Chapter 1: Building Community out of Chaos

I believe there is something great to be said, when a group of strangers can come together and despite all odds grow together and create a sense of community. One concept that has been discussed throughout my educational career, and even in my current profession is the idea of developing community. While I was reading the first chapter of Christensen last night I was moved by her honesty specifically in regard to the fact that her classroom's often did not display the cookie cutter image of perfection. Instead her room presented a sense of chaos, filled with students that were not necessarily looking to further their education, and lacked the motivation to even complete homework assignments. Rather Christensen's students were merely in school to socialize and try and avoid the problems that were occurring beyond the walls of their high school. The classrooms that were discussed throughout the chapter painted an intimate and authentic portrayal of what classrooms can realistically be like. While, it would be great to believe that one could go in each day, and provide a classroom that was motivated academically, creating a sense of togetherness, while respecting the teacher at the same time, it is not reality.

Currently I am a resident assistant in Valley 3, which is primarily an all freshman res hall in valley 3. Before I continue, I feel that I should apologize in advance for all that read my blogs, because I'm sure you will hear me relate things back to my residents a lot, sadly my job has taken over most of my life :) With that being said, one reason for taking the position was because I felt that this experience would be helpful towards my career goal of becoming a secondary educator. Since August, I have been on a very interesting journey. I realized very quickly, that sometimes no matter how hard you try to provide a positive atmosphere, people are still going to try to tear you down. For instance, as a member of Residence life some simple ways we are supposed to do to create community on our floors, is by doing programs to get people to know one another, putting up bulletin boards/decorations, and trying to have people keep their doors open. I must say it very frustrating, when you have days where you spend hours making bulletins boards and door decs, only to wake up the next morning to a sea of construction paper and tape, and know "hey now i have to redo these, thanks." Likewise, it is disappointing when you put a lot of time and effort into programming, and have one person show up. However, despite the struggles, one thing I have learned is persistence. Even though things may be hard, and people really get under your skin, know just what buttons to push, you cannot give up.

One of my most influential professors I have had at Western did an excellent job at creating a sense of community in the classroom, he developed one of those classes that was more like a family by the time the class ended. One concept that he used in his classroom and strongly encouraged was the use of story telling and self disclosure. Throughout the chapter Christensen details the importance of being willing to talk about your personal life, as a break through for getting your class to open up. This idea of self disclosure was one that my professor often used on a daily basis, whether it was something influential and profound, or an embarrassing moment that happened with his family. His ability to discuss his life stories, helped break down those barriers and be more comfortable to discuss our thoughts and opinions, both as a group, and individually through writing. By inviting student's lives into the classroom, community can develop, and people can recognize the similarities that share, as well as developing a greater understanding of those around them. In a similar fashion, by growing closer as a group this benefits group discussions and interactions over the course of the semester, etc.

One way that I was able to make a break through on my floor was through self disclosure. During floor meetings, or one on one conversations with residents I tried to tell them stories about my life, and encouraged them to get to know one another as well. I noticed that often times when I told about myself, it opened up many doors, and made individuals feel comfortable discussing problems that they were facing. To be honest I did not feel fully prepared for some of the stories that I heard, and I really was able to gain an insight on many students and the lives that they were going through. Hard lives, very hard. My heart really grew for my residents, and likewise I noticed that their empathy for myself and others grew through continued persistence and quality converastion. Much like the examples in this chapter, a sense of respect was gained through these interactions, and different actions I have taken to really create a community has been responded to in a positive fashion. Christensen states, "As critical teachers we shouldn't overlook the necessity of connection students around moments of joy." This seemed very powerful to me, because I feel that gaining community should be a positive experience, that can be a sigh of relief for some. Some students do not have a pleasant home life, or sense of structure, or routine and while it may not always be possible to "all get along" there are steps we can take to try.

Through my experiences alone I have learned that nothing is ever how we imagine it to be, and theres never going to be perfection. Life is messy. It's kind of like that song, by Frou Frou (yes from Garden State) haha.. "Theres beauty in the breakdown" Sometimes things are going to be chaotic and crazy, and we need to let go of what we think we are supposed to do, and just be real... Essentially as educators we may not be able to use every stategy that is designed for the typical classroom, and sometimes people are going to be disrespectful, and sometimes no matter what you do somebody is not going to like you. However, if you continue to put yourself out there, and focus on the positive things, and try to gain a sense of community, it could be influential in the lives of those around you.

& this would be the end of my first long winded ramble :)