Classroom Meeting are Essential to Middle School Classrooms

When I first heard the idea of morning meetings, I didn’t really think it was possible to work with Middle Schoolers based on our time restraints and the fact that our blocks/class sessions were only 90 minutes long.  However, I was determined to try it out to see what all the buzz was about.  I wanted to make connections with my students and build relationships that would make our classroom culture one that was warm, and productive.  I decided to start small with simply doing a class meeting once a week.  I was nervous about how the students would react and what topic would be safe for Middle Schoolers who could be very cruel at times.  Nonetheless, I embarked on this journey and was determined to give it a try.  

I teach Social Studies so I used a small soft ball of the World as our object that meant you had the floor to speak.  I also had an emoji squishy ball that the kids love.  I started the meeting the first week of school to get to know the students. We started small and simple by everyone saying their name and something they did over the summer.  We made our rules on how the meeting would work, for example only the person with the ball could speak.  If you wanted to speak and it was a topic that was based only on voluntary response you would raise your hand and then the person with the ball would call on the person they were going to throw the ball too.  I immediately found out that they enjoyed these meetings and a chance to express themselves.  They would constantly ask me when our next meeting would be!  I always wrap up the meeting and make sure we end on a positive note.

I started doing meetings weekly and even asked the students about what they wanted to discuss. This started to allow students to take ownership of their meeting. A few weeks into school we talked about what they liked and disliked about Middle School ,since I teach 6th grade, and this was a new experience for them.  I definitely feel the use of classroom meetings are useful and have allowed my students to build relationships with me as well as their classmates.  It’s also an opportunity for me to touch on major issues I may see going on such as bullying, or cheating.  I keep the meetings at around 15 minutes and we tend to discuss two questions.  One of the questions requires a response from everyone and the other one is one that you can choose to answer or not.  I always make sure the first question is something that is not going to embarrass anyone or put them in an awkward situation.  Classroom meetings have been a benefit to my classroom.  The students feel comfortable talking with me and each other and they know I truly care and want what is best for them.  I love the environment of my classroom and knowing that my students feel it’s a safe place.    

Passing the Baton

My first impressions of student ownership was anxiety and fear.  How would a shift in responsibility impact the students?  As educators we tend to believe we have to bear the brunt of the workload.  We determine the assignments, the grades and the overall achievement.  In a nutshell, we want control.  Passing the baton of accountability would transfer control from the teacher to the student.  What would this make me?  A facilitator of learning.

As I delved into the frightening world of student ownership the more I realized it is an illusion that I am not in control.  I create the barriers and markers of ownership.  My journey is not an overnight success or a Lifetime movie where it all comes together in an hour and a half.  For me the process was and still is sluggish.  I wasn’t able to wrap my head around the idea that a teenager could possibly manage themselves.  My first step was to give students choices for their classwork.  Many default to “I will give a choice board!”  But I needed my choice board to be different than those I have used in the past.  Prior to personalized learning, my choice boards were assignments I already created.  Yes, they got to choose which ones to do, but they were not pushing my students to think beyond what I wanted them to think about.  After participating in Personalized Learning break-out sessions, I realized I can create choice boards that are geared to student learning styles and within that develop their assignments higher on the blooms level.  One of my students Jamaya expressed how the choice boards allowed her to pick what she wants and then feels more confident.  She stated, “I get to pick what I want.  I can write for one topic, then draw for the next.  I am more comfortable with the topics now.” Listening to the students and watching their self confidence rise has only driven me to incorporate more Personalized Learning into my lessons.

           Another piece of accountability I incorporated with students is to take ownership of their understanding of content and dive into analyzing their assessments. They take self-check quizzes after each topic and shade in the ones they get correct.  After the unit is complete they have a clear understanding of which terms and standards they need to work on prior to their unit assessment.  As I stepped deeper into the role of facilitator, I realized how much more they are getting out of the self-check quizzes.  After they receive score, they are more likely to request deeper explanations and understanding. Many students started going through their notes, highlighting content they missed!  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing—students started to invest themselves into their own success. I wasn’t alone in wanting them to achieve—they wanted it for themselves!  For product based assessments we used rubrics for self-assessment and peer review.  These two pieces helped them see where they were lacking and shining in their own eyes.  My student Jacob expressed that he “liked knowing what to look over and ask questions about”.  What’s important to note here however is, this was not done at the end.  Instead rather, it was done in the middle of the unit project so they can make the corrections prior to submission.  This gave them more confidence in the product they were turning into me for grading. Examples of these two pieces can be found at the bottom of this blog.

           Turning my classroom into an area of accountability was one of the most difficult transitions I have ever done.  However, we all know, the most difficult experiences in life tend to be the most rewarding.  This has truly been a rewarding experience for me and my students.  

One of my perks is watching my students grow in maturity, self reflection and ownership of actions.  They no longer “blame me” for their grades or their efforts.  Students will now acknowledge their choices and accept responsibility for their efforts, or lack thereof.  Our relationship has dramatically shifted because I am a facilitator of their success.  When they start to become unsuccessful due to their choices, we revisit their options and get back on track.  I have become a teacher who shows deeper emotions towards the process rather than the output.  We expect students to receive a diploma at the end of high school; with student ownership and accountability I believe they truly are the ones in possession of their award.  

