How to Reinforce Teamwork and Community for Your Kids This Summer
I was taking out the trash one evening during the shelter-in-place, and I began to think about how much I actually dislike this task. The unsightly mess of the garbage itself, piled high within the thin plastic veil of the bag, tied up at the top like some unwanted gift. I find myself, day-in and day-out, hurling it down our floor’s chute with both disdain for the chore and elation for the purge.
If left to my own devices, I must admit that I would somehow find myself the protagonist of Shel Silverstein’s Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out.
“Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would not take the garbage out!
She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans,
Candy the yams and spice the hams,
And though her daddy would scream and shout,
She simply would not take the garbage out.”
It is one of my all-time favorite pieces of prose, and I would teach this poem every year in my Language Arts classes. In fact, when given the chance to substitute now, even as a principal, it is one of my go-to lessons. There are so many ways in which to instruct the value of this poem. It highlights adjective-use and hyperbole. It showcases the wit and humor that the reputation of poetry often lacks. You can use it to help students understand rhyming patterns.
Or, in my case, you can use it to highlight the necessity of teamwork.
The removal of students from the day-to-day classroom environment has meant that so many lessons, indistinct and overt, have fallen by the wayside:
Students cultivating the value of sharing with one another and developing patience for those classmates who really rub them the wrong way.
The adherence to a schedule and the formality of starting their day with the routine of getting up and out the door, readying for a full day of exploration and discovery.
Navigating the variety of interactions and communication styles-- from the Uber driver, the bus driver, or the neighbors with whom they carpool, to their teachers, classmates, yard duty supervisors, and even their principal.
So much has been muted.
And, as I was taking out the trash, I realized that classroom responsibilities, too, have been forsaken.
Wondering what I’m referring to?
Let me explain.
In many classrooms, primary grades specifically, students are given certain jobs. Sometimes they rotate on a weekly basis, other times they are assigned at the start of a quarter or semester. They can range in responsibility, from door opener to hand sanitizer dispenser to paper-passer-outer. Some of these jobs are more desirable than others, but the beauty of the system is that it instills in students a sense of responsibility for self, for others, and for the school as a whole.
Additionally, schools often offer other ways for students to not only contribute in the form of classroom chores but also provide a myriad of ways for them to expand their propensity for leadership and benevolence, both of which contribute to the greater academic community:
Student Council
Outreach projects and volunteer initiatives
Conflict resolvers at recess
Buddy projects (when older students are paired with younger students to offer help or mentorship)
These responsibilities help to instill in our students an understanding for the necessity of giving back, assisting others, jumping in to find a solution to a problem or fill in where there is need.
Some students are born helpers—they love nothing more than to be the first one to answer a question in class, volunteer to pass out glue sticks for an arts and crafts project, walk every classmate to the office who needs a Band-Aid. Others, however, need some coaxing. And, this isn’t a terrible thing.
One of the best parts about being a teacher is helping to coach a child as they discover their humanity, their compassion, their generosity.
I used to take my class to volunteer in San Francisco each year, and in tandem with that, we would host a drive of some kind at school. Socks, t-shirts, blankets—we’d collect as many items as we could and pass them out to residents on the street as we made our way to the day’s volunteer project. It always blew my mind to see how much the class enjoyed giving back to others. Even those students who were more reticent at first eventually found joy in working with their classmates to benefit someone else.
So, I ask you—how are you holding your children accountable, at home, in contributing to the betterment of your household?
Sure, you may not need anyone to sharpen a class set of pencils or disperse hand sanitizer before lunch, but you can definitely assign chores and other tasks that instill in them the same sense of teamwork and camaraderie that classroom responsibilities do at school:
Chores That Instill Teamwork and Camaraderie
Folding laundry
Making their bed
Setting and clearing the table
Taking out the trash or emptying wastebaskets around the house
Loading and unloading the dishwasher
Watering indoor/outdoor plants
Helping make breakfast or lunch for themselves or others
Keeping their study area tidy, including pushing in their chair when done for the day
Writing notes of affirmation for other family members
There are no tasks too small to make a difference in how your child views their place in the world—no tasks too minor to help them recognize that they are part of a much larger community that finds its purpose in helping one another thrive.
“At last the garbage reached so high
That it finally touched the sky.
And all the neighbors moved away,
And none of her friends would come to play.
And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said,
"OK, I'll take the garbage out!"
But then, of course, it was too late. . .
The garbage reached across the state,
From New York to the Golden Gate.
And there, in the garbage she did hate,
Poor Sarah met an awful fate,
That I cannot now relate
Because the hour is much too late.
But children, remember Sarah Stout
And always take the garbage out!”
So, as Shel Silverstein so wisely advises:
