[meg5257]

Does anyone use Morning Meeting? I’ve been hearing so much about it and would like to hear some pros and cons. This is the MM connected to Responsive Classroom. Thanks!

[Eliza]

I am a specialist, not a classroom teacher, but I am involved in morning meetings all the same. We love it. We have a school-wide morning meeting once a month, which is also a lot of fun.

This is our second year where morning meeting is required. Specialists, special ed teacher, specials teachers, etc (anyone without a grade-level class) attends morning meeting. We rotate so that we're in a different morning meeting every month. While some of those people come only to address issues that are occurring, most of us attend every day. It's so much fun and it allows all of us to remember that kids are kids.

Pros:

• Gives kids a chance to ease into the day
• Builds community
• It's usually fun
• Can also be used to deal with issues
• The time you lose (see below) is more than made up in student buy-in throughout the day

Cons:

• It takes time (though only about 15 minutes)
• You need teacher buy-in or it's a disaster
• Kids know when a teacher thinks it's BS

[Irish]

I did it before I retired. I began with a morning written message on the board (chalkboard, smart board or whiteboard) It was basically a letter written for them to read they also had a copy on their desks. We highlighted words of interest....sight works, rhyming words or whatever. They had place on the bottom to respond to the question at the end of the message. Then we shared. It was a good way to begin our day as kids entered the room and got prepared.

Our actual meeting we did the calendar...quick math skills ..

I liked because we got in a good frame mind to start the day.

You can do what works for your students.

I subbed after I retired and the classes that had some sort of morning structed routine had a calmer day.

[meg5257]

Thank you for sharing about Morning Meeting

[hand]

I used morning meeting from Responsive classroom for the last three years before I retired. We had several inservices with responsive classroom trainers. I taught first grade and one book I found very helpful was 80 Morning Meeting Ideas for K-2. I think it is about $20 on Amazon. My school had a copy. I really enjoyed it. It was a great way to start the day. I added review things to my morning message. For example I might say “ yesterday we practiced addition strategies. What strategies would you use to solve these equations 48+4, 65+7? Or “yesterday we read a non- fiction book about dolphins. Can you tell me a fact you learned?
It is important to model and practice greeting each other. Practice one greeting like a handshake several days before you try a different greeting. Make sure they look at the person and greet them by name. The book has ideas for different greetings, also. Make sure you practice expectations especially if you are rolling a ball for a greeting.
I think it added a lot to my classroom community.