Teachers at Vera M. Welsh School use TRIBES to learn how to build community within their classroom.
As a TRIBES school, Vera M. Welsh focuses on building a school “learning community where teachers, administrators, support staff, students and parents all enjoy mutual respect and caring essential for growth and learning”(Gibbs, 2006, p. 11).
TRIBES is based upon four community agreements: Attentive Listening, Appreciations/no put downs, The right to pass- the right to participate and Mutual Respect.
The Vera M. Welsh school community focuses on creating a culture for learning by teaching students what each of the agreements look like, sound like and feel like. This is done through active learning experiences where students are taught and then practice the skills necessary to be a member of the school community. In addition, students are taught to be self-reflective so they can think about their behavior and actions and make changes when necessary.