How do you feel when someone takes notice of your hard work and acknowledges you for it? How does positive feedback affect your motivation? Compliments and acknowledgments are important to the Lower Elementary community, and we practice sharing and accepting these on a weekly basis. In our classroom, students learn how to observe and articulate the positive in others and in themselves through role-playing, discussions, and writing activities. Every community meeting starts with compliments or acknowledgments and sometimes the class gives an individual student an acknowledgment circle. These acknowledgments enhance students' sense of belonging by teaching them to notice and cultivate the positive aspects in each other, fostering close connections. These statements also help the students understand how their actions have a positive impact on their classmates and allow them to see the value of their contributions.

In Lower Elementary, students value the weekly Community Meeting as a predictable and safe way to practice respectful communication with their peers.  The process of voicing a concern begins when a student articulates a problem by documenting the issue in a composition notebook we refer to as “the agenda.”  The students know that items added to “the agenda” will be read at the next Community Meeting.  Part of the rationale behind having the students write down their concerns for community discussion at a later time is that it allows for a “cooling off” period and time for the students to resolve their issues on their own. We begin our Community Meetings with compliments and acknowledgements, with each student having the opportunity to contribute.  After that, items on the agenda are read aloud and discussed.  The person who originally voiced a concern in “the agenda” chooses how to approach the problem.  The student may ask the class to share their feel...