Round Robin Partners

Character development and teaching kids that they will play different roles with different partners is important to creating a classroom based on trust and safety. At the beginning of each year I put each member of each class into a round robin tournament generator.  I use  http://www.printyourbrackets.com/round-robin-generator.php. I create a name for each class, enter all the names as the teams and choose enough locations to accommodate the partnerships (which really does not matter as no locations will be used). The list goes on the clipboard and is done for the year. This is part of our work all year  building a classroom based on safety and trust. Students know that sometimes they will have an opportunity to help, sometimes they will have an opportunity to be helped, and sometimes they will be working with someone that has had similar experiences and has skill levels. It creates a great way to talk about the power of nonverbal communication. We are not without our conflicts but students are taught that conflicts are a normal part of being with others and they can learn the skills to maintain composure and work through them.  It's worth the time to set this up as part of an effort to help students gain social intelligence skills.

Taking It Further
1. You can add content to this method of organization by naming the partnership using content vocabulary (ie. fitness, concepts, principles). If you have a particular fitness knowledge thread you are weaving through the year choose that vocabulary and name your partnerships. Teach them the names then create a game out of it. Call the vocabulary words and see how long it takes them to find the appropriate partner. They can always come look to see if they forget.
2. Have students create a movement, handshake or greeting to go with each partnership.

Brain Smart Connections
Reflexive/Emotional Memory
Social Interactions
Meeting Needs