School Partner Spotlight: What Madrona Elementary Students Have Taught Me About Circle
Yesterday I sat in my last student circle of the school year. Me and a group of fifth graders I’ve been holding circles with all year sat in my tiny office, around a centerpiece of various snacks and trinkets. We all laughed as they made a concoction of pickle slices wrapped in fruit roll-ups, drenched in fresh lemon juice, and topped with Tajin (apparently it’s a TikTok trend? And apparently it's pretty good!?). Between giggles and crunchy bites of pickles, we passed around the talking piece one last time to share reflections on our circles this year.
Someone shared how they felt this group was a warm place where they could express their emotions, someone said they appreciated a place to talk through their problems together, another mentioned they felt they could be more honest here, and talk about things truly going on at school. I shared how I want school to feel more like these circles felt; more free, more honest, more able to hold tensions when they arise and trust that we will come back together again. We came a long way in these circles, and I want to take a moment to reflect on what I’m leaving with- what all the wisdom and brilliance of these 5th graders, and all the kids I got to be in community with this year taught me.
Circles are not about a certain outcome, they are about honesty and connection. I find sometimes that working within the public school system can leave me, and many other educators, feeling pressured to lead kids to a certain outcome or behavior all the time. There’s almost this unspoken pressure that kids need to be quiet, calm, and still or you’re not “managing” the space well. I am learning that I gotta let that go! As Ophelia said in the interviews, “Circle is more about having fun, and sharing ideas, and listening to them”. When we show up to circle expecting a certain outcome or behavior, we take away from the honesty that can be cultivated here. Which leads me to my next learning…
Circle time is not about being quiet and listening the whole time, it’s about how you reground and come back together. Many times, I’ve caught myself sweating when I see kids interrupting each other in circle, wiggling around a lot, or not responding to circle questions in the ways I expect. I find myself repeating, “Respect the talking piece” over and over again. This only leaves me, and everyone in circle annoyed and agitated. I’ve learned this year about the power of self regulation, and giving kids the autonomy to recenter everyone in the class as well. I found that when I teach kids call and responses like, “Talking piece… yeet!”, and model grounding myself and waiting for the class to be ready to listen before I share, circle flows more organically. People are going to want to respond to each other when they are excited and connect with something someone said! We can just work on regrounding and making sure every person is given the same space to be heard when they are up.
Lastly, power redistribution is everything. Set a reliable routine for circle, teach all the components, model them, and then let kids take charge! The circles I enjoyed the most this year were the ones led by kids; you can feel the energy shift when everyone in the classroom has ownership over circle, and plays an active role. And we as educators also can invest and share honestly in circle. We get out of circle what we put in, so put in your honest self, and see what emerges.
Overall, I am so grateful to Madrona Elementary, to Principal Carter, to all of the wonderful teachers I got to work with this year, and most of all to the brilliant Madrona students. Thank you all for putting your hearts into circle, thank you for everything we have learned together. There’s so many more beautiful ways we will grow together next year, I know it.
— Mari Ramirez
