Morning Meeting PeaceBuilders HINTS

MORNING MEETING Morning Meeting sets the tone for respectful learning and establishes a climate of trust. The tone and climate of Morning Meeting extend beyond the Meeting. Morning Meeting motivates children by addressing two human needs: the need to feel a sense of significance and belonging and the need to have fun. Morning Meeting merges social, emotional, and intellectual learning.

Getting Started Establish a schedule for Morning Meeting. Introduce Morning Meeting to your students. Communicate with parents about Morning Meeting. Phase in the Implementation of Morning Meeting. Choose and teach signals you will use consistently. The logistics of Morning Meeting are important. Consider and teach them carefully. Generate Morning Meeting rules with children. Pay attention to your role as teacher. Pay attention to the management aspects of Morning Meeting and hold the expectations you have named together.

Introduce Morning Meeting to your students. Share with students your hopes and goals for this part of the day. – I hope that we will get to know one another – not just our best friends. – I want us to be able to practice taking care of each other so that we can all feel good about being in this class. – I want us to be able to share different experiences and ideas. – I want us to have fun together. Since students are already familiar with Morning Meeting, you can ask them about their hopes and goals.

The logistics of Morning Meeting are important. Consider and teach them carefully. Understand the WHY behind the details. – Circle – Empty hands – Chairs or the floor – Morning Meeting Expectations

Pay attention to your role as teacher. Successful Morning Meetings require a teacher who is in control of the classroom. Roles: synthesizers, interpreters, balance- keepers, time-keepers, safety-net holders Even when students are leading a section of the Meeting, we are watchful and often intervene with a reframing question, a quick suggestion, or redirection.

Pay attention to your role as teacher. Sample dialogues: – Choose one more person for a comment or question, Emily. – Join the circle, Wesley. “I like how you taught us soccer. You were always in the middle, but never in the way.” Role of teacher – We are not in the center, but we are CENTRAL.

Pay attention to the management aspects of Morning Meeting and hold the expectations you have named together. Notice the details: – Whom students greet – Where they sit – Which students rarely get thoughtful comments Teachers are serious about behavior during this time - as serious as academic time. Comments should be framed in the positive. 3 Rs – reinforcing, reminding, redirecting

Pay attention to the management aspects of Morning Meeting and hold the expectations you have named together. Reinforcing – I noticed the way everyone remembered to smile at the person they greeted today. – I notice lots of people sitting next to different people each day. – Most people moved quickly and quietly as they moved chairs into a circle this morning. Reminding – Kim, remind me, what do we need to remember when we shake someone’s hands? – Who remembers what you will think about when you choose where to sit? Redirecting – Today you must sit next to someone of the opposite gender, Darryl. – I hear a lot of chair legs dragging across the floor. Show me, Jonas, how we can hold our chairs when we move them so that they don’t scuff the floor.

Greeting Highlights of Greeting Ensures that every child names and notices others at the outset of the day. Allows the teacher to observe and take the pulse of the group that day. Provides practice in elements of greeting, such as making eye contact and shaking hands. Requires students to extend the range of classmates they spontaneously notice and greet. Helps students to reach across gender, clique, and friendship lines that form at particular ages.

Some forms of greetings useful in Morning Meeting  Simple greetings done early in the year; a hand shake, a high five, a wave.  Foreign languages; “Bonjour,” “Shalom,” “Jambo,” “Buenas Dias.”  Name card greetings; a child picks a name card and greets that child.  Cross-circle greeting; a child greets another child across the circle until all children are greeted.  Compliment greeting; a child greets another child and gives a compliment.  Ball toss greetings; each child tosses a ball across the circle and greets the child who catches it.

Sharing Purposes of Sharing  Helps develop the skills of caring communication and involvement with one another.  Extends the knowing and being known that is essential for the development of community and for individuals’ sense of significance.  Encourages habits of inquiry and thought important for cognitive growth.  Provides practice in speaking to a group in a strong and individual voice.  Strengthens vocabulary development and reading success.

.* What children are learning during sharing: Developing communication skills in expressive and receptive language. Developing leadership skills. Using critical thinking skills. Accepting values of others. Expressing opinions. Gaining knowledge through other’s experiences.

Group Activities Purposes of Group Activities  Contributes to the sense of community culture by building a class repertoire of common material- songs, games, chants and poems.  Fosters active and engaged participation.  Heightens the class sense of group identity.  Encourages cooperation and inclusion.

News and Announcements Purposes of News and Announcements  Eases the transition into the classroom day and makes children feel excited about what they’ll be learning  Develops and reinforces language, math and other skills in a meaningful and interactive way  Builds community through shared written information

Highlights of News and announcements  Features a written message which welcomes and greets students as they enter the room  Adds predictability and structure to entering the classroom  Affords a fun and interactive way to teach written language, math and other skills  Builds community through shared written communication  Provides a “warm-up” for the day’s activities*

News (Fix the errors.) Greet morning, teachers Today is monday, May Our greeting for today is ___________________________ We were going to review Morning Meeting. What are the four elements of Morning Meeting? Announcements: 1.Classes start on June 7, Bring your complete health kit