Tribes Summary

I'm doing well. It was a smart move for me to do grad school as a half-time student. Now I don't have so much pressure. I have time to reflect on my learning and learn new and old concepts with my peers. I am learning a lot. I find myself this term to use a couple strategies I learned from the Positive Classroom class at my after school program job. In this course, we are learning about the TRIBES system; my instructor is actually a Tribes TLC trainer. She even put the Tribes method on us with opening and closing community circle. I belong to two tribes, one is my main tribe (called OmegaDuckStars)where we work on in-class assignments and the other (Fantastic Others) is for a specialized project on creating a learning center about a classroom management style.

But at the elementary level, you don't put groups into tribes right away. First you need to know your students and put them through different grouping strategies. The Tribes usually get formed in the middle of the school year. The Tribes are small groups of students (~3-6 depending on grade level) who stay together for a long time to work and learn together for big projects. They sit together in clusters. Though, during reading and math instruction, there will always be flexible grouping or individual student work depending on learning needs and skills. Basically, Tribes promote community and every child will feel inclusion. They know they can trust someone to help them out. It's a great classroom management method because it encourages autonomy and cooperation. When implemented currently, the teacher doesn't need to manage as much. Basically, the system builds self-management, social, and group skills. (Of course, you would need to teach social skills at the forefront to get there.) The students learn more and are happier in the classroom. Many shy or special needs or behavioral students flourish. When students feel safe and included, there are less behavioral issues. Though, the Tribes method isn't 100% effective so there would be a few students who doesn't respond to this. Even then, you can still modify it for them so they can still be part of the classroom community.

This year I'm still working with the first graders after school. Wednesdays are my largest group days which is 25 kids. This year's first grade group is large and they come from three different first grade classrooms. However, my boss is in the process in hiring a new person who will take over the K-1 group. The kindergarten group has also grown. We have at least 40 or more kids between the K-1 on our busiest days (Tues-Thurs). I can't wait for a new person to come in and create a blended K-1 group. My boss and my co-workers who work with primary students believe in smaller group sizes. We can give them more individualized adult attention and with childcare, it's safer to have smaller groups. Though my boss says I'm doing a good job. This year my group of kids are wonderful. They get along so well. Sometimes there are conflicts but I'm there to help them problem solve the issues. I'm working with a couple students who struggle with good listening skills. Anyways, when the new person arrives, my group will drop done to 15 students who would all be full-time (every day after school).