Hello! I'm back talking about morning meetings AGAIN...but I believe they are very important and so talking about them can be justified! :)
I had the privilege of attending a panel with 6 speakers on morning meetings. Each one of these speakers were 6th grade teachers and they all did a morning meeting in their classrooms. I had to leave about 20 minutes into the discussion because of a 4 letter word...
Yup, that is right my kids made me leave. They didn't really make me leave, however they were being loud and fussy. So in retrospect, I chose to leave as a courtesy to others that actually wanted to listen and learn from these teachers and to add I felt slightly unprofessional. While I was there for such a sort time, there was one thing that really stuck out to me and has stuck with me all week. One of the teachers referred to her morning meeting the "heart and soul" of their classroom.
She said, "Morning meeting is what KEEPS her class together." Let me repeat that..."Morning meeting is what KEEPS her class together." I just loved that.
She said her class has what is called CPR. When I think of CPR, I think of this....I'm sure that is what you think of as well.
But when she refers to CPR, she is referring to this:
Classroom-Circle
Power
Respect
Just like CPR can save someones life. CPR in the classroom can save a student and help you to have a community within the classroom.
When we become teachers, we are expected to know management, curriculum, and the students. We are to see the students as individuals..because that is what they are. However, that is easier said than done. In Fulfilling the Promise, Carol Ann Tomlinson said, "Teaching asks us to do the impossible. It asks us to establish ties with each child-not to establish ties with all the children as though they were one student. They are not. The truth is, we will never really do all each child needs us to do. A simultaneous truth is that the first truth is no reason to stop trying " (Tomlinson, 2003. pg. 22).
I'm so sorry you had to leave early!! Your kids are adorable though. As you know, I also attended the seminar. I really liked the CPR--Classroom of Power and Respect. Very clever! I think you had already left, but something I really liked was said by Sabrina D'very. She said for their first morning meeting she writes the sentence 'Magic happens when we work together!" on card stock and cuts it up. First, students take a piece and color/decorate it. Then they have to work together to put the sentence back together. I loved this idea because it totally shows what morning meetings are for--to work together and learn from each other. I think I'll do this activity for my first morning meeting! Do you think you'll use CPR in your classroom??
ReplyDeleteYes I'm sure I'll use CPR in my classroom. I honestly believe that most morning meetings already have CPR they just haven't been pointed out. I must have left...but, I love that idea also, I want to use it as well! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteYay for you (and everyone else who attended that day!)
ReplyDelete