Community
Community:
- A group of people living in the same locality and under the same government
- People who have common interests i.e. the scientific community; the international business community
- A group viewed as forming a distinct segment of society: the community of color
- Similarity or identity: a community of interests
- Sharing, participation, and fellowship
- Society as a whole; the public
Community manifests itself in a number of ways including:
- Neighborhood
- Church/Synagogue
- Online community
- School
- Work
- Family
- Sports/Teams
- Hobbies – band, quilting, vegetarians, wine, referees, etc.
The dynamics of and ways community manifests itself continues to change and grow. We decided to focus our energy on ways to create a sense of community in our schools ranging from the entire school, grade level, classroom, the students and other teachers. We included examples of lesson ideas and activities that are currently being used to build and demonstrate different types of community to students.
Our collaboration on this project is a demonstration of the community we are joining - the community of teachers who share ideas and successful experiences with one another for the common interest of our passion of working with children. The resources we are sharing come from our experiences in three different school districts, three different elementary schools, and across grade levels kindergarten through sixth grade.
The beauty of community comes from its web-like qualities. The concept of community may be the center of focus, or it may be more discrete as strands that reach out and are woven with other layers in a possibly infinite web. Educators may choose to focus on community in their own school, share their ideas with the school in the next town over, who then share their ideas with the next town over from them. By doing so, this process connects all three towns with a community of their own.