I haven’t seen Jean since the end of the summer.  We met once so that I could give her what I’d written on community building and to talk briefly about how to start the year.  These days, I’m busy consulting with other teachers, and our schedules don’t mesh.  Finally, after a workshop in November, I run into Jean.  “How is it going?”, I ask.  “How did the start of the year go for you?”

She begins by telling me that this year feels totally different than anything she’s experienced, that she is seeing a level of engagement that is remarkable in all of her classes.  Then there is a pause, and I look at her face and see that she is tearing up.  

“Jean, are you crying?”  I am speechless.  This is a well put-together person.

“I just didn’t know this was possible,” she says.  “They are working with us, they are part of the class.  I just didn’t know...”

She goes on to describe a remarkable transformation.  The sense of community and having a collective goal of being successful is so built into the classes that administrators dropping in to observe, even for a few minutes, consistently remark on it.  There is something going on here that is powerful and unexpected.

In March, I check in with the two of them.  They tell me that they’d like me to observe one of their classes.  There is a problem with motivation, they say, and they’re feeling like the sense of community is starting to unravel.  

A few days later, I sit in the back of their room as the students file in and the class begins.  The first thing I notice is that they are ready to go right away.  One teacher is working in the front of the room, and the other is having private conversations with several students in the back.   The level of engagement, questions being asked, responses to the teacher’s questions, are all remarkable.  When they break up to work on various items on the contract, the transition is smooth, and most are working within a minute.  When one student seems lost, another leans over and starts describing how to do a certain task.  Meanwhile the teachers are moving around, encouraging, answering questions, joking around occasionally.  There is no coercing or hounding going on.

When we meet the next day, I can only tell them that, from the outside at least, this is a high functioning class.  The motivation level seems high.  In fact, given the academic histories of these students, it seems astonishing.  I tell them that I have observed other classes similar in make-up to this one, and this is a model of what can be done.  I’m not sure that I’ve been of any help to them, but they at least get the reinforcement that the work they have put into building the culture of learning has taken root.