Circles

My favorite shape is a circle. We begin and end each class with a circle. It's simple we gather chairs in a circle. We sit. We share. We listen. Sometimes we share our favorite color and other times we share times when we've been hurt by others. 

We share ideas. We listen. We listen. We listen. This short time together every class builds our community. We look into each other's eyes. We hear each other's stories. 

At the end of the class, we participate in our "Fire Circle". This is where we share an appreciation, an apology, or an a-ha from our time together. Everyone shares. Everyone! The thank yous are sweet, the a-has are sometimes surprising. I wish you could hear seventh-graders apologize. Sometimes they do it with humor and other times they share a heartfelt apology. Ending class like this brings us back together before we go our separate ways.

Circles rock!