Students throughout Franklin School are participating in Morning Meeting, which is an integral part of the Responsive Classroom Approach. The purpose of Morning Meeting is to foster a sense of community among students and to create a more positive and emotionally safe learning environment.
Activities in Morning Meeting often provide a segue into curriculum-based lessons. For example, a group activity might involve taking a poll among the class pertaining to their interests in fall sports or their favorite kind of pie. Once students express their favorite choices, they might return to their seats and become involved in a graphing the information that was shared which in effect becomes an activity in math.
Research clearly tells us that children need to feel they belong and they will also benefit when they believe they have ownership in the classroom. When each member of the class is considered a valued member of the group, a very positive learning environment is created and students feel willing to share and take risks where their learning is concerned. This is turn helps them to succeed academically.
Morning Meeting and other aspects of the Responsive Classroom are being taught and implemented in the elementary school classrooms in an effort to build character and positive relationships among students and their teachers and in turn to provide a better learning environment.