On a late spring morning, Mr. Marino’s fourth graders are gathered quietly on their Morning Meeting rug, all eyes on Joe, whose turn it is to share.
“I played a basketball game on Saturday,” Joe says. “We lost, but my team played really hard together and I think I played my best. I’m ready for questions and comments.”
Several hands go up. Joe chooses Amanda. “You sound like you felt good about the game even though you didn’t win,” she says.
A: When we do a Seat-Switch Greeting, the children enjoy moving around to sit in different spots—they think it’s really funny if they end up sitting right next to where they started out. They also appreciate the chance to greet new people, "not just your best friend every day," as one student said.
No matter how carefully we teach positive behavior, students will still sometimes misbehave. They'll forget the rules, their impulses will win out over their self-control, or they'll just need to test where the limits are. For example:
Janna rolls her eyes and snickers as Hector shares details of his weekend visit with his cousin during Morning Meeting.
William takes a pencil from a neighbor's desk and refuses to return it when asked by his classmate.
The beginning of the school year is a time for building relationships. I purposefully plan morning meetings, energizers, and other activities so students get to know each other and so our class community can begin to develop. I spend time observing, working with, and talking with students so I can learn more about them both personally and academically. But a few years ago I realized I was neglecting an important relationship at the beginning of the school year—my relationship with my students' families.
Do you often wonder how to keep the sense of comfortable routine while also varying Morning Meetings enough to keep students (and adults) interested and engaged? Greetings can be especially important because they set the tone for the whole meeting—and the whole day. Here's another answer to a question teachers frequently ask. Next week, we'll share more frequently asked questions about greetings.
A few years ago, I had a student who broke me. During our very first Morning Meeting, as my brand new class met each other, he slapped another first grader. Hard. As the year progressed, his behavior challenges continued. He pushed over desks, punched children on the playground, and drew threatening pictures of me. I cried almost every day after school and doubted my abilities as a teacher, even though I'd been teaching since 1992. I even considered leaving teaching at year's end.
Scanning around our Morning Meeting circle, I noticed that students' eyes were riveted on the sharer—all except for Justin, a child with a high need for sensory input and physical movement. Justin was ramping up. His eyes were flashing from me to the sharer. His hands were flapping, and he was beginning to lean towards the student sitting next to him. I knew I had to intervene before his behavior escalated and disrupted our Morning Meeting.
We should all take a cue from this season's name: spring up from our seats and get moving! Take a break outside or just stand up and do a quick energizer—it will help lessons run more smoothly and increase your students' engagement and learning. Not sure your class can make an efficient transition from play back to work? Try launching (or ending) a lesson with an academic-focused Morning Meeting group activity, an energizer, or a song that's related to the topic of the lesson.
Here’s another children’s book that might come in handy early in the school year. Say Hello!, a picture book by Rachel Isadora, is a good one for when you are introducing Morning Meeting, especially greetings, to your class. In this book, Carmelita, her mother, and their dog Manny run errands in their city. As they do so, they greet friends and merchants in the languages they all speak.
Singing a familiar tune or chant in another language can enliven a Morning Meeting, be a fun energizer, and help meet the needs of the growing number of second language learners in our classrooms.
