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Articles

Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

What Is Morning Meeting?

Responsive Classroom Morning Meeting is an engaging way to start each day, build a strong sense of community, and set children up for success socially and academically. Each morning, students and teachers gather together in a circle for twenty to thirty minutes and interact with one another during four purposeful…
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Jun 07 2016

Improving Academic Outcomes Using the Responsive Classroom Approach

The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (often referred to as The Nation’s Report Card) was recently released. The results made clear that today’s students are struggling with both reading and math, as there were noticeable declines in both subjects compared to previous report cards.  How Social and Emotional…
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Nov 30 2022

How to Support a Guest Teacher During a Teacher’s Absence

Throughout the school year, there will be times when you will be absent. Whether your absence is planned or unexpected, prepare for these instances at the beginning of the school year by using the following structures. About the Term “Guest Teacher” Unlike the more common “substitute teacher,” this title conveys…
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Sep 30 2022

Everything You Need to Know to Use Morning Meeting at the Start of the School Year

Morning Meeting is an effective way to start any day throughout the school year, but it is especially impactful at the beginning of the year when you are looking to build a strong sense of community with a new class of students. Whether you are interested in trying Morning Meeting…
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Aug 12 2022

The Presenter’s Point of View: What is the hardest part about infusing the Responsive Classroom approach into your own classroom?

It might be hard to believe, but our elementary and middle school course presenters were once themselves Responsive Classroom beginners. In this installment of The Presenter’s Point of View, they look back on their own experiences applying the Responsive Classroom approach for the first time and share valuable insights into…
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Jul 15 2022

What You Don’t Know

One of the most meaningful ways we as educators can engage with Responsive Classroom's fifth guiding principle (What we know and believe about our students—individually, culturally, developmentally—informs our expectations, reactions, and attitudes about those students) is to put ourselves in our students’ shoes. In the poem below, Jenni Lee Groegler…
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Mar 18 2022

Valuing Differences – Ways to Bring Students’ Unique Backgrounds to the Forefront of Their Learning

Centering equity and justice in my teaching practice has taken time and even caused moments of intense self-doubt and feelings of failure. Sometimes these feelings of doubt come from the sense that the process of creating equity needs to be complex and deep. But over the years, I’ve found that…
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Feb 18 2022

Handle the Holidays With Morning Meeting

As the holiday season gets into full swing, maintaining a productive and pleasant classroom atmosphere can become a difficult task. During this time of year, students are frequently distracted by the excitement of holiday events at home and school events such as assemblies, class plays, and holiday dinners, which can…
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Dec 10 2021

The Power of Purposeful Assessment

Every educator had hoped to begin this school year in a more familiar fashion, but as the year kicks off, it is clear that we are still not even close to normal. After the learning disruptions of the past two school years, it is reasonable for educators to wonder, “What…
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Oct 15 2021

Empowering Educators to Get to Know Their Students: A Conversation with Authors Andy Moral and Heather Young

  Early in the school year, all educators are faced with the same important task: getting to know their new students. To learn some effective strategies for making connections with students at the beginning of a new school year, Responsive Classroom sat down with Andy Moral and Heather Young. Andy…
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Sep 24 2021
How Responsive Classroom Practices Can Act as the Glue for a Virtual Classroom

How Responsive Classroom Practices Can Act as the Glue for a Virtual Classroom

Ever since March 23, 2020, when the school where I work, Steel City Academy, transitioned to virtual learning, I’ve found myself constantly asking what education will look like moving forward. This school year, the majority of students at Steel City Academy are still learning virtually (a small percentage of students…
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Nov 12 2020
MM and CC online

Providing A Sense of Normalcy Amidst Uncertainty

Morning Meeting and closing circle are the bookends of the day. These powerful strategies ensure that students start and close their days with a sense of purpose and connectedness. These time-honored routines and rituals can provide a sense of normalcy for both teachers and students. Many educators have been engaging…
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Mar 31 2020
Maintaining a Positive Community Remotely

Maintaining a Positive Community Remotely

Over the weekend, a friend shared a video with me that you may have seen as well, as it has been widely shared on social media. The video was taken in a neighborhood in Naples, Italy, a country that is currently under national quarantine. Despite that restriction, the residents of…
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Mar 19 2020
Poetry

Six Ways to Celebrate Poetry Month in the Classroom

Did you know that according to poets.org, National Poetry Month is actually the biggest literary celebration in the world? It’s never too early to start fostering a love of the English language with your students, and there’s no better time to begin than Poetry Month! Following are some great ways…
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Apr 25 2019

