Three Ways to Help Students Create Community

Ideas from Lazerbeak & Ilan Blanck, compiled by Nick Truxal

We recently had the great pleasure of speaking with Lazerbeak and Ilan Blanck on our podcast, where we discuss mental health, creativity, curiosity, and a growth mindset.  One thread that, authentically or through sheer force of will, pulled these pieces together was the ability to create and foster a thriving community—a talent Lazerbeak and Ilan have proven to be particularly adept at over their many years in the music industry. 
 
The piece that most intrigues me is that students thirst for community and belonging, yet when educators spend time on building a culture and community, it’s often we tend to build it for our students.  Occasionally, we build it with our students.  In terms of clubs and organizations, we sometimes build it through our students.  However, I have yet to see an educator help students learn how to build a community in which they can belong.
 
In trying to break down the component parts that we may use to help students with community building, we journeyed through several layers of an umbrella process.  Ilan represents these umbrella parts by recommending that we: 

1. Be organized. “Remember people... remember names… remember dates.  Remember who hasn’t [been] seen in awhile… and promises made to get together.”
2. Follow up on those things
3. Be fun to be around and be very charming.  Just be a lovely, good person.

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Organization
Of course, we can teach structure and organization.  Through the conversation, Lazerbeak and Ilan elucidated that the organization of a community requires building an organized system that others can easily join.  This also requires having a structure to reach out to those we admire or value—a clear system through which we can reach out to others.  Structured discussions are wonderful in class, but we need to have the skills to engage in face to face or digital environments—to make calls, send emails, begin conversations, or “send out feelers.”

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Follow Ups
Following up can include strategies of organization (one strategy they shared outside of this podcast is to keep a list of names and conversations as they take place).  We can, of course, also lean on calendar reminders, clock apps, and other technologies to be notified to follow up.

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Being Fun
The piece that may be the hardest to teach—essentially having a tone of approachability—they luckily also had specific ideas for. 

• Showing appreciation whenever possible: things such as handwritten notes, sincere verbal thank yous, or just returning the favor. 
• Showing a sincere curiosity for the work and thoughts of others, both through that initial reach out and in an ongoing fashion.  Such as, how is their dog doing, and what happened with that great song draft they’d created? 
• Taking care of ourselves so we can perform at our best.  They recommended gratitude journals and mindfulness in order to stay at “peak us.”  

So!  I am sincerely curious as to who is out there.  This is my attempt to reach out and see if we can interact a little more often.  I’d like to belong to a community of people who want to grow.  I want to be a part of a community that wants to grow together and that wants to help others to grow.  What say you?  And even if you aren’t interested—thank you for being engaged enough to read this far.

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Lazerbeak and Ilan speak with Third Eye's Podcast team, 2021

A Rich Process of Creation
with Lazerbeak & Ilan  |  8.3.2021
Two amazing Minnesota music minds discuss how to help students and educators create communities, as well as how to stay as the best versions of ourselves.

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