Every
Kid, Every Day.
This is at the
heart of what we do. We want every kid to feel heard, loved, and successful.
Students need to know that what they are saying is important. As educators we
need to listen to what our students are saying both verbally and non-verbally.
Listen to what they are telling you through their actions, their writing, their
silence. Kids deal with a lot of issues that we, as adults, often write off as
frivolous or unimportant. These are important, and by acknowledging the
student’s struggles we are able to show the student we understand.
Schluter has been using Morning Meetings as a
tool to help build relationships since the building opened. It is rooted into
our culture, but each year we have new teachers to the campus that need help in
how to make this time meaningful. The are many ways to structure your Morning
Meetings, and there is no one way to do it; however, it is important that we
all have the same purpose, to build relationships.
As a campus, we place a large focus on the
importance of relationships in education - “A student doesn’t care about what
you are saying, until they know how much you care.” We have heard this
statement many times. Morning Meetings are the perfect opportunity to check in with your
students. Ask them how they are, what is important to them, how they feel. Show
them how interested you are in their lives.
We also know that the teacher matters most
when it comes to student achievement. We have placed an emphasis on students
owning their own learning, through differentiated instruction, goal setting, and
leadership building; it is important to see that if students don’t trust us and
don’t believe us, then these pieces will not make the impact we intend them to
have.
Many resources exist to assist you in your
Morning Meetings, including videos, articles, and checklists. We have the basic
Morning Meeting book on campus and I am ordering a copy of 80 Morning
Meeting Ideas, both the K-2 version and the 3-6 version. There are ways to
incorporate content into your Morning Meeting to add a place for students to
connect the lesson to. Kasey has a copy of Doing Math in Morning Meetings
and Doing Language Arts in Morning Meetings that include ideas for K-5.
