Circles in the Virtual World

Circles in the Virtual World

Learning, sharing or talking circles are a great way to build an inclusive and welcoming class community. By creating such an environment, students are more likely to take risks and share their personal thoughts and feelings. Additionally, students will be more likely to accept other students and speak up for the rights of others. When used with fidelity, they are also a great way to solve classroom problems, discuss current events or events that are impacting students’ lives, and to discuss curricular matters. The value of circles extends beyond circle time.

Here are 9 tips for using circles in Zoom.

  • Have the question/topic shared and visible to all students (not just through the chat). This way students who arrive late are not as disruptive.
  • Share and review the core principles of sharing/talking circles.
  • Respect who is talking and has the talking piece
  • Listen with respect
  • Speak with respect.
  • Remain in the circle.
  • Establish how students will share while honoring all voices. For longer answers, you may want to use the chat feature. Other ideas going in alphabetical order, teacher calls, student selects, call on the next student (for students to see your zoom screen,  click on Settings. Click on SHARE SCREEN, and then check the box for 'Show Zoom windows during screen share’)
  • To ensure all students have the opportunity to participate, keep your roster nearby and check students off as you go through. You can even share this with students (without the student numbers) so students know who they can call on.
  • Go in alphabetical order.
  • To give students a heads-up to who will go next, have the student share who’s on deck before answering. “Mark, you’re on deck. My answer….”
  • One of the challenges of online talking circles is the absence of the passing object to indicate who is the speaker. I’ve heard from some teachers that students holding their own talking pieces reminds them of when they are/are not to speak.
  • After speaking, have the student say “I now pass the talking stick/ball/etc to Mark.” This keeps the flow going and reminds students to only speak when they “have” the talking object. These cues (5, 6, 7) are very helpful reminders.
  • End the sharing circle with a reflective process. Examples: At the beginning of the sharing circle, I reminded us to be mindful and respectful to the person talking. How do you feel we did today? Another possible conclusion that works for all circles, Please share 3 words about your experience in today’s circle.

Honestly, my first experience with classroom circles caused me to give up on them. One of my classes lacked the cohesive classroom community. I tried circles for a week. I was met with silence. Student after student after student chose “Pass” instead of talking. When we started to get some positive flow, late arriving students, office runners, and an administrator all interrupted talks. After one week, I gave up.

It’s not easy. But it’s important.

With appropriate protocols, patience and practice, circles create connections, relationships, acceptance, and inclusion. They are also a great way to solicit feedback from students (Today, let’s talk about how the new grading system is working.)

Important Information/Tasks

September 21/22: Grades 3-8: Growth Assessment at Base Schools. These tests will take place in the morning. About 50% of our students have elected to participate so we’ll make the morning asynchronous. Please use this time to meet with students, families, etc. Also please communicate with your individual families.

Staff meetings this week.

Middle School Advisory will begin on Thursday, not Tuesday as previously discussed. This is because of Growth Assessments. We are not able to use adaptive scheduler because the county contract did not include Virtual School. The classes will be added to PowerSchool. Obviously, there are no grades associated with this.

Day 1 and Day 2 Lessons are available in the shared folder Virtual School Middle School Advisory and are available here. Please review prior to Thursday. This will be at the 10-10:30 block every Tuesday and Thursday.

6th grade team Chris and Carol

7th grade team Billy and Britta

8th grade team Eliese and Kelli  

Weekly Check

I hope to do a better job of being visible in your classrooms and checking in with each of you. But I will also be including this form every week for you to complete.  It's much like what you are probably doing with your students. Please take a second to check in with me by completing this form.

Every Wednesday at 7:45am, I'll have open office hours to meet individually or in groups with you. This is optional. https://k12albemarle.zoom.us/j/7745665415?pwd=dFJIVklsYUM0UGQ5WkpoVDlEU2E2Zz09

Meeting ID: 774 566 5415, Passcode: RGMeet

Elementary School Announcements

Monday: https://youtu.be/cCOvqyGJ52w

Tuesday: https://youtu.be/NlUKw9AzkGc 

Wednesday: http://youtu.be/0ULKh-QFbxM?hd=1 

Thursday: http://youtu.be/QhRZkha67Ag?hd=1 

Friday:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j-lRiZbfAE 



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