This post originally appeared on our ParentSquare Learning Network blog on December 3, 2020.
Students, teachers, and parents are stressed, worried, and isolated during the pandemic, so connecting with each other is more important than ever. Typically in schools, there are assemblies, classroom parties, and fun lunchtime events to help build community. However, since the onset of the pandemic, when these stress-reducing events are needed most, it feels more difficult to create them.
Here are some ideas generated by our K-12 community for fun, community-building school events and practices to help students feel connected while they are apart from their peers.
Run School-Wide Events & Contests
School-wide events are a great way to help students have fun together and work through feelings of stress and isolation. Cedar Ridge Middle School hosted a “Choose Your Own Adventure” event for the entire school after class on a Friday afternoon. Students could pick from a variety of fun events and games like a scavenger hunt, art activities, trivia games, and charades. This was a nice break from remote learning and helped students have some fun with their peers virtually!
Other ideas include Sandy Grade School’s Virtual Craft Nights and Hubbard Academy’s school-wide T-Shirt Design Contest for their yearly school shirt. Perhaps your school has its own remote community-building ideas such as virtual speaker events, virtual field trips, book clubs, and group lunches. Get creative and have fun!
Although they are virtual, school events that get everyone socializing are an easy and effective way to help students feel a connection to their schools. Reminding students that they belong to a close school community can help them combat the isolation that they may feel at home.
Go Digital: Remote School Assemblies
Traditionally, assemblies for winter concerts, school plays, and guest performances are a staple in the school community. Teachers and students look forward to assemblies as a way to switch up learning opportunities and connect with others. Distance learning makes this impossible – or does it?
Boxtales Theatre Company is one performance company that updated its offerings to continue engaging and inspiring students remotely. It is well-known as a touring theatre company that performed entertaining educational plays for schools all over the country, based on world myths and folklore. Their mission is to use myths and folklore to teach cultural lessons and promote social emotional learning (SEL). All of their shows come with learning guides, and match California guidelines for English Language Arts, word analysis, vocabulary development, and literary response and analysis.
Virtual performing arts events like those delivered by Boxtales not only provide an exciting school-wide, community building event, but they have the potential to support learning goals in the classroom across all grades.
Use the Principal’s Update To Build Community
If your school sends a weekly or monthly update from the principal, this is a great opportunity to bring people together! We showcased Mr. Ralston from Perry Meridian 6th Grade Academy back in March when schools has only just begun remote learning, and were happy to say his most recent video update is still just as entertaining, inclusive and community-building as before!
The update includes wishing students happy birthdays, a reading trivia question as well as congratulations to yesterday’s winner and contributions from students and families. It sparks interaction and provides opportunities for every student to get a mention from the principal.
As students, teachers, and parents continue to tackle new ways of teaching and learning, it’s important to find opportunities to connect with others. We hope that these ideas will be useful ways to build classroom community!