Examples:

Progressive Era Choice Board–These were differentiated based on test scores.  The one shown was for the middle of the road.

Shading Standards  My self check quizzes are google forms they click on my website and after they submit they can review their answers and the correct answers

Feedback sheet prior to submission

Rubric for product based assessment

Morning Meeting

Experts say Breakfast is indeed a very important meal. A good breakfast fuels you up and gets you ready for the day. In general, kids and teens who eat breakfast have more energy, do better in school, and eat healthier throughout the day. Morning Meeting is the Breakfast of the school day. Morning Meeting gives kids energy, helps them perform better in school, and helps them make better choices throughout the day.

So what is Morning Meeting anyway? The Responsive Classroom defines Morning Meeting as an engaging way to start each day, build a strong sense of community, and set children up for success socially and academically. Each morning, students and teachers gather together in a circle for fifteen to twenty minutes and interact with one another during four purposeful components:

  1. Greeting: Students and teachers greet one another by name.
  2. Sharing: Students share information about important events in their lives. Listeners often offer empathetic comments or ask clarifying questions.
  3. Group Activity: Everyone participates in a brief, lively activity that fosters group cohesion and helps students practice social and academic skills (for example, reciting a poem, dancing, singing, or playing a game).
  4. Morning Message: Students read and interact with a short message written by their teacher. The message is crafted to help students focus on the work they’ll do in school that day.

I began my journey with Morning Meeting last school year when the school counselor approached me and requested that I partner with her to bring this to my classroom every single day. I, of course, did not hesitate as I have always prided myself on having positive relationships with my students and often felt stressed about how little we had time to actually bond.  The counselor and I learned as we went which made it  a very organic, messy, yet amazing experience.

This year I hit the ground running with Morning Meeting and it is my absolute. FAVORITE. part. of the school day. My kids know that when the bell rings, it’s time for them to clean up, and get settled for Morning Meeting. They take the initiative each morning to set up our cushions in a circle so everyone has a special space in our circle. They LOVE when I sit right there on the carpet with them. Our greetings are often silly and are guaranteed to bring a smile to each child’s face. We always speak to each other using eye contact and address each other by name. Students love to share. In my thirteen of years teaching I have probably blown off thousands of student stories- telling students there just wasn’t enough time in the day to share. Often, there was never time for those stories and my students quickly started to learn that what they had to say just wasn’t important. Share time during Morning Meeting gives them that outlet to share about their personal lives, their hopes, dreams, and ideas. It allows them to connect with each other and decreases the times when they want to interrupt a lesson to share a random unrelated thought.

Just as important as Sharing is the Activity. This tends to be the delicious dessert to our Morning Meeting. We play games such as “Caught Red-Handed” where students stand shoulder to shoulder with their hands behind their back passing an object while a guesser in the middle tries to catch someone red-handed. We do math fact exercises, grammar task card practice while listening to music, and we love projects. This year I have used The Growth Mindset Coach book by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley as a mentor text for what I call “Mindset Monday”. This book gives a month-by-month mantra and growth mindset lesson and activity that I incorporate into Morning Meeting. We have built the human brain out of play-doh and learned how all the parts work together to help us move and grow.

We have learned about Equality vs Equity and why everyone getting the same thing isn’t always the best solution.

We participate in STEM project activities where students are given objects and a mission. This is a wonderful time to pull in all the PL Profile traits and test their abilities to collaborate, be effective communicators, and think creatively and critically. They are tested on their ability to be  open-minded to their classmates’ ideas and being flexible and adaptable is a must when they fail. This year we’ve made bone bridges from popsicle sticks and q-tips. We’ve made a Mayflower vessel out of tin foil and styrofoam and tested how many Pilgrims (pennies) could be held by their vessel before it capsized.

We have learned how to give and receive feedback and how to reflect when we are given criticisms after watching “Austin’s Butterfly”: https://goo.gl/NMW2t

. We have explored our hopes and dreams and created idea portraits.

Each time I watch my students fail, I see their perseverance strengthen. The first few challenges ended with several students in tears. About three challenges in I’d hear my students cheering each other on and scrapping one idea and getting started on a new one with no time to wallow. They are learning to cope with failure and celebrate the successes of others. Morning Meeting is so much more than just 15-20 minutes where students and their teacher gather in a circle. It’s a time for life lessons that will help our students become better people and be equipped to face life’s challenges with perseverance and positivity.

Student Quotes:

“My favorite part of morning meeting is the greeting. I love “Hit the Floor” because we can do whatever we want, like flips in the circle` but we are always in control of our bodies so no one gets hurt.”

“I love the game “Pass the Yeti. Mrs. Gaffney passes a singing Yeti and whoever is holding him when the song ends, moved to the middle. It is like hot potato and so fun.”

