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 Read More »
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FEB
19
2020
Student Sharing: A Strategy for Culturally Responsive Teaching
Responsive Classroom strategies, structures, and techniques offer a wide array of practices we can use for culturally responsive teaching. One of these strategies is student sharing. Providing opportunities for students Read More…
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DEC
19
2019
Building a Positive Community Through Reflection
As the year draws to an end, we find ourselves reflecting on the past 12 months. New Year’s Eve in 2019 also marks the end of the decade! Reflection can Read More…
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DEC
13
2019
Stop and Think: Teaching Students to Reflect
As educators, we all want to help our students develop valuable life-long skills, including the ability to think critically about their own work, truly know themselves and their learning styles, Read More…
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JUL
26
2018
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 Read More…
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SEP
09
2015
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; Read More…
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APR
09
2015
The Building Blocks of Collaboration: Partner and Small-Group Chats (Grades 5–6)
Children learn a great deal, academically and socially, by collaborating—working together toward common goals. A good way to help students begin developing collaboration skills is by teaching them how to Read More…
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NOV
12
2014
Keeping Sharing Fresh
In my conversations with teachers I hear a common concern about Morning Meeting at this time of year—how to move forward with sharing. Teachers have long lists of varied ideas for greeting…
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APR
15
2014
Morning Meeting Lesson Plans . . . Where to Begin?
Do you think a lot about how to create Morning Meetings that positively impact each day and prepare your students for the learning to come? I'll share a little secret that has…
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APR
11
2014
Sharing Leads to Learning
Sharing is a rich and vital part of a daily Morning Meeting, a key Responsive Classroom practice in which all classroom members—grown-ups and students—gather in a circle for twenty to thirty minutes…
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APR
11
2014
Teaching Skillful Communication
Ryan holds up the book so all his classmates can see the cover and begins: "Reptile Facts is my favorite first grade book. Every first grader should read this book because it…
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OCT
01
2012
Teaching Children to Disagree
Not long ago I watched an animated group of second graders happily share their opinions about a children's picture book. They were responding to their teacher's open-ended question about what might have…
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AUG
01
2012
Memory Collections and Community Building
Like every teacher, I spend part of each summer imagining the students who will be in my care for the next 180 days and thinking about the best way to begin the…
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MAR
20
2012
Sharing Idea: My Favorite Season . . . and Here’s Why!
Here’s a Morning Meeting sharing idea from 80 Morning Meeting Ideas for Grades K–2, by Susan Lattanzi Roser: My Favorite Season . . . and Here’s Why! Challenges students to Read More…
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JAN
24
2012
Helping One, Helping All
Every year we teachers have some students who present challenges to themselves, to their classmates, and to us. In Sammy and His Behavior Problems, I wrote about one such student, Sammy, a…
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AUG
01
2010
The Swan
At the beginning of first grade, Erick was a sweet, thoughtful boy who struggled with self-control. From the first days of school, his actions revealed his caring nature: He consoled a classmate…
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DEC
15
2009
Handling the Holidays: Morning Meeting Sharing
Tips on using Morning Meeting sharing to set a positive tone during the build-up to winter holidays and vacation. Themed shares. This is a great time of year to have Read More…
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NOV
01
2009
Knowing and Being Known Through Sharing
I firmly believe that the better I know students—the more I understand the joys and challenges of their daily lives—the more responsively I can teach them. Similarly, the better they know each…
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NOV
01
2008
Lively & Artful Sharings
Mr. Saunders' class had been doing the sharing component of Morning Meeting since school started in the fall. After several months of daily practice, he knew he could count on sharers to…
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AUG
01
2007
The Art of Commenting
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…
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FEB
01
2006
A Sustaining Routine
Megan’s Great Uncle John was dying of cancer, and she needed to share this distressing experience with her fourth grade classmates. During a Morning Meeting Sharing in October, Megan explained that her…
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AUG
01
2005
Themed Sharing during Morning Meeting
Question: Do you have a theme that you like to use occasionally to guide Sharing during Morning Meeting? What makes it work well with your students?
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APR
01
2004
Speaking Up
Question:Every year I have students who seldom or never speak up in a large group. Often, but not always, these are children from non-mainstream cultures. Do you think it’s important for all…
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FEB
01
2004
Keeping Connected
It’s sharing time during Morning Meeting in Ms. Roberts’s first grade classroom. Jarrod is enthusiastically telling his classmates about the photos they will see when they look at his “family album.” The…
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JAN
31
2002
Restless in Morning Meeting
February 2002Question:I teach first grade. I find that by the end of Morning Meeting, my students tend to be fidgety and restless, so I’ve been taking them out for recess after meeting…
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SEP
30
2001
A Comfortable Routine in Uncomfortable Times
In the days and weeks following the events of September 11th, many teachers and children around the country gathered each morning in the comforting routine of Morning Meeting, a daily ritual that…
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