Building a Classroom Community

Watching these interviews with Sylvia Long & some of her students was so inspiring. If I still had doubt in my mind about incorporating morning meeting into my future classroom, it is completely gone now. She paints such a vivid and amazing picture of how to effectively run a morning meeting in an elementary school classroom. I especially loved hearing from the kids how much they loved morning meeting and why. Educators can talk about how great morning meeting is until they are blue in the face without anyone truly acknowledging it, but when you sit a group of kids down to talk about how great it is, it really drives the point home. It was so wonderful listening to how they have made so many friends because of morning meeting and how they aren’t afraid or embarrassed to ever talk about something. It was so great to hear them talk about what happens when a new student joins the class, particularly an ELL. Every child mentioned that at first those students are hesitant to say anything and are really quiet, but after they sit through the process of the meeting a handful of times, most of them eventually come out of their shell and begin sharing. I honestly believe morning meeting is a great place for ELL’s to acquire language. They can sit around the circle, or however it’s done in different classrooms, and listen to the other students. By listening they are learning how to communicate and the trusting and comfortable feeling that is evoked in an effective morning meeting encourages them to open up. They don’t have to be scared to talk because they know if the other students don’t understand them completely that it is ok, there is no need to be embarrassed. The classroom community that morning meeting builds is tremendous. Sylvia talked about how during share, sometimes students will express their struggles with certain content areas, and other students will chime in they are struggling too. This opens up a window for them to discuss as a class what they can do to solve the problem and students that are comfortable with the concepts go out of their way to help others understand it as well. It is such an amazing phenomenon. Although educators are often criticized for “wasting their time” with morning meeting, I think it is a vital thing to have in every classroom. As Sylvia stated, having morning meeting solves 90% of her behavior problems. I always hear about how management is the hardest thing to establish in a classroom and make-work. Well, obviously running an effective morning meeting can make that problem much easier. Students know what is expected of them and although I am sure there are times throughout the day that other management techniques will need to be used, morning meeting is a great way to curb any management issues before they start. Honestly though, I think one of the most important things that morning meetings does for kids is making them feel safe, cared for, and unashamed to voice any ideas or struggles they are having. Although it is not a therapy session, students can have their voices heard and build lasting relationships with their peers. I cannot think of anything better then making students feel like they belong and that they can be successful.