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Buddies and Morning Meetings

Submitted by Peter Brunn on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 11:33am
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This is the time of the year when we can get a bit lax with our attention to community-building. Testing is coming in the spring, we have lots of content to cover, we often can’t find the time to do a class meeting or buddies activity. We know it is important and are always looking for ways to fit it in. So when my wife told me the following story from her own teaching, I thought it might serve as a good reminder of some things we can do at this time of year to keep our communities thriving.

Two days after returning from the holiday break, Nina went outside to the yard to greet her children at the line. To her surprise, her colleague and buddy teacher, Jim, and his class of fifth-graders were at the tail end of her line. Nina was a bit surprised and quite confused as the big fifth-graders followed her second-graders into their classroom.

Once both classes were all through the door, Jim's class had a special New Year's greeting for Nina's class. They wanted to welcome their buddies back after the break and say how excited they were for buddies to resume again. This was a simple gesture that both groups loved and was a great way to start the day.

Jim was going to quickly exit so the classes could start the day, when Nina asked Jim's class to stay for their Morning Meeting. Jim’s class was not familiar with Morning Meetings but they were game to stay for a few minutes. The younger students then taught the older buddies how to do the greeting and all the students giggled as they went through the steps of the Morning Meeting.

As I listened to Nina tell me this simple story, I heard the joy in her voice as she told me about her students’ reactions to the surprise New Year's message from the older buddies. I also smiled as she related the wonderful reaction the older buddies had to being included in the second-graders’ Morning Meeting.

I realized that we don’t always need a ton of time and big extravagant plans to keep social and emotional work at the forefront. Simple and quick activities also make a difference. Moments that take 10–15 minutes can have the power to transform our days. Stopping in to say "good morning," including others in our morning meetings, and a few well-placed smiles and hugs make school a much nicer place to work and learn.

Comments

So glad I found your blog. 

Submitted by djones (not verified) on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 7:33pm.

So glad I found your blog.  Great, positive ideas!  I am going to be teaching a kdg./first grade split next year.  I am looking for resources and insights.  Any ideas?  I have been teaching straight first graders for 15 years!!  A new challenge is on its way!

Thanks so much for your

Submitted by Peter Brunn on Tue, 03/01/2011 - 5:09pm.

Thanks so much for your comments. Moving to a k-1 split grade level is certainly a new challenge. The first few months of Kindergarten is always so much work.  I do have an earlier blog post on split grade classrooms you might want to visit. I will also do some more thinking over the next week and try to post a new blog on the topic.  Split grades can be nerve wracking but they can also be amazing.  

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