Exercise you brain with an reflective, informative, and creative experience online.

Related posts:

1. What’s New with Tribes TLC?
2. Is It Too Early…
3. Add Tribes TLC to your website!

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The Bookstore has moved…

We have simplified the navigation to the bookstore for easier access. You can now find it located at Top-Right on most pages. And as always, your purchases are safe and secure! Our site uses the latest technology that ensures your personal and payment information is kept confidential and secure.

Now featuring…

Our home page now has Featured Articles, Featured Products and a Featured Video that will change from time to time. We even have upcoming events listed in the right column for fast and easy access.

Even MORE about Tribes…

Are you looking for articles about Tribes? Take a peek at the About Tribes page and you’ll see a list in the right column containing Articles, Research and Model Program information that you might have missed before. We will be adding to these sections soon, so please check back often for new info.

Hey Trainers! Do you want a Google Map posted for your Tribes training?

Click here to submit your upcoming event. Be sure to provide the street address and your participants will be able to find your training on the map (incomplete addresses equals no map). You can provide your email address, your phone number and even your website if you’d like. Check it out…

Other visitors who are searching for a Tribes training in which to participate, can do so on the Events page. If you see a nearby location listed, please contact the trainer directly for registration information and cost.  If you are interested in a whole school training, please contact us. Chances are we can schedule a training at your school on the dates of your choosing.

Is your Tribes School on The Map?

Zoom in on the world map of TLC Schools to find your school. If it isn’t on the map, please complete the form on the bottom of the page and we will gladly add it!

What… no Forum??

We found that most people prefer to post comments and questions on our FaceBook page rather than the old Tribes Forum. Additionally, as much of the Forum content was duplicated on our TeachCommunity.com website we decided to drop it and stick with the more user-friendly social networking path. Do you approve?

We are just a few clicks away…

Let us know your thoughts… Ask a question… or simply say hello by clicking on the Contact tab. We usually can get back to you the same day (unless it’s a weekend in which case we are likely out hiking, kayaking or riding a horse).

As always, we appreciate your interest and support of Tribes Learning Communities!

Come back again soon.

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The following funding opportunities are currently accepting applications. CenterSource can provide you with information for your grant application.

Fundsnet Services
Fundsnet Services provides grantwriting and fundraising resource information for funding programs and initiatives in the US, Canada, Australia, UK, and other countries. To browse funding opportunities, click on the category of your choice on the left hand side. Also see the current grant opportunities listed below. If you will be implementing Tribes Learning Communities, CenterSource can provide information for your grant application.

American Historical Association: Beveridge Family Teaching Prize
The Teaching Prize recognizes excellence and innovation in elementary, middle school, and secondary history teaching. Maximum award: $1,500. Eligibility: K-12 teachers.
Deadline: March 15, 2011

Investigator Initiated Grants
The Foundation supports high-quality research that addresses our Current Research Interests: enhancing our understanding of how youth settings (including schools) work, how they affect youth development, and how they can be improved.
Deadline: April 6, 2011

Lemelson-MIT: InvenTeams
InvenTeams composed of high school students, teachers and mentors are asked to collaboratively identify a problem that they want to solve, research the problem, and then develop a prototype invention as an in-class or extracurricular project. Maximum award: $10,000. Eligibility: High school science, mathematics, and technology teachers at public, private, and vocational schools.
Deadline: April 22, 2011

ING: Unsung Heroes Awards
The ING Unsung Heroes awards program recognizes innovative and progressive thinking in education through monetary awards. Maximum award: $25,000. Eligibility: full-time educators, teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, or classified staff members with effective projects that improve student learning at an accredited K-12 public or private school.
Deadline: April 30, 2011

NEA Foundation: Learning & Leadership Grants
Our Learning & Leadership grants support public school teachers, public education support professionals, and/or faculty and staff in public institutions of higher education.
Deadline: June 1, 2011

NEA Foundation: Student Achievement Grants
The NEA Foundation provides grants to improve the academic achievement of students in U.S. public schools and public higher education institutions in any subject area(s). The proposed work should engage students in critical thinking and problem solving that deepen their knowledge of standards-based subject matter. The work should also improve students’ habits of inquiry, self-directed learning, and critical reflection.
Deadline: June 1, 2011

