9.1: Creating Community in Your Class

Building your Team for Class

Many of us put our students into groups for our classes. Most community organizing has small teams as part of the way work is organized. This assignment helps students to be intentional about how they work together in small groups. It helps them build skills they can take into organizing contexts. The assignment takes place at the beginning of the course over several days and supposes that students are in one team for the duration of the course. We have included some resources and tips for creating these groups in your class.

Day 1 Tasks

1. Break off into squads of 4-6 students. Choose a facilitator, timekeeper, got-it-monitor, reporter, and documentarian.

• The jobs of the facilitator are to make sure everyone is included, that you stay on task, that you bring each item to a close, and that you move on to the next task at a good moment.
• The job of the timekeeper is to watch the time and remind people when it seems like time to move along.
• The job of the got-it-monitor is to check and make sure everyone understands everything that should be understood: vocabulary in class, instructions, and assignments.
• The job of the reporter is to document your answers once you have come to closure, then share your work with the whole class.
• The job of the documentarian is to keep a copy of this document and get it to your instructor once it is completely done.
• Every time you meet in squads, you should assign these roles as needed, and they should rotate. 

1. Pick Buddies in pairs or groups of 3. If you have an uneven number. This is the person who you will check in with and support and ask for support from.
2. Put together a Squad Roster and develop a means of communication. Decide who will keep this document to share with instructor when it is done.
3. Talk about and be ready to share a) a hope for the class b) a fear about the class c) a question for the instructor. It does not need to be serious or important. Make sure the reporter has at least one answer to each to share with the class
4. Evaluate how each person did their role. Write that on this sheet.
5. Once time is up, you will rejoin the whole class. The reporter should be prepared to share the results of your work.

Team Roster

Once you have put students into groups, have them share the following information, so that they can communicate with each other and begint o build community with each other. You can create a template that collects this information of have them write it in a piece of paper and submit to you so you can keep track of the teams.

• Name and pronouns
• Email address
• Phone number
• Who is your buddy?

Even within the groups, you can have 1 buddy who will be the person each student reaches out to by default if they do not want to reach out to the whole squad. The buddy system also holds more responsibility with each other, by checking in when their buddy is missing. 

Evaluation of Roles Day 1

Write a few words of praise and encouragement for each of the people who did the roles the first day:

• Facilitator:
• Timekeeper:
• Note taker:
• Reporter:
• Got-it-monitor:

Day 2 Tasks

1. Develop your shared purpose using the worksheet that follows. Review your shared values and interests as a starting point.
2. Decide on collaborative norms that will enable you to function with shared commitment: how you will make decisions, how you will honor your commitments, how you will resolve conflicts, how you will keep learning. Use the worksheet that follows.
3. Create a team name and chant.
4. Evaluate how each person did their role. Write that on this sheet.
5. Once time is up, you will rejoin the whole class. The reporter should be prepared to share the results of your work.

Shared Purpose

Use a box that is one by 2 (one row and 2 columns) where students write out their answers for the following prompts.

• In the first column, write down the purpose or purposes of your team.
• In the second column, write down the kinds of activities that your team could engage in to fulfill its purpose.

Example of a shared purpose sentence:

• We are working together to support each other in doing well in the class and to complete all squad assignments in a way that is fulfilling and fun for all of us and that balances the work each person does.

Team Norms and Expectations

Review the sample team norms below. Add, subtract, or modify to create norms for your team. Be sure to include group norms on each theme below and how you will self-correct if the norm is broken.  (If you don’t self-correct, the new norm will be breaking the norms.)

• Decision-making: What is the process by which we will make decisions?
  • Majority rules: Whatever gets the most votes wins.
  • Consensus: Everyone must agree.
  • Modified consensus: Work toward consensus, and default to majority rules when the squad seems stuck. 
  • Delegation: Nominate one or two people on your team to be the ultimate decision-makers.
  • Coin flip: Leave the decision to fate!
  • Other
• Discussion and Decision-making:  How we will discuss options and reach decisions as a squad to ensure vigorous input and debate?
  • Always Do
    • Engage in open, honest debate
    • Ask open-ended questions
    • Balance advocacy with inquiry
  • Never Do
    • Engage in personal attacks
    • Fail to listen to what others say
    • Jump to conclusions
• Meeting Management:  How will we manage meetings to respect each other’s time?
  • Always Do
    • Start on time; stay on time
    • Be fully present throughout the meeting
  • ​​​​​​​Never Do
    • ​​​​​​​Come to meetings unprepared
    • Answer cell phones or do email
• ​​​​​​​Accountability: How we will delegate responsibilities for actions and activities? How will we follow through on commitments?

  • Always Do

    • Clarify understanding

    • Invite quiet people to speak

    • Invite people to speak too much to step back

    • Ask for/offer support when there is a need

  • Never Do

    • Assume you have agreement

    • Assume tasks are getting done

    • Commit to a task that you know you won’t do

• How will you "self correct" if norms are not followed?

Team Name and Chant 

Students can create a name and a chant for their team. Get creative and share things you share as a team to find similarities.

Evaluation of Roles Day 2

Write a few words of praise and encouragement for each of the people who did the roles the first day:

• Facilitator:
• Timekeeper:
• Note taker:
• Reporter:
• Got-it-monitor:

Day 3 TASK

Share a copy of this document with the instructor and be sure that each team member got evaluated at least once.

Make sure the document has the sharing setting on “anyone with link can access.”

Attributions

•  Adapted from "Team Presentation" by Angélica Esquivel and Cynthia Kaufman, is licensed CC BY 4.0