Building Social Skills and Academics with Morning Meeting!

I am so thrilled with my schedule this year! 

Last year my students had RTI first thing in the morning, so I could never spend mornings with them. They came in, dropped off their stuff, and ran off to their Tier 2 assigned groups. This made it tough to build relationships with my students and build community within my group.

 

This year, the children stay in the classroom in the morning, and we are encouraged to start our day with Morning Meeting!

Most typical Morning Meetings have these parts:

1. Greeting

2. Sharing

3. Group Activity

4. Morning Message

There are many ways to do each part, and hundreds of references for ideas, but here are a few: (These are affiliate links) 

The Morning Meeting Book K-8

80 Morning Meeting Ideas for Grades K-2

99 Activities and Greetings: Great for Morning Meetings - and Other Meetings Too

Doing Science in Morning Meeting

Doing Social Studies in Morning Meeting

Why do Morning Meeting?

Morning Meetings help build social and emotional skills, community, and teamwork. They also help children develop a positive tone for their day and affect their focus and productivity for the rest of the school day. Morning Meetings help establish a climate of trust and motivate students to feel significant. They also build relationships with classmates and teachers.

Looking for some ideas for the group activity? Try these: 60 Team Building Games and Activities for Classrooms.

I did Morning Meetings ages ago (I'd estimate 20+ years!) but I haven't been able to do them recently, so it's like starting over! I'd love to hear what other teachers do during their morning meetings!

I've Got This!

I'm trying to muster up all my courage and all my stamina, because I'm about to run a marathon!

After a fabulous summer with lots of rest, relaxation, and good times, I'm going back to school.

I'm looking forward to seeing my colleagues again, and I'm really excited about my schedule this year!

Plus, I get to meet my kids tomorrow night at the Open House!

And I get to have them in my class starting Wednesday!

This year will be tough (they all have been, in some ways!) but I'm trying to be positive and look forward to the year. 

After all, I can't be on summer vacation forever! 

(But I sure will miss staying in jammies until noon!)

I've been giving myself a lot of "coaching"... kind, encouraging words.  I thought perhaps you could use some, too.

This is from my Dad, the football coach. I say this to myself often!

Every time I get stressed about how much we have to teach and how little time we have to teach it: (the visual works for me, too!)

 

As above, I do get stressed! (I suspect we all do!)

 

Being a fan of the arts, I love this quote from John Steinbeck!

This is my own quote. You could sort of say it's my mission!

Just a little reminder how important it is to build bonds with the children!

This is also my own quote. It's something I remind myself frequently!

Have a great school year!

My "Not So Cute" Classroom

They're all over the internet this time of year: Those sweet, adorable classrooms with perfectly matched accessories and delightfully painted shelves, and cleverly decorated bulletin boards.  I admit, I love looking at the pictures of the "Pinterest worthy" classrooms, and imagine what it might be like with one of those classrooms. Seriously, if I win the lottery, I'll use some of the money to hire a decorator for my classroom.

 

 

My classroom doesn't look like these. First of all, I don't have the "decorator's eye" that these teachers have. Second of all, I don't have time to sand, paint, and decorate all the furniture in matching colors. Nor do I have the money. (Did I mention I was a single parent, still recovering from sending my daughter to college?) Third of all, I just don't have the time, since I'm busy teaching!

My classroom is real. 

It has furniture I have inherited over 40 years of teaching. 

Here are a couple of my chairs, both held together with duct tape. The top one is usually hidden by my desk, where I rarely sit, but couldn't live without, since it's where I pile everything! The bottom chair is a classic. It's one of the few adult chairs where my feet actually reach the floor. It looked great a couple of years ago when I covered it with duct tape. And over the years, it has earned the nickname, "The Drop Chair!" Seriously, anyone who sits in it eventually drops stuff!

You can see a corner of my desk here, nothing fancy. I went out and bought these cheap, plastic, white shelves, and have several throughout the classroom. They're not very sturdy, but I need the space. (I'm not completely unpacked yet, these are usually much more crowded with "overflow" from my desk!) Thankfully, these white shelves lighten up the classroom, and offer plenty of space!

Speaking of shelves, most of mine don't match. At the top, are some second hand metal shelves. Yes, they make noise when the kids bump into them. No, they're not all the same color. But if you look closely, you'll see all my kids' book boxes match, and I've got tons of great books!

 

 

My file cabinets. 

No, the green one doesn't lock. 

Neither do the others.

But they hold my stuff!

 

 The door doesn't work on my closet. 

When you turn the knob, two metal pieces just clang together. When I shut it, I have to tuck it in.

But it still holds my "job chart" just fine! 

 

 My rug was in another classroom before I got it. 

It has holes from pencils, and "permadirt". 

But it's still a comfortable place to sit and listen to stories and lessons.

My easel is new to me this year, but not new to the school. I have yet to get the 3 legs even. It's probably the only whiteboard easel in the school that is NOT magnetic. But it holds chart paper!

 

 

My desks don't match. They are covered in "permadirt" and scratches. The chairs don't match and aren't all good sizes for the kids I have. The legs aren't adjustable, so some kids will have legs swinging and others will barely fit their legs under their desks.

But I have enough desks for them all!

I have a number of shelves and tables throughout the classroom. None of them match, they could use a good sanding and painting or staining. But luckily I have plenty of places to put games, books, supplies, and, of course, children.