Highlighting Academics with Belonging, Significance and Fun

“When we start the day with everyone together, face to face, welcoming each person, sharing news, listening to individual voices, and communicating as a caring group, we make several powerful statements. We say that every person counts. We say that the way we interact individually and as a group is…
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Jan 02 2019
Restoring Trust After Bullying

Restoring Trust After Bullying

We do our best to create positive learning communities and stop bullying before it starts, but when bullying has already happened, how do you repair the classroom community? We asked Responsive Classroom teachers what their strategies are for rebuilding safety and trust in the classroom, and here’s what they had…
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Oct 25 2018
Creating Lasting Change

Creating Lasting Change

Michelle Gill is a professional development designer at the Center for Responsive Schools, and former educator at Garfield Elementary School in Fairfax County, Virginia. During her time at Garfield, she was part of a transformative Responsive Classroom initiative that established a climate of growth, possibility, and high achievement. We asked…
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Sep 21 2018
Hopeful teacher and students

What Are Your Hopes?

As we prepare for our upcoming Teachers and Leadership Conferences, we’ve been thinking a lot about hope. Students’ hopes and dreams are, of course, an integral part of the beginning of the school year. In addition to providing students with a model for setting and achieving goals, having students name…
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Jul 26 2018

It’s Time to Reconnect

Helping students build relationships with each other is a key to creating an optimal learning environment. Stronger bonds mean students will be less likely to be unkind, to exclude others, to call each other names, or to stand by in the face of mean behavior toward a classmate. The safer…
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Mar 22 2018

Stop Bullying Before It Starts

National Bullying Prevention Month is an opportunity to reflect on a serious problem that not only deprives students of a joyful learning environment, but can have toxic effects on the recipient that extend into adulthood, such as difficulty sleeping, anxiety, and depression. While teachers and other adults who work in…
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Oct 12 2017
Getting Started with Responsive Classroom

Getting Started with Responsive Classroom

It’s July. You’re in that sweet spot between packing up your classroom for the summer and unpacking it again for the new school year. You’re not ready for summer to end, but you’ve just gotten back from your first Responsive Classroom four-day course and you find yourself thinking about your…
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Jul 20 2017
Bring Social Studies Into Morning Meeting

Bring Social Studies Into Morning Meeting

It’s the end of the week and Mrs. Cofie’s fourth-graders are gathering in the meeting area to begin Morning Meeting. As they find their places in the circle, they review the morning message. In Mrs. Cofie’s classroom, Friday’s message is always connected to the week’s social studies learning. There’s a…
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Jun 21 2017

Helping Students Give Effective Compliments

Jane, a fourth grade teacher, was reviewing compliments her students had given one another on a recently completed set of projects. On sticky notes, the students had written things like “It looks like you put a lot of time and effort into your project,” “I noticed you put very detailed…
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Feb 15 2017
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Adapting Morning Meeting: Speech and Anxiety Needs

Morning Meeting is a powerful way to start the day. It meets students’ needs for belonging, significance, and fun; provides students with an opportunity to practice social and emotional skills; and prepares students for the days’ learning. As a classroom teacher I enjoyed Morning Meeting with my students and looked…
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Sep 09 2015
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Morning Meeting Visits: Sharing Ideas and Insights

I enjoy planning Morning Meetings for my students, and each year I see how beneficial these gatherings are in creating a positive classroom community. I’ve also found that sharing and being exposed to new Morning Meeting ideas is a great way to keep things fresh, deepen my practice, and learn…
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Mar 30 2015
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Adapting Morning Meeting Greeting for ELL Students

Responsive Classroom Morning Meeting is a powerful way to create a classroom climate of respectful, engaged learning and the greeting component sets the tone by helping all students feel noticed and appreciated at the very start of the meeting. But how do you help ELL students participate fully in greeting?…
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Mar 18 2015
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Doing Language Arts in Morning Meeting

Responsive Classroom Morning Meeting is a great way to set a positive tone for the day of learning ahead while also having fun and building community. It’s also a great way to give students rich experience with the language arts. Into each meeting component—greeting, sharing, group activity, and morning message—teachers…
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Feb 05 2015

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Classroom Management & Discipline
Positive Community
Whole School
Teacher Language
Morning Meeting
First Weeks of School
Engaging Academics
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Positive Language
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