As we approach the end of our first trimester, it's time that I start to start handing over more and more responsibility to my students.  It's time that they take over that part of the day that I believe is so crucial: Community Meeting!

We've been learning about the roles of Mayor and Reporter this week.  Our Mayor is in charge of facilitating community meeting, leading greetings, sharings, and occasionally group activities.  It is the Mayor's responsibility to make sure people in the room are listened to.  It's one of our hardest, but potentially most rewarding, class jobs.  I still help the Mayor when needed, but it is really powerful to watch students be able to interact in ways that they might not have felt comfortable doing before.  Students who aren't as comfortable being "the leader" have to step up and give it a try.  Sometimes they even find that they like it and are respected in that position of leadership.  

The supporting role of Reporter allows students to take a turn in being in the "behind the scenes" role.  The Reporter gives news and announcements for the day, uses the whiteboard to take notes, keeps track of what we're working on in Community Meeting, and assists the Mayor whenever necessary.  For our natural leaders, this can be a challenging role, but an important one to practice and master.  For our hesitant leaders, this role allows them to shine in a more comfortable way.  

Both Mayor and Reporter are instrumental in making the success of our Community Meetings run.    As we spent this week practicing the roles, I'm really looking forward to handing the power of community meeting over to my students.  Last year they did some pretty cool things with that power (making lunch/recess longer by writing a letter/petition to all of the staff or creating the read-a-thon in our class just to name a few).  These students are our future leaders and they need practice as the leader, the participant, and the supporter roles.  I'm excited to help them take over our class!