For this short post, I want you to think about your classroom (or any classroom you are in this quarter) through a metaphorical lens. Describe your classroom as if it were a biological ecosystem, or a neighborhood, or a computer network, or a beehive, or some other collective structure. Try to capture the structures, expectations, traditions, and other foundational aspects that give your ecosystem stability and order (such that they may exist there). What are the forces of chaos? What symbioses exist? Where is your niche and what is your role within this niche? Who are the other beings that exist here, and what are their various characteristics and roles?

Use this metaphor to explore all the things that go on in your class environment. If you can, see if you can identify the central principles that govern your ecosystem.