🔈 Morning Meeting: The what and why of starting the day

🌅 Get students ready to learn with a great mainstream resource

I’ve written about my love for Responsive Classroom before. If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you probably already know I think it’s great. Today’s post is about a practice that shaped my teaching for years—the morning meeting.

Responsive Classroom’s morning meeting approach dovetails beautifully with the Waldorf way of getting students ready to learn—which usually takes the form of a daily circle time with songs, verses, and movement activities. But what I loved about morning meeting is that it articulates why you’re doing those things so the teacher is aware of the specific function of each activity. This means you can choose activities with greater intention, responding to the needs of your particular students.

Having this awareness is particularly meaningful for homeschoolers. The home environment is different than the classroom, so your children may not respond to the typical Waldorf activities in a way that gives them the intended experience. I know that this was the case during my brief stint of homeschooling. As you read and hear about the different intentions of the morning meeting, you’ll likely have thoughts about different activities that would work best for your students.

Morning meeting also scales to classrooms of different ages. Older students still need to wake up (even more so!), but it’s sometimes difficult to find activities that resonate. Keeping a clear eye on the intention makes it easier.

Components of the Morning Meeting

Below are the basic components of the morning meeting. In the recording, I explain how I worked with them in my classroom.