BE BIG Contest
Executed by Scholastic, the BE BIG Contest is a national campaign that invites applicants to take action and raise awareness for how Clifford’s Big Ideas (Share, Play Fair, Have Respect, Work Together, Be Responsible, Be A Good Friend, Help Others, Be Truthful, Be Kind, Believe In Yourself) can make the world a better place. Eligibility: Volunteers, schools or community partners. Maximum award: $25,000 in community grants for grand prize, $2,500 for ten first prize winners and 19 second prize winners with awards totaling $2,500.
Deadline: June 17, 2011

William T. Grant Scholars
The William T. Grant Scholars Program supports promising early-career researchers from diverse disciplines, who have demonstrated success in conducting high-quality research and are seeking to further develop and broaden their expertise.
Deadline: July 6, 2011

Kids in Need Teacher Grants
This purpose of the Kids in Need Teacher Grants is to fund projects that make creative use of common teaching aids, approach curriculum from an imaginative angle, or tie nontraditional concepts together for the purpose of illustrating commonalities. The grants fund K-12 certified teachers teaching in the subject of the project at public, private, charter, or parochial schools within the United States.
Deadline: September 30, 2011

Child Welfare Foundation Grants
We accept proposals from nonprofit organizations for projects that contribute to the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual welfare of children through the dissemination of knowledge about new and innovative organizations and/or their programs designed to benefit youth.
Deadline: Varies

LEGO Children’s Fund Grants
The LEGO Children’s Fund will provide quarterly grants for programs, with a special interest paid to collaborative efforts and in providing matching funds to leverage new dollars into the receiving organization.
Deadline: Varies

Fund for Teachers
Fund for Teachers enriches the personal and professional growth of teachers by recognizing and supporting them as they identify and pursue opportunities around the globe that will have the greatest impact on their practice, the academic lives of their students and on their school communities.
Deadline: Varies

Related posts:

1. Grant Opportunities
2. Grant Opportunity!

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We have created a few different sized Tribes buttons than you can post right on your website quickly and easily just by copying some short code to your site. Your webmaster should have no problem with the task if you have questions about the process.

Here’s an example… by copying the following code to your site, this attractive clickable image will be magically created on your website.

Copy and paste this code to your website…

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

<a href=”http://tribes.com/welcome”><img src=”http://tribes.com/links/tribes-link-300×250.jpg” alt=”Tribes Learning Community” /></a>

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

and this clickable image will help your website visitors find Tribes.com

If this image it too large for your site, you can find smaller sizes (and corresponding code) on our
Resources page – right here.

Your website visitors will know instantly that you are a Tribes Learning Community and they will be able to access numerous articles, research and other information about Tribes. We appreciate your support and willingness to share Tribes Learning Communities with the world!

Related posts:

1. Welcome to the New and Improved Tribes.com!
2. Look! Learn! Go!
3. What’s New with Tribes TLC?

The International School of Brussels (ISB) Early Childhood Center is one of four divisions of ISB.  There is a total of between 250 – 300 students ranging in age from 2 ½ to 8 years of age.  It is truly an international school, with over 40 countries represented and almost that many home languages spoken.  Instruction in our independently developed curriculum is delivered in English. The mission statement of ISB is “everyone included, challenged and successful in order to develop international citizens and independent learners.”

The Early Childhood Center has spent the last two years exploring the Tribes Learning Communities process and is beginning to implement it.  The school year of 2008-2009 was the first year that Tribes was first introduced.  Ms. Norah Sullivan Wilson, a Kindergarten teacher, as part of a Master’s of Education thesis, studied the effects of Tribes on this international community.  Below is a summary of her findings.

THE WHAT:

The research was guided by the following three questions.  These questions stemmed from the desire to study the appropriateness, or lack thereof, of Tribes in an international school setting.

• What defines a successful classroom community in the ECC?
• What aspects of Tribes have been successful and/or unsuccessful for building communities?
• What adaptations, if any, should be made to Tribes to make it appropriate and successful in the ECC?

THE WHO and the THE HOW:

Over the course of the school year teaching staff and students of the ECC were surveyed through anonymous questionnaires.  In addition, a smaller number of teachers and students were interviewed in depth.  Finally, classroom observations of Tribes and Community Building activities were made.  Ms. Judith Fenton and Miles Madison, both Tribes trainers, were also interviewed.

• Teachers interviewed: 6
• Teachers observed: 6
• Teachers surveyed: 19
• Students interviewed: 6
• Students observed: 54
• Students surveyed: 54
• Judith Fenton and Miles Madison, Tribes Trainers

THE RESULTS:

What defines a successful classroom community in the ECC?

