Author: Deborah Cruise Role: Student Location: Canton, MA Date: 10-19-03 I loved Diane Jaquith's idea of having students sit on the floor in a circle for a "meeting time" before and at the end of art class. As a sub teacher and a Sunday school teacher, I find that sitting in a circle and "sharing" are wonderful ways for students to connect with what they are going to be doing as well as each other. Letting them share in this format helps them to bond with the teacher and each other and makes the environment pleasant and open. Using this format at the beginning of a choice-based classroom that is made up of centers, is a great way to keep the students' focus and attention while going over the lessons, discussing a concept or bringing up routine classroom issue; and gives the teacher a chance to take the emotional and physical "temperature" of each class. Having down-time at the end of class to share and/or look at each other's work sets up a good transitional phase as well as an opportunity for additional learning through comparison and comments. I would not hesitate to incorporate this method in any type of classroom situation.

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