Community Before (and with) Curriculum

I've realized that this blog is going to be about more than Tribes. But as you know, Tribes is not an entity, a program or a book. Rather it's a way of being together. It's not about playing games, warm fuzzies and a lack of discipline. In fact, it is about building discipline: "norming" the behaviour of ourselves and of the group so that we can function in a civilized society. At the same time, we are supposed to be teaching children about math and science and social studies. When I wrote "community before curriculum" last week, I was thinking about what is most important in our classrooms. It is more important for a student to feel safe and secure and appreciated, or to know her 9 times tables? Can she even begin to memorize her timestables if she's anxious, tired, frightened? This year, I like to work harder on those ways to use the Tribes activities with the curriculum. I want to find more ways to use group processing in the subject areas, not just as energizers or the start and end of the day. We did Milling to Music last Monday with "What is your favourite colour and favourite holiday." This week I'll try Milling to Music with a science question. I'll let you know how it goes.