Tuesday, September 1, 2009

What appeals to me...

I really enjoyed reading the morning meeting packet. I have always really liked the idea of holding a morning meeting in my classroom, but wondered if it was something that I could use with practicality. I loved all of the ideas that were given. It really helped me to realize that a morning meeting can be anything I want it to. It is not necessarily what we do in the morning meeting, but just the fact that we are doing the morning meeting that will unify my classroom and create a community where students are validated and feel like they can take a risk in my classroom.

I liked Sharon's morning meetings and how they were very structured. I appreciated the fact that they were fun and light-hearted but there was still a point and a schedule for the students to follow. I like how the teacher Mike Anderson invited the parents into the classroom to observe and participate in a morning meeting. I love that something so simple can open lines of communication between the parent and the teacher and morning meetings can be discussed as well as other concerns the parent might have. Barbara Klein shared an idea about "share time" during morning meetings. Often times in the younger grades I think "share time" can easily get out of control. Barbara instructed the students to share one at a time and if one student shared something that another student was going to share they could say out loud, "just like me!" I think that is a great way to allow that student to speak out and share that they have common interests. I also loved the idea of sending students a letter over the summer break indicating that they would be given the opportunity to bring a picture to school on the first day to share with the class. This would work well for me because it is direct and to the point. Students are allowed to share ONE picture, and every student is given equal opportunity to share. It also allows the students who tend to be more shy time to prepare and feel more comfortable when it is their time to share. I really liked the idea of students playing small team- building activities during morning meeting. Those activities are great because the students have fun and interact with one another in a way they might not normally do.

Reading the morning packet really opened my eyes to how many possibilities there are for conducting morning meetings in my own classroom. I love that morning meetings are one aspect you can personalize to really make it work for me and my students.

1 comment:

Teacherheart said...

This was an excellent reflective blog about the morning meeting readings. You convinced me that you seriously consider using morning meetings by letting me know about the reservations you had about them, but then discussion specific strengths in the ones you read about. This was a 4-point kind of reflection, but I can only give you 3 points unless you add some reflection on the Tomlinson reading, as well. I know that you may just not have time this week... but I wanted you to know that you are on the right track with these reflections.
NP