TL;DR:
- Morning meetings are a great way to connect with your students.
- They provide opportunities for Social-Emotional Learning.
- Morning meetings provide an outlet for students to feel heard.
One thing I love about teaching is the unexpected moments when you sit and laugh with your students. Every day brings me joy and a smile because I choose to be intentional with a positive mindset.
It is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day requirements beyond the classroom, which causes us not to notice what is happening right in front of us. However, most educators would agree that the students bring us the most joy, and the moments teaching them are why we are there every day.
Morning meetings unite the classroom community and make all students feel heard and important. Click To TweetMorning Meetings
Morning meetings are one way to connect with my students and allow the joy to begin my day. Earlier in the year, my co-teacher and I decided to play a game of telephone at the end of our morning meeting. We do this to teach the students how powerful words can be and what can happen when they travel from person to person. The message in this telephone activity was “Positivity.” We had been focusing on that theme for the week, so we felt it was a good reminder. We asked the last person to share the message when it got around the circle. Instead of saying “positivity,” they shouted, “Pause the TV!”
The class erupted in laughter. This little “giggle fest” lasted several minutes as we enjoyed the game’s outcome. This was a beautiful display of a classroom community that had flourished. Our morning meetings created a community where we share our voices, appreciation, and kindness.
“Pause the TV” is now how we end our morning meetings. First, I ask the leader, “What is it time for?” The reply is, “Pause the TV!” Then they give the class a positive thought to begin our day and to think about throughout the day. It always brings a smile to everyone’s faces when I ask, “What is it time for?” because it reminds us of that particular moment we shared.
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Morning Meetings Build Social-Emotional Learning.
Morning meetings are such a great way to build relationships and community. Sometimes students want to be heard, and these daily meetings provide them with that opportunity. Critical concepts for social-emotional learning can be focused on each week during this time.
Kindness
Gratitude
Friendship
Empathy
Compassion
Community
Hope
Patience
Creativity
Commitment
Perseverance
Honesty
These themes build upon each other and help the students be intentional with their actions throughout the day.
Once we have spent time on those concepts in our classroom, our morning meetings always have those key elements.
We begin with the leader checking in with everyone: “How are you feeling today—fist to five.”
Kindness shoutouts
Sharing gratitude
The topic/concept of the day
“Pause the TV” – end with a positive thought
Morning meetings unite the classroom community and make all students feel heard and important.
They also may bring some joyful and unexpected moments that remind you of your true purpose in this profession.
About Bridget Gengler
Bridget Gengler is a fourth grade teacher in Long Beach, California. She has taught bilingual education, general education, and GATE for the past 26 years. She’s passionate about building relationships and a strong classroom community that opens up doors of success for her students. She strives to empower all students to share their voices and their stories. Her class motto is “ You matter! You are important! You have a story to tell and we want to hear it!” She brings her love of reading and writing to the classroom in the hopes that it will promote lifelong readers and writers.
Bridget believes that self-care is essential in an educator’s life. She takes time to focus on gratitude, mindfulness and kindness during the day. She contributes this balance to her success in the classroom.
Family is number one for her! Her most precious job is being a mom to four young adults, an energetic lab puppy, and a wife to a wonderful husband. When she is not teaching, writing or reading she is creating memories with them. They love to travel, discover new restaurants, and watch professional baseball.
