Center School Around the Children

(Create Schools that Work for Kids)

Strategies to try...

Situate the School's Power in the Kids

• School goal should be to become a student-centered learning community that functions as a safe haven for children.

Ask for Input

• Ask students how they want to participate. This empowers students. Can be done during a "working lunch" with students.
• Use Google Surveys or Suggestion Boxes

Play that Funky Music

• Make lunch and recess experience about the kids - let them socialize. Stop trying to keep the lunchroom quiet and orderly.
• Give choices about where and with whom they want to sit.
• Let them play music. DJ of the week (students pick artists to spotlight and play that artist's music during lunch). Music creates unifying experiences.

Encourage student participation on committees

• Instead of just one student representative, think of ways that multiple students can participate. For example: hiring staff, health committee (food in lunchroom), and safety committee (safety procedures throughout building).

Exercise Student Voice

• Let kids make morning announcements.
• Have student ambassadors provide tours to new families and teacher interview candidates. Have them serve as buddies to new students.

Spotlight and Celebrate Kids

• Based upon positive behavioral referral forms, call parents with a positive note about their student.

Bucket Fillers

• Read positive notes aloud to the entire school.

Give Kids Choices Within Curriculum

• For example, if kids have to write a research project, instead of assigning them topics, let them choose.
• Let students chose ways to demonstrate their own learning.

Create a Shared Decision-Making Team

• Let students serve on committees along with parents and staff to share ideas. Let them see that they're valued and let their ideas come to fruition.

Create Brilliance Builder Labs

• Blends the notions of Genius Hour and Makerspace. Students as young as Kindergarten pursue ideas, topics, or concepts of interest to them. They're given space to create, make, tinker, or build in a way that is meaningful to them. (legos, tinkertoys, building circuits, etc)
• Student publicize their work by sharing it with the world (audience of some sort).

Initiate a student EdCamp

• Students organize their day and lead their own learning for the day. Rely on different students' expertise and skillsets to teach and learn from each other.