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Morning meetings are the norm in many K-6 and K-8 schools in Vermont. They’re a great way to empower students to find their voices and build community. Now here are five ways to organize and structure morning meetings to build transferable and socio-emotional skills (and build those strong relationships that matter so much<\/a>!):<\/p>\n (Not familiar with Morning Meetings? Here is an overview of the parts from Responsive Classroom.<\/a> Go on. We’ll wait here and save your seat…)<\/p>\n (Back? Yay! And:)<\/p>\n Sounds corny, and tons of middle school students will groan loudly, but it works. Different seats promote students getting to know each other,<\/strong> expanding friendships and connections, and supporting cross-gender friendships. Yes, cross-gender friendships, 7th graders! They are doable!<\/p>\n True, it’s not giving students choice, but at the beginning of the year we’ve all got these butterflies about new schools, new grades, new… people. Yipes!<\/p>\n So let’s help everyone out at the beginning with some structure.<\/p>\n I used to put out popsicle sticks each morning with student names around the circle for this purpose, particularly at the beginning of the year. This also helped reduce any arguments about who gets which cushion, couch seat, or beanbag! I decide! *muahahahaha* Plus: you can support flexible seating by giving students the choice to stand, sit, flop or yoga pose it out.<\/p>\n There is so much happening in our world, especially lately. It is complicated, stressful, and unnerving — especially for students. And especially for those students who might feel unsafe or targeted. Or those who have heard bits and pieces of what is happening, but are unsure what is true and why it’s all happening. Heck, half the time all this unsettling news makes *me* wonder the exact same thing.<\/p>\n And that is where the weekly practice of a morning meeting agenda of What’s Up in the World?<\/strong> can help.<\/p>\n Once a week in our morning meeting, we would pose that question on the whiteboard. Students would sign up for topics they wished to discuss.<\/p>\n In each meeting, one student would take on the role of “fact-checker”<\/strong>. When we weren’t sure of the details, we would check a few trusted sources to find out the facts. We didn’t assume, or discuss without reviewing the facts when we could find them. Another student would be a “definer”<\/strong> and look up words that folks didn’t know and read the definitions out to the class.<\/p>\n While discussing world events, I would keep the conversation on track and developmentally appropriate, by steering away from the close details and images of violent events. Sometimes I had to jump in and reframe or refocus, or ask a question. We relied on our norms for the class that we created together to help guide us. But what happened regularly was that students were hungry for a space to discuss world events in a safe and supported way. These conversations changed minds. Expanded perspectives. And provided a place to digest and begin to understand the world.<\/p>\n Need norms? Proctor School’s Courtney Elliott for the win:<\/p>\n This week we worked on setting our expectations for our classroom community @ProctorSchool<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/CrxSZNkh4p<\/a><\/p>\n — Courtney Elliott (@MsElliott345) September 6, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n1. Different seats each day<\/h3>\n
2. “What’s up in the world?”<\/span><\/h3>\n
Resources for middle school news:<\/h4>\n
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