Sylvia Allan - Morning Meeting Experiences

Let me beging my reflection by saying WOW! I loved every second of Sylvia Allan's presentation. She is very inspiring and powerful! My knowledge and excitement about morning meetings was minimal before I heard Sylvia Allan speak to our class. I have gained an enormous desire to definitely have morning meetings in my future classroom(s). One statement that she made all throughout her discussion which impressed me was: "Morning meeting - it's a beautiful thing". She is very correct, it is a beautiful thing in so many ways. Morning meetings are the KEY to creating a positive, safe, and welcoming environment in your classroom for EVERY student. As Mrs. Allan said, "it's the only time of the day when every single child in your classroom is successful". What a powerful statement. All of us as teachers want every student to succeed, and what better way to extend that invitation to our students, than in morning meeting. Morning meeting creates an atmosphere of UNITY and TOGETHERNESS in the classroom. Social barriers are broken down and students can feel comfortable interacting and sharing with those around them.
I feel that the concepts that Mrs. Allan shared about her experiences with morning meeting can be applied in all classrooms. I feel that I can take what I have learned from her presentation and incorporate the concepts into my own classroom and help create wonderful experiences for my students. There are so many things that impressed me as I was listening to Sylvia Allan. I love how she provides and invites the students to learn and recite the quote or saying of the day and more importantly, the poem they are working on memorizing. The story that she shared about Hunter, who struggled with reaading, touched my heart and strengthened my desire to have morning meetings in my classroom. As she stated, it was a miracle that happened in her classroom when Hunter memorized and recited the poem in front of his classmates. This story helped me to really understand how critical morning meetings can be in a child's (student's) life. Morning meetings aren't just a part of the classroom (school) routine, they become a special and very important part of every individual student's lives in your classroom.
After listening to and interacting with Sylvia Allan, I feel empowered and more inspired to create a positive, uplifting, safe, and fun classroom community in my classrooms in the future. Each part of the morning meeting experience are critical elements in creating and maintaining unity in the classroom. I will always remember the experiences and examples Mrs. Allan shared with us, and I will reflect as I teach, on what I