The students and teachers defined three key elements of a successful classroom community:

• Environment- The environment is described as “safe, respectful, welcoming and supportive.”
• People- The people are described as “friends, learners and individuals.”
• Learning- The learning is described in terms of “sharing, listening, questioning, playing, taking risks and being engaged and successful.”

What aspects of Tribes have been successful for building communities?

The students and teachers identified four key areas of success using the Tribes process.

1. Tribes is a valuable tool for building communities.
Everyone included

• Six out of 6 teachers interviewed described Tribes as a good tool for activities for the first Unit of Inquiry in the school, which concentrates on building communities.
• Six out of 6 teachers interviewed described Tribes activities as successful in helping students introduce themselves and get to know their other classmates.
• Four out of 6 teachers interviewed described Tribes as a process that allowed students to become a more cohesive group.
• The activity, Community Circle, was favored by 3 out of 6 teachers and recognized as very important in a daily routine for building communities.
• According to Judith Fenton and Miles Madison, it is imperative that everyone subscribe to common agreements of the process and that Community Circle happens every day as way to build community.  They both also stated that Tribes allows for teachers and students to share a common language.
• When asked about her use of Tribes, one teacher responded, “I used the get to know you tools. It gave the children who came from other places the opportunities to share who they are. It has been part of my classroom when we use a new unit of study, when we need to learn a new way of working together.”
• When asked what was the most successful element of Tribes in her classroom, one teacher responded, “building a sense of community for any school, but particularly these kids who move around a lot. There is so much change in their lives. The school community is so important in their lives.”

2. Tribes encourages students and teachers to show respect for one another.
Everyone included

• Nineteen out of 19 teachers surveyed stated that Tribes allows for differentiation and is appropriate for many different learning styles.
• Five out of 6 teachers interviewed described Tribes activities as tools for problem-solving.
• Four out of 6 teachers interviewed stated that Tribes activities have helped to increase students’ ability to listen to one another. Forty out of 54 students perceive their classrooms to be respectful environments and 13 of the remaining 14 students perceive it to be respectful “sometimes.”
• According to both Tribes trainers, Tribes help students value and celebrate their differences.
• When asked if children in the classroom are respectful, one student responded, “Yeah by caring what they say and I also care for other people.”
• Another responded, “Yeah, because everyone has to be different. Well actually the whole world is one family. Every person. Cause people are different. Some people are older than you some people are younger. Some people have short hair some people have long hair. If we were all the same it would be a bit boring. If we were all the same.”

3. Tribes encourages students to take risks.
Everyone challenged

• Three out of 6 teachers described how Tribes activities give everyone the chance to participate, but allow each student the right to pass. Tribes activities encourage students to seek help from other students.
• Thirty-eight out of 54 students say they help group members. Fourteen out of the remaining 16 say they help.
• Forty out of 54 students say that group members help them. Thirteen out of the remaining 14 say they get help from group members.
• Thirty-seven out of 54 students feel it is acceptable for them not to understand something. Thirteen out of the remaining 17 students feel it is sometimes acceptable.
• Thirty-three out of 54 students feel it is acceptable for others not to understand something. Fourteen of the remaining 21 feel it is sometimes acceptable.
• Six out of 6 students interviewed described their feelings of their classroom environments with positive words. These include words such as “safe” “comfy” “excellent” “fun” and “happy.”
• Through observations, it was found that Tribes activities encourage students to ask questions.
• Through observations, it was found that Tribes activities encourage students to challenge themselves and each other through cooperative group work.
• When asked if it was acceptable if she did not understand, one student responded, “It’s good to learn that way. You ask questions and you get to know it better than other people sometimes.”
• When asked if it was acceptable if others did not understand, one student responded, “Yes, it is okay. You [the student who does not understand] can watch us.”

4. Cooperative Learning is engaging and fun.
Everyone successful

• Five out of 6 students interviewed preferred working in pairs or groups over working independently. Twenty-five out of 54 students surveyed say they like working in groups. Twenty-four of the remaining 29 like working in groups sometimes.
• Six out of 6 students interviewed described how working with others allowed them to learn new things and/or work more efficiently.
• When asked how he felt in his classroom, one student responded, “Good. Sweaty because I have been doing a lot of hard work and a lot of teamwork.”
• Another responded, “I feel kind of happy. ‘Exciting’ to learn new things.”

