Building Classroom Communities: Strategies for Developing a Culture of Caring is the third installment in our Solutions Series. The goal of the series is to address issues in education with specific strategies that can be applied in the classroom. The resources in this series are short in length, direct, and easy-to-read the perfect tools for busy teachers and administrators. Building Classroom Communities brings theory and practice together to guide the reader in creating unified and caring classrooms where all students feel a sense of belonging. Developed from the author s experiences in a variety of school settings, this resource provides specific strategies for: Â· Creating emotionally safe classrooms Â· Encouraging honor and respect Â· Facilitating a sense of interdependence and generosity Â· Teaching empathy as a primary social skill The book is divided into four sections: The Classroom Community, A Culture of Caring, Working With Your Community, and Teaching Empathy. In the first section, the author introduces the concept of a classroom community and discusses how to transform a group of students into a true community of learners. In section two, A Culture of Caring, the author presents twelve essential culture of caring skills and eight steps to a culture of caring. Section three, Working With Your Classroom Community, provides specific lessons and learning exercises that can be incorporated into the classroom to promote community building and maintenance. In the fourth section, Teaching Empathy, the author presents a process for teaching empathy a crucial social skill and component of any classroom community. The process, the Event Empathy Action (EEA) method, is a three-step advanced listening approach that teaches students how to respond to others empathetically. The appendix section includes fifty social skills to consider when building your classroom community, a social skills audit for teachers to use when determining which skills students may

Building Classroom Communities: Strategies for Developing a Culture of Caring

Education & Teaching

David A. Levine

Schools & Teaching

Solution Tree

In David A. Levine s earlier work, Teaching Empathy, he describes a School of Belonging as an emotionally and physically safe place where students are nurtured, supported, and encouraged toward their unique expression and achievement in the world. The foundation of the School of Belonging is a set of commonly held values and principles that guide students to make pro-social choices. The School of Belonging Plan Book helps educators quickly establish the values and principles of a culture of caring during the first 4 to 6 weeks of the school year and then maintain them. This Plan Book helps teachers: - Articulate their vision of a caring classroom culture and its guiding principles. - Build student understanding and embodiment of those principles. - Implement fun and illuminating activities to create a sense of community, connectedness, and safety.

The School of Belonging Plan Book

Teaching Empathy gives educators the tools to teach the pro-social skill of empathy to help create a culture of caring in their schools.Teaching Empathy has four sections. 
•Section 1, Teaching Empathetically: When Teachers Make Connections—helps educators learn to connect with their students; model pro-social skills; and build trusting relationships through storytelling, symbolic teaching, and other strategies.
•Section 2, Learning Empathy: Facilitating Social Discovery—focuses on how to teach students empathy and the behaviors that accompany it, such as listening, compassion, honor, and generosity. Strategies include social skills learning, cross-training and rituals, and the fishbowl.
•Section 3, Living Empathy: The School of Belonging—asks educators to concentrate on building a school culture of empathy through the 10 intentions of the School of Belonging.
•Section 4, Courageous Conversations—a mini-curriculum that combines lessons on dilemmas, the power of choice, and other empathic skills with 8 thought-provoking songs (on CD) by the author.

Teaching Empathy: A Blueprint for Caring, Compassion, and Community

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by David A. Levine. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by David A. Levine

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by David A. Levine. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Building Classroom Communities: Strategies for Developing a Culture of Caring

The School of Belonging Plan Book

Teaching Empathy: A Blueprint for Caring, Compassion, and Community