this was a fantastic presentation on the importance of implementing morning meetings into the classroom. Morning meetings are important because it is the only time when every child is successful and is able to respond. I think this is the reason they work so well. I personally have a much easier time learning if I don't feel intimated or unsafe in the environment.
the most important thing I got out of the presentation was that there are 2 critical pieces for teachers.
-never sit at your desk during morning meeting. Get involved!
-Morning meeting is not a therapy session. Do not share drama with your students. It is a time to discuss information, solutions, and business.
greetings should be on mondays and you should role play how you want the students to speak to each other.
memorization- there should be no pressure to memorize the piece. The students should just try to do their best to remember. There is not a grade you get.
class business- make connections throughout the entire morning meeting. Ask the students who has a similar experience and have them talk about it at recess. Under this category there are several things that are needed for the full experience. They are "vegetables"or things that are good for us. The second thing is "dessert" this is good things that they did that you notice. The third thing is "medicine" it will taste really bad but it will fix the problem.
All of these things, if implemented correctly, can make the classroom the ideal environment for teamwork and learning.
