The Plan B Classroom 259munity of learners they’ve created actually facilitates
the academic curriculum they need to teach. So we’re
talking about planned and unplanned group discussions
on hearing one another’s concerns, generating alterna-
tive solutions, coming to mutually satisfactory out-
comes. Yes, it makes sense to interrupt other ongoing
lessons to process important social issues that have sud-
denly erupted in the classroom. All students benefit
from such discussions but especially those who need it
most. The teacher acts as a role model and provides fre-
quent opportunities for practicing social interactions
and helping one another, including peer tutoring, judi-
cious seating arrangements, and cooperative learning.
Still reading? Good.
Your social curriculum also helps you celebrate and
accentuate individual differences. Everyone in the class-
room has strengths that can be used to help other stu-
dents, and everyone has areas of weakness in which they
need help. This isn’t a tit-for-tat classroom ...in your
classroom, everyone gets what he or she needs. Indeed,
because of the emphasis on individual differences, stu-
dents are taught that your expectation is that they will
help one another. They learn that each classmate is an in-
tegral thread in the fabric of a community of learners.
Each student is working on something with Plan B.
Rather than being overwhelmed, the teacher has a sense
about the unique emotional, social, and behavioral needs