or choose music that tells their story.

Be sure to get permission for photos and music?!

(hint – search iTunes for the title of week 3)

Keep it positive, and reflect.
Find in in your Tribes books.

...And instead of just a poster, be creative and use shapes and colors.

Enjoy!

BE SURE to review agreements and REFLECT...before, during, after the strategy.

If students enjoy this, it is one that can be done over and over, since it is likely that you have more than 3 -5 students in your class.

Enjoy!

Knots, p. 381
This is an energizer that is fun, yet influential! It is also about problem solving and sticking with something, even when it seems impossible. Sound like maybe you can use it for a pre-testing energizer? Or, use it just to reflect to your class that they are, in fact, great problem solvers when they cooperate and don’t give up easily.
Follow the directions in the book, but be mindful to remind students that their hands are loose and moveable (a demonstration of how NOT to twist off someone’s hand is a good idea.) Use groups of four for younger students, and groups of up to 8 for older students. The more people in the group, the harder the knot. When one group finishes, have them do it again with out talking, or with their eyes closed, so all groups will have a chance to finish.
REFLECT:
What did you learn about yourself? Were you helpful or hindering? How/Why? (Don’t forget to reflect the good behaviors that YOU observed). What are some “knots” you experience in life?

Those are my ten suggestions - send us yours! Post your suggestions to the forum, in the 'weekly tribes' topic

Check out the strategy on page 307. Read the instructions carefully, as the success of this strategy is in the management – it needs to be on-task, quick, and non-competitive. It’s over after 5-6 questions. The great thing about this strategy is that students must talk and share in order to be successful – since they don’t know WHO will be called on, everyone must know the answer.

For secondary students, questions might be less concrete, and more thoughtful; problem solving, "what if" questions, real life situations, and questions that activate connections to prior learning promote more discussion, rather than rote answers.

Here are some sample questions:
• Who in your group has a birthday closest to today?
• Name a person in this room who models the agreements.
• What can out school do to reduce its carbon footprint?
• What is something that your generation does better than your parents, environmentally speaking?
• If you don’t know the answer on a test, what can you do (a test-taking strategy)?
• (Put a sample test question on an overhead, or use the test-prep-type booklet). Look at question #(whatever)…which answer absolutely DOESN’T make sense?

REFLECT:
How did working together help you to understand?
How were the agreements honored?
Did you fully participate, or let others do the work for you?
Was the timing too quick, too slow, or just right?
Can you make better questions than mine? (then use this to extend for the next time!)
What would you change about this strategy to improve it?

This strategy will take about 20 minutes, and may surprise you with its calming and concentrating effect on students...

Dont' forget the most important element - reflection!

A- something positive you Always try to do
P- what would you change about the Playground?
R- a book you will Remember (because it was so good!) when you are 30 years old!

And for those of you who want a little April Fool-ishness…challenge your students to “Am I Napoleon?” p. 210

The biggest challenge for kids is to NOT tell one another…which is also a great opportunity for reflection, if you do notice a lot of “telling”. I would recommend MODELING the process before you turn them loose on their own. There are some nice adaptations in the book for younger students.

REFLECT on the positive behavior you noticed, some good questions you heard, and the integrity level (who told, who didn’t, why it’s hard to keep a “secret”, etc.). For older students, you can even talk about integrity and honestly in current events?!

1) Two truths and a lie – have students write on a slip of paper and it is their "ticket out" to recess, next class, home. Modify with "one truth, one lie"…or just "one thing for sure…"

2) "That's Me" – make some statements that are academic and ask students who respond with "that's me" or a hand in the air, to explain. If no one stands or raises a hand, then … that tells you something!

3) Milling to Music (or just milling…) – have students group in various configurations and talk about what they learned, how they feel, etc. Then turn it into a writing prompt, graphic organizer, assignment, etc.

4) Changes – after you do the energizer, as written in the Tribes book, do it in written form…to review equations, grammar, historical facts, geography, etc. Students spot the "change", or "mistake"

5) I like my neighbor – use prepared content questions – or better yet, have students write the questions.

6) At the end of the day, take a moment and everyone write down, or share, or just think about one thing they did well, and something they want to do less of…this one is good for the teacher, too!

Remember, if you don't reflect, you miss important opportunities to learn and grow.