Catch-up

Here I am two weeks into the semester and just staring in awe at the notes that have already been taken in my notebook. There are so many things that I have already learned, and none of it do I want to forget.

To kick off I am going to talk about Morning Meeting. But I won't focus on it in as a whole because I feel there is more and more that will be added to it as we proceed through the semester, of which, I am extremely excited to learn.

I feel Morning Meeting  encompasses everything that I wish I had in elementary school. With some teachers I had a comforting room, where I was able to learn and express myself adequately, feeling no pressure to be something I was not. In other classrooms, I felt the need to cater to the teacher's whim and also felt like I wasn't learning, but only filling out worksheets and coming to sit at my desk for 8 hours a day. The relationship I wanted with my teachers just wasn't there with the second type of classroom. I am almost certain that if Morning Meeting would have taken place in those classrooms, everything; including my perception of the teacher, learning, and being at school, would have changed.

For instance, the first part of Morning Meeting is the greeting, inviting students into the classroom and also involving everyone within the classroom to recognize that everyone is in attendance. It gives opportunities of awareness for others and even for the teachers well being. It begins the day by saying "hello" in a game, round, different language, or anything clever to help others "meet and greet" those members of the class.
I strongly believe that this interaction at the beginning of the day will transcend throughout the remainder and help students be aware of others, themselves, the teacher, and even the broader population of the school. This simple 2-3 minute interaction can change the beginning of the day from terrible and gloomy, to exciting and bright.

One thing to remember about Morning Meeting, every subject that is being taught in the classroom can, in someway, be integrated into the simple layout of Morning Meeting.