I think the best thing that I did this past year in my classroom was greeting my students at the door and having a morning meeting every morning . Did it take extra time? Most definitely! But is it worth it? 100%
Secret Handshakes:
I saw a video on Twitter or Instagram of a teacher greeting each student with a secret handshake. What a great idea! I love to find ways to bond with my students and build that relationship. I thought this could be an added layer to creating that rapport. So at the beginning of the year, I told the children to come up with a secret handshake for us to do when we greet. They all were excited about this challenge. The next day we greeted at the door with the handshake that they each created. They loved it and it was our morning routine for the whole school year. They looked forward to it and they expected it every morning. There were times when we had an audience of people who stopped to watch and parents who were amazed by this morning ritual and in awe of how I was able to remember each one. But, just as we take the time to learn our students’ names learning a different handshake for each child is not such a difficult feat. This greeting at the door every morning set the tone for the day. It made each child feel valued, important and special. That was my ultimate goal. I wanted each child to feel that they mattered in my classroom. This greeting then led to our morning meeting every day.
Morning Meeting:
Our morning meetings began with a greeting. Depending on the day we had certain greetings and things for the students to share with the rest of the class. Mondays were always “Whats the News” where each child shared about their weekend. Fridays were always the day to share what they looked forward to in the upcoming weekend. The favorite morning meeting greeting was using the dice. Each student rolled the dice and the number determined who they would greet. My students really looked forward to this meeting time. We added on discussing daily goals based on John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success and filling each others’ buckets by paying compliments. These morning meetings helped to build community and relationships. They started the day off in a positive and engaging way.
Secret handshakes and morning meetings were a definite great addition to my classroom community. They were the start of building relationships with my students. They helped to nurture the belief that all the students matter and they all are important and valued. They created smiles, laughter and friendship in the room.
This upcoming school year I am looking forward to continuing with what I began this year and also adding on to it. It definitely was a complete game changer in my classroom!