What aspects of Tribes have been unsuccessful or challenging for building communities?

What adaptations, if any, should be made to Tribes to make it appropriate and successful in the ECC?

The students and teachers of the ECC were able to identify several areas of challenge implementing the Tribes process.

1. Understanding and implementing the basic formation and function of a Tribes group

• Five of the six teachers interviewed did not attempt to make Tribes groups as the book describes, but did make groups in other ways.

2. Consistent use of daily activities and routines

• While all teachers interviewed used daily routines that resembled Tribes activities, 3 out of 6 did not use Tribes activities regularly.
• Three out of 6 teachers interviewed felt as though they did not use Tribes activities enough in any given period of time in order to do successful follow-up activities.
• Three out of 6 teachers interviewed explained their usage of Tribes in the beginning of the year, but said that it decreased throughout the year.

3. Regularly implementing reflection time

• Six out of 6 teachers interviewed expressed the importance of reflection time after activities.
• Three out of 6 teachers interviewed stated that they did not take the time to properly reflect after activities.
• Six out of 6 teachers interviewed believed reflection time is beneficial.

4. The name Tribes

• There was a general, inexplicable dislike for the name Tribes from 5 of the 6 teachers interviewed.
• These teachers believed that “Tribes” carried too many other connotations.
• The 5 teachers who did not like the name Tribes believed these activities should be referred to as something with the word community in it.

What should be the next steps for the ECC to continue building learning communities using the Tribes process?

We started the school year 2009-2010 with every teacher committing to be including a Community Circle in their daily schedule.  Support for this was provided by the Tribes Trainer on-site and our Speech and Language Therapist, who sees direct links between the social communication skills developed in Tribes activities and those that she focuses on in her work.  Furthermore, Tribes activities have been incorporated into every Faculty Meeting in order to provide models and support for continued and regular usage in classrooms.  A school-wide focus on reflection has provided the impetus for including Tribes-like reflection questions to follow most lessons.

Overall, the impact of consistent language, an agreed upon set of behavioral norms (Tribes Agreements), daily Community Circles in all classrooms and an increase in students working together in small groups has been very powerful.  Teachers, students and parents feel a sense of empowerment and belonging.

Related posts:

1. Using the Tribes TLC process for “back-to-school” night

Houston West Chamber of Commerce honors district Teacher of the Year
Maurine Richter was named winner of the Christa McAuliffe In Search of Excellence Award during the Houston West Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year and Business Partnership Awards Luncheon. The luncheon was held May 15 at the Omni Houston Hotel Westside. Read full article…

Related posts:

1. Start the year with Tribes TLC in your classroom
2. Are you ready to take the next step? Become a Tribes Trainer in 2012!

For now, the site only accepts US orders.
If ordering from Canada, please contact:
Apples 4 Teachers
Website: www.apples4teachers.ca
Phone: 866-599-1299

If ordering from Australia, please contact:
ACER – Australian Council for Educational Research
Website: http://shop.acer.edu.au/acer-shop/app
Phone: 1800 338 402,  +61 3 9277 5447

If ordering from other countries, please download this order form Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file. or send us a note containing the following;

• What you want to order
• The quantity of each item
• The ship-to address

We will promptly calculate shipping options/costs and contact you via email. Once you have approved the order, simply email or fax your credit card number and expiration date and we will ship your materials right away. That’s it!

Jeanne Gibbs and our staff trainers have personally selected the books offered on our site which compliment the Tribes process. We hope you make tribes.com your first stop when selecting your educational books and materials.

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Have you seen the map? The list? Pretty impressive! Every school on the map or list has either participated in a Tribes TLC training (take a look at the “Courses” page to see all the trainings CenterSource has to offer), or there is a Tribes trainer at the school.  Is your school on the list? Find a location, zoom in on it and you can even switch to satellite view or hybrid view for some cool looks at your community.

If your Tribes school is missing from this list, simply send us your updated information – just click on “contact” and send us your message.  Please include:

• Full name of your school
• Full address of your school including Street Address, City, State/Province and Country
• Your school’s URL (website link)

Periodically, we will update the the list to include your school too!  Check back tomorrow for more new features found on our website!

Related posts:

1. The Tribes Community Forum
2. Our Global Community
3. Creative Community Circle Strategies