We are close to the middle of the school year so I thought I would discuss morning meetings in multi-grade self-contained classes. By this time of year, you might have gotten more students, with more grade levels, and are finding that your morning meeting activities don’t meet the needs of all of your students anymore. So you need to make changes.
I taught mild/moderate self-contained classes for years and found that whole class circle/calendar times (calling morning meetings) did not work for my kids when I had more than three grade levels in my class. (Please note that I am not advocating for there to be more than three grade levels in a class!!! I am not. It is very difficult to teach kids on so many levels).
However, many teachers find themselves in impossible situations, so I thought I would share some ideas that I have tried over the years. Some worked really well, and one idea didn’t work for me at all, but it might work for you if you have more adult staff members than I did.
When I had a wider variety of grades, I found that the older grades got bored with morning meeting activities for the younger students, which led to the younger kids being distracted by the older students. So I had to totally think out of the box and change everything around. I loved how it worked out and it helped with transitions at the end of the day.
In this podcast episode, I talk about ways to change WHEN you have your morning meeting, WHAT activities you might do for different levels of students, and HOW you might consider changing your schedule. You might end up solving other issues as well!! This podcast episode is pretty short so give it a listen! Click on the audio player below or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
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Show Notes for Episode #31: Morning Meeting Ideas
Morning Meeting Resources & Links
- Start creating your own schedules starting with my sample templates here. You get 16 editable PowerPoint (TM) files which can also be opened/edited in Google Slides (TM).
- Below are links to other podcast episodes on schedules for special ed classes:
- 8 Tips to Creating a Schedule (Podcast Episode 8)
- Small Group Rotations (Podcast Episode 9)
- Schedules and Lesson Planning (Podcast Episode 10)
- Schedules and Lesson Plans for a Moderate/Severe Class (Podcast Episode 26)
- The Autism Helper adapted calendar activities
- GoNoodle.com (GoNoodle is a series of web-based videos, games, and activities focused on introducing short bursts of physical exercise into the classroom. … Teachers create a classroom mascot, and students level it up by completing activity challenges.)
- A written version of this episode is available as a blog post here (instead of a transcript).
- To sign up for Lisa’s Email List to get free ideas and strategies, use the “Subscribe” sign-up on the right sidebar of the page (or scroll down if using a mobile device).
- Lisa’s TeacherPayTeacher Store
- Check out other podcast episodes
About the Host: Lisa Goodell
Lisa Goodell, M.A., launched the “Help for Special Educators” Podcast on April 1, 2019. She has taught for over 25 years, including third grade, resource/inclusion (RSP), and mild/moderate self-contained (SDC). Currently, she is an itinerant orthopedic impairment (OI) specialist/teacher for students birth to 21 years old in all general ed and special ed settings.
Lisa has a master’s degree in special education and six special ed and general ed teaching credentials. She has been honored as “Teacher of the Year” at both the elementary and secondary levels. She lives in rural Central California with her family and a bunch of cats. Connect with Lisa here.
Lisa is grateful for the thousands of listeners in over 65 countries around the world.
Transcript of this Episode
A written version of this episode is available as a blog post here (instead of a transcript).
Check out other Help for Special Educators podcast episodes here.
