Morning+Greeting+Reflection

Morning Greeting Reflection 2011-2012

I met my goal this year of beginning the greeting portion of the morning meeting with all of my 12 classes. Last year I had done a similar type of ritual at the beginning of each class with certain grade levels, so broadening it to include all grade levels was not hard. I truly believe the most important thing in a classroom is the way a student feels when they are there. There feelings impact their learning in countless ways. As a result, when they are given time to form a connection to the teacher and classmates, they are given time to feel comfortable and safe, and willing to take the risks that are necessary to take in order to learn.

In my room I believe the greeting has had a significant impact. The students look forward to sitting in a circle to discuss their feelings, thoughts, and ideas. I have loved getting to know each and everyone even more as a result. The little kids do not let me forget to have a greeting and activity! They will surely remind me if I accidentally say "sit at the front carpet" rather than "circle up on the back carpet." They love sharing, and they love that they always have something new to share with me each time they come to technology class.

I asked many students to reflect on the impact that doing a greeting has had. Most of them enjoy it. But there was some feedback that was very interesting. One student remarked that she wasn't sure if it was a good use of time to do greetings in specials since they do them in the morning with their grade level teacher. I found that comment to be very interesting. And the students had wonderful ideas for ways to change the activity or greeting based on what they have done in other classes. That was awesome to see because it shows they are enjoying and remembering, and even requesting, those activities from another teacher.

Over the summer I will spend a lot of time reflecting on various aspects of this year. One of the topics I will be spending time on is the Morning Greeting. I will be thinking and researching ways in which I can incorporate technology and do a more relevant activity during certain classes, as well as looking at more greetings, and creating some "techie" greetings as well.