Every school year begins with students naming their most important goal, or “hope and dream,” for the year. During the first few days of school, this process takes place in all classrooms. Teachers ask students to reflect on their school successes and challenges from the prior year and name the things they’re looking forward to accomplishing this year. Next, students select their most important goal for the coming school year and create a classroom display of the class’s “hopes and dreams.”
The hopes and dreams serve not only as a constant reminder of the purpose of school, but also as the basis for creating classroom rules. The teacher asks, “What rules will we need, so that we have a classroom where everyone can work well together and achieve their hopes and dreams?”
More information can be found on the Responsive Classroom website.