I'm still working on my classroom, and it's going to look a whole lot better than it does now. But I've learned not to compare my "hand me down" classroom with those "Pinterest worthy" classrooms. 

Why?

Because that's not what it's all about! Teaching is about the kids. We make the best of all we have, and my focus is always on the kids. I plan to keep them so busy learning and having fun that they won't even notice that our furniture isn't the best!

Six Strategies for Success in School: A Classroom Management System and More!

I had a very challenging class a few years ago!

I admit, I loved each and every one of them, but the combination of kiddos really was exhausting. I had behavior challenges, learning challenges, and a whole lot of kiddos who needed to talk and who needed to move a whole lot! They needed plenty of attention, and plenty of opportunities to let off steam. 

 

I've had all these challenges before, but I never had so many challenges all in one group!

After that year, I made sure I enjoyed these luxuries during the summer:

-extra cups of coffee - while they're still warm

-relaxed conversations with grown-ups

-reading books written for adults

-eating breakfast in my jammies

-going to the gym, with the energy to work out

and most of all... 

-peeing when I need to!

But I also spent a lot of time thinking about that group, and trying to come up with ideas that I could start at the beginning of the year that could prevent some of the issues I had.

My dad always taught me: 

and that's just what I planned to do!

After much thought, I decided on the most important strategies I wanted to focus on in my classroom.

I decided to spend a whole lot of time at the beginning of the school year teaching these strategies for success!

I made posters with an explanation for each strategy. 

I made one for each of the six strategies, and made strategy response booklets for the children to write their thoughts. 

 

Be safe

Be respectful! 

 

Be responsible!

 

Be a team player 

 

Be mindful! 

Be an active learner!

 

As you can see, the posters are available in color as well as black and white for the kids to color and think about.

 

Plus, there are other items to share with the children:

 

These posters for bulletin boards, student "strategy response booklets, and bookmarks help internalize the concepts of each strategy!

 

I have students complete self-assessments quarterly, usually just before report cards or parent conferences. If their assessment doesn't match mine, we have a talk!

These pages could also be used in interactive notebooks.

My plan was to take a day or two discussing the meaning of each strategy, listing the children's ideas, giving examples and non-examples, and making sure the children really understood what each strategy meant before they completed that page in their strategy response booklets. 

The Mindfulness strategy took a little longer, especially those who came from classes that didn't do any mindfulness activities in the past.

I did manage to find a few websites with some awesome explanations and activities for helping children understand and practice Mindfulness.

8 Ways to Teach Mindfulness

Fun Ways to Teach Your Kids Mindfulness

10 Ways to Teach Mindfulness to Kids

What Happened Next?

After much discussion, we decided on a gesture for each strategy. Every morning, after the Pledge of Allegiance and the school chant, my students would recite the 6 Strategies for Success, complete with the gestures we created together. My plan definitely had a strong influence on the classroom community! They were safe, respectful, responsible, team players, mindful, and active learners!

 

Since I started using this system, confidence in my students has increased, and their awareness of the social/ emotional climate in themselves, as well as their classmates, has soared!

Explore this resource here! 

 

What Can We Do About the Hate?

I'm sure you're as concerned as I am. We all are. 

It seems to be getting worse. It's all over the news.  

Dallas, Orlando, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Boston Marathon, Columbine...

Black lives matter, Cop lives matter, Gay lives matter...

 It's about lack of trust. It's about mental health. It's about guns...

Really, it's all about hate.  And it's eating away at me.

So, what can we do about it?

That's what I do. Every time I hear of another horror, I pray. 

It's frustrating because I want to do more!

As a teacher, I've been searching the corners of my brain, trying to think of what we can do to turn this around. 

One thing to think about

It's important to teach children to respect police officers. 

How do we do this?

Let them interact with police officers! 

I'm lucky I teach in a small town.

Most of the police officers in my town are former students, or parents of former students.

We take our second graders to the police station every year. 

The whole police staff is amazing to the kids! 

They let the kids climb into the police vehicles.

They let the kids have lunch in their lunch room. 

They give the kids pencils and water bottles with the police logo on them,

and they even take pretend "mug shots" of the kiddos! (and the teachers)

I'm such a ham, aren't I?

An interesting point... when the children asked about the "bad guys" having their pictures taken, this is what they heard:

"They're not bad people. 

They're good people who made bad choices."

I try to believe this. There are a lot of good people who have made bad choices: perhaps by how they are brought up, or perhaps because of things they have experienced, or perhaps because of a chemical imbalance in their brain. We need to help these people. Help them learn to make good choices.

I hope there are a whole lot more people out there that insist that people are good, but sometimes make bad choices. 

That's what gains respect... or loses it. The way we see people. 

Are they good, or bad? I believe they are good.

Another thing to think about:

Only love will conquer the hate. 

Let the kids see you being kind to others.

Let them see you let that car in that's been waiting.

Let them see you hold the door for the person behind you.

Smile at strangers.

Give up your seat on the bus.

Volunteer at a soup kitchen.

Visit a nursing home.

Offer to babysit for a friend, for free.

Donate blood.

Apologize.

Give money to the poor and needy.

Find opportunities to be kind to others.

And let the children see it. 

Here are some nice visuals of people doing good deeds.

I, for one, refuse to let hate have the last word. 

I believe that love will conquer hate.

I believe things will get better.

What are your ideas? 

What can we do?