Class Meeting Reflections

This was the first year I held actual class meetings and I loved them! I learned a lot about myself and my teaching style from the students. The group I had this year was brutally honest, which I didn’t mind. Through our class meetings we were able to build great relationships. We met at least once a month, maybe twice. We discussed issues in the classroom and outside of the classroom and we shared ways to fixed the things we had control over.  Everything we discussed was student led. I gave them the opportunity to discuss anything they had on their mind. They did a nice job discussing issues that mattered. I enjoyed our class meetings and look forward to continuing them next year. It also helped that we had some built in time in our schedule (WIN/Seminar) that I could borrow 5-10 min. from for a class meeting. 

Second semester I changed how I do class meetings.  We now call them "coffee talk".  Throughout the week students anonymously submit questions about anything they are curious or interested in OR they can submit a compliment or shout-out to a class mate.  When the coffee cup is full we circle up and read the notes and answer the questions.

This has been awesome in bringing our class together.  We have really been able to have some deep discussions.  Students are honest and open with each other.  It has been an awesome addition to our class.

I will always use class meetings!  Now, I don't get to them every day, but we have them at least 3 times a week.  I enjoy that it is a time to share about our lives, talk about classroom issues, or just start the day off on a happy note!  I think next year i'd like to maybe set more of a schedule on how i'd like to manage my meeting and their topics.  Maybe create a class job that is in charge of leading meetings?

I really enjoy having class meetings. I think it is a time when students get to be honest and share how they feel the class is going and what they think about school. I like to do Pow’s and Wow’s in my class meetings, the students get to share a positive and a negative from their week. I want to do a meeting next about what we are thankful for (thanksgiving time) or how they feel sixth grade is going so far.

We use class meetings every morning to calm our minds and bodies, go over our plans for the day, and do some sort of community building activity or game. The kids love the meetings and it helps them know what to expect each day. Even when I have been gone and needed a sub to fill in, this time in the morning helps the kids explain our routines to the sub and for the sub to have a structured time to introduce themselves. Moving forward I would like to change up my morning messages to include more content (sight words, math, etc.) and discuss each character trait for the month. 

Two meetings a week is a must for our class. We always share what we did on the weekends as our Monday am meeting. I have found its the best way to start building relationships with students. We get to learn about our lives outside of school. I like to have a meeting every Friday to celebrate successes and accomplishments throughout the week. We award RC rewards, top growth in success maker, fact fluency, badges, and review what new topics we know about now that we didn't know a few days ago. We also discuss what routines and behaviors we had as a class that went really well and what we want to work on the following week. 

Any other meetings we have are student led to discuss problems that need solved or plan events for our room. Usually ends up being about every other week. 

I'd like to try to hand of the Friday meetings to kids too. I see no reason I have to be the only one awarding success.