Morning Meeting

Hey!

So today, I'm going to take a second to talk about Morning Meetings. 

What is a morning meeting you ask?                             It is an engaging time for the students in your class to build a strong sense of community, and it sets students up for success socially and academically. 

I LOVE the idea of having a morning meeting in my own classroom. A morning meeting should be around 30 minutes long while sitting in a circle on the floor where everyone can be seen.

Today we were privileged enough to have a quest speaker come to our class and share her expertise on morning meetings. She uses an outline for her morning meeting that I really liked. I'll explain the order she does things and why she does them. 

Components of a Morning Meeting:

Class Creed- They are important to have and it can be a way to teach tid-bits of literacy/grammar, and also teach on a social aspect of life. Students need to understand it, and BELIEVE in it.

Greetings-This is where you are making connections with your students. This time can also be used to discuss/teach things such as eye contact or respect. 

Pledge- Students will STAND and REPEAT the pledge, EVERYDAY! (Did you know it was a law!??)

Memorization- Have a quote or poem for them to memorize. It will never be homework. It shouldn't cause students stress and they should feel no pressure having to memorize something. With saying it daily, they will end up learning it.

Class Business- This is when the teacher will take over and cover things that need to be covered.

Goal Setting- What goals should be made for the week? Have students set goals.

Vegetables- What is good for us. A time to set expectations, or talk about behaviors you noticed or do a little math problem.

Dessert- Compliments don't need to be given everyday. But when you see good behavior, tell them.

Medicine- Do this only when there is a management issue.

2 Literary Terms- These will be on the end of year testing, so in order to be sure the students know them, practice one or two a day.

One quote- have them be INFERENCES. Place them around the room and if there is ever a time that something relates to a past inference, bring it up.

News or Current Events- I LOVE the idea of letting kids talk about a current even and even explaining it to them and comforting them.

Share- Students love to share. Letting them share at this time will save a lot of time in the day.

Class Joke- Share a joke! or do a chant!

During my field observation last semester, I was in a 1st grade class where the teacher did a morning meeting each morning. The students LOVED it! I was able to actually put on a couple morning meetings with my field partner. Our cooperating teacher was really big into doing an activity. It could be any activity as long as it included everyone and made them feel welcomed. She owned this book, The Morning Meeting Book by Roxann Kriete which is full of fun activities to do during morning meeting. I enjoyed reading this book and choosing activities to use for the morning meetings!

In conclusion, morning meetings are a time for the student to get to know you and for you to really get to know the student. You learn things about students during morning meeting that you may have never known about them otherwise. They are a time to create a classroom community of friendship and trust. As a teacher, one very important thing to remember is to NEVER-EVER sit at your desk during morning meeting. It is a time for you to be VERY present!

...now, let's have a morning meeting! :)