Questions about Morning Meeting?

[Teachling]

I've been reading this thread for a while now and forgive the maybe dumb/illogical question but when do you find the time to do this? The first 6 weeks have been jammed pack of trying to meet with the curriculum requirements. There's also so many variables that delay classroom instruction such as morning meeting with the principal, drills, pullouts, training, etc. Between this week & next week I will be out a total of 5 days that the kids lose classroom instruction. These days I feel like the condiment teacher --- that is playing c-a-t-c-h-u-p!

Sorry, just wondering how or when I can do fun stuff with the kiddos.

[runsw/scissors]

Originally Posted by Teachling

I've been reading this thread for a while now and forgive the maybe dumb/illogical question but when do you find the time to do this? The first 6 weeks have been jammed pack of trying to meet with the curriculum requirements. There's also so many variables that delay classroom instruction such as morning meeting with the principal, drills, pullouts, training, etc. Between this week & next week I will be out a total of 5 days that the kids lose classroom instruction. These days I feel like the condiment teacher --- that is playing c-a-t-c-h-u-p!

Sorry, just wondering how or when I can do fun stuff with the kiddos.

Welcome to the club! I'm forever playing catch up! To be honest, I was all excited about doing the morning meeting last summer when we were talking about this, but I haven't found any way to make it work! I'm thinking maybe we can do some sort of daily wrap-up meeting, but the morning are too crazy to add yet another something.

[trayums]

For me, I find it to be such an important part of creating a classroom community that I just make the time. I know that curric. is so important too, but for me, unless my class is working as a cohesive group, the curric. will take longer to get through and will more difficult to deliver in the long run. I do my morning meeting right when school begins (kids come at 8:30) and at 8:45 after announcements we are doing our greeting. We have specials this year at 9:00, so if we aren't done with mm, we finish when we get back before we dive into the day.
I really find that the payoff is wonderful and, like I said I find that I am able to deliver instruction much more easily when the kids know each other, know me, etc. through morning meeting etc. Just my 2 cents!

[pwhatley]

Stupid Question: (I'm just reading The 1st 6 Weeks) Does the MM greeting take the place of greeting the students at the door (ala Harry Wong), or is it an extension of it. I tend to greet each student individually as they come in the door with a handshake, a smile, and a warm, personal greeting.

[TulipsGirl]

Originally Posted by 1stgradeNana

Stupid Question: (I'm just reading The 1st 6 Weeks) Does the MM greeting take the place of greeting the students at the door (ala Harry Wong), or is it an extension of it. I tend to greet each student individually as they come in the door with a handshake, a smile, and a warm, personal greeting.

I think the latter description - an extension - is a great way to describe it. When you greet them at the door, you are showing that YOU care and that YOU notice them. The greeting at MM shows that their CLASSMATES care and notice them as well. There are lots of different types of greetings to use, if you feel that it is a little repetative, and you want to keep things from getting stale.

[pwhatley]

Thanks for the clarification, TulipsGirl! I really appreciate it!

[kristinerayna]

Originally Posted by Jem

I would love to know if anyone has a list of their morning meeting greetings. I'm really excited about doing this, but am leary about spending another $20 on the book of greetings. I'll also do a web search, but it would be great if anyone has any feedback on this.

I have a product on TeachersPayTeachers you might be interested in. You can find it on Teachers Pay Teachers. Once you go to the TPT website, do a search for Morning Meeting Greetings. It's usually the first one that comes up - I tried to post a link, but since I rarely post on here it won't let me because it says I have to earn the privilege

The file is only $2 and has 28 greetings on easy to print cards. The ideas are not original, they are ones I've (or my colleagues) have used in their classrooms. Most of the ideas I originally found on the web someplace, and have been using for years. I just finally got around to compiling them all to make them easy to use. I print the greetings four to a page (I include directions how to easily do that in my file) and then I mat them on cardstock, laminate them, and punch a hole in the corner of each one and put them on a ring for easy access.

I'm working on a second set now.

I hope this helps if you are still looking for resources!

Kristine