Planning with Intention

Happy 2024!!! I’m a few days late, but hey, I was enjoying the new year with loved ones, as I hope you all were!

Now it’s January 2nd, and we’re back at it. I’m booking new students and lesson planning with more intention than ever.

One of my favorite lesson planning tools is Tribes Learning Communities by Jeanne Gibbs.

I was introduced to Tribes in graduate school at Northeastern. Although it’s directed toward classroom learning environments, I’ve found the lessons and especially the strategies matrix (pg. 200-201 in the 30th Anniversary Edition) incredibly helpful when designing meaningful and engaging lessons for students of all ages and groups.

The goal of tribes is to maximize the “academic, social, and emotional development and learning” of students. I’ve found that it is a text that encourages constant collaboration and reflection: two key elements in education.

Now, for those who are interested, here’s a run down of some of my favorite parts of this text. (All pages will be coming from the 30th Anniversary Edition text).

• Pg. 3 - A New Pattern of Interaction

  • Encourages educators and leaders to rethink how we communicate with students and how we can reframe success.

• Pg. 20 - Skills for the 21st Century

  • Effectively summarizes basic skills (eg. reading, writing, maths), thinking skills (eg. creative thinking, decision making), and personal qualities (eg. responsibility, self esteem, etc.).

• Pg. 33 - A Caring Culture /Re-culturing

  • Re-emphasizes agreements for all parties to use in educational spaces: 1) Attentive Listening; 2) Appreciation/No put downs; 3) Right to participate AND the right to pass; 4) Mutual Respect. ALL winners imo!

• Pg. 211 - Animal Triads

  • The activity objectives are to encourage influence and awareness of animal families. I’ve found this to be a great ESL lesson! It can be adapted to fit different vocabulary.

• Pg. 242 - Find the Word

  • Another great activity that can be used to promote vocabulary development for all types of subjects! It also provides opportunity for students to get up and move around and self-regulate.

• Pg. 288 - Newspaper Scavenger Hunt

  • Such a great activity for independent or group work! I highly recommend this one to homeschool families who need a lesson that will keep students engaged for a bit. It can also be adapted to fit different age groups by changing the clues (ex: different words or using pictures instead of words).

I encourage everyone to check out this text, whether you’re a homeschool teacher, classroom teacher, or simply interested in building community. This is one of the few that I have come back to time and time again.

As always, I must say that as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.