“Morning Meeting taught me that I have lots in common with my classmates. I didn’t think I had that much in common with some people and we always find something in common when we do partner share.”

“My favorite activity is Boom Blast sticks. We stack boom sticks and make a prediction of how many we can stack. It’s a challenge and exciting. It’s either an epic fail or an epic explosion.”

“Morning meeting has taught me that every person has a place in this world.”

Want to see us in action? Check out our Morning Meeting video: https://goo.gl/Pwj4Vi

Adding in Meaningful Conversation Into the Classroom

If you were to ask my students, “How many teachers do you have?” their answer is 21. Students in my classroom know that I am not the only person they can learn from! It is so important that they learn from each other, and to make this happen they need to have meaningful conversations. Meaningful CONVERSATIONS? You may be asking yourself how to get students to have conversations, around academics and make it meaningful? I asked myself this question A LOT, here is my journey around implementing meaningful conversations in the classroom… .

It all started when I was lucky enough to travel to NYC for the Teacher’s College Saturday Reunion. I attended a session on grand conversation, and realized that in my Kindergarten class, my students couldn’t have a normal conversation, let alone a conversation about a book. So, I started small. Really. Small. During Morning Meeting, my students shared their favorite foods, stories about their families, and eventually responded to a question that had more than one right answer, leading into a debate. I’ll never forget when one of my sweet little Kindergarten students took a simple question of “What do you like to eat for breakfast?” and gave an answer I’ll never forget, “Well, I really like to eat Fruit Loops, but I know that it’s not healthy for me, so I can’t pick that as my favorite thing to eat for breakfast.” I was so pleased at how these simple question stems had grown my students thinking and expression in speaking and responding.

Examples of Question Stems
*What is your favorite thing to do at home?
*What is something that really scares you?
*Should students be required to wear a uniform to school?
*What makes you brave?
*If you could create a new rule (at home, school, or a law) what would it be?
*What do you infer about this boy?


https://elsaghirscience.weebly.com/inferring.html

But what does this cute little Kindergarten kiddo have to do with personalized learning? As I moved into First Grade, and now Third, I have realized that the skill of conversing is not developmental. It needs to be taught. With technology centered lives, families are spending less time talking around the dinner table, in the car, and throughout the day. So, these same question stems are now being discussed by my third grade students, in an effort to keep chatter in the classroom. Once students are able to listen to each other, listen to listen, and then respond with thoughtfulness, they are then ready to be teachers to each other, which has been key in my Personalized Learning journey. These simple questions expand into discussions, and even debates!

Students (or teachers for that matter) cannot assist their classmates until they learn to listen to their problem. We discuss why students get stumped–is it the directions or the content that they don’t understand? Then, from there, we can help.

Another important component of implementing conversation into PL is making sure that students really understand that they have ownership in the classroom. Yup, thats the Students Ownership Cornerstone, which is vital to all classrooms. Students really respect each other’s opportunities to learn. We discuss that when collaborating, giving someone the answers is not helping them, you’re actually hurting them. And because my students have a growth mindset, they are comfortable being wrong around each other, and me. When I confer with my students, they are able to tell me what they are working on, and are able to articulate how I can help. This would be a difficult task if my students were not provided the opportunity to build their conversation skills.

Lastly, it should not go unmentioned, that talking to your students is fun. I love hearing from my students every Morning Meeting about the little exciting things in their life. Sharing these conversations is key to building respect between teachers and students, as well as students with each other.

Gone are the days of teachers talking at their students. Take time to talk, to listen, to laugh, and learn.

By Megan Newlin

The Why Behind Micro-Credentialing

Have you ever been “sent” to a training and while you sat there listening to the presenter, you wondered to yourself Why. Am. I. Here?  Many of us in the education world are passionate about learning.  It is most likely at the root of why you entered the field in the first place.  Yes, of course we became teachers to make a difference in young people’s lives but also, because continuing to learn new things yourself is exciting to you.  It drives you. It is a goal that you have for yourself to continue to deepen your understanding of the world around you both in and outside of education.

So back to “Why am I here?”  Unfortunately, this question arises for too many educators.  Instead, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be asking ourselves, “How can I get more of these meaningful learning experiences?”  If you are interested in having professional development that is based on your interests, your needs and YOUR timeline, then our Micro-Credentialing program may be just the right fit!  This method of receiving PD gives educators the opportunity to personalize their learning experiences to fit their individual growth areas.

Micro-credentials builds a culture of learning and provides an invaluable opportunity for educators to receive recognition for their work.  The benefits of micro-credentialing include the ability of educators to have maximum flexibility, as they pursue part of the training virtually, on their own time.  Educators can personalize their learning experience to fit their individual growth needs. School districts can use micro-credentialing to incentivize teachers’ to deepen knowledge in areas that student achievement data indicate need growth.  

The PL Micro-Credentialing program invites you to receive badges signifying mastery of the four PL cornerstones, Whole Child, Student Ownership, Mastery Learning and Paces, Playlists & Pathways.  To learn more about how to get started with PL Micro-Credentialing click here.

By Lisa Allred