Each Wednesday, per the Class Constitution that students created, we gather as a class to hold a legislative assembly and address community problems we’ve been having.
After investigating the many forms democracy can take, Room 3 students decided that our community was small enough to be able to institute a direct democracy. Every Wednesday students have a chance to propose new laws for our classroom community to address problems they are noticing. Each agenda items is given a strict 4-minute discussion window, where students take turns airing their beliefs about the proposal.
Today’s agenda included proposals that ranged from “No one should be allowed to eat in our classroom because a few people are left to clean up the mess we make every day” to “Debate time should be extended from 3 minutes to 4 minutes per agenda item, so that more students have a chance to voice their opinions.”
These discussions get heated, but students have done a beautiful job of articulating their positions, defending them with evidence, respectfully disagreeing, and solving their own conflicts as a community!
Room 3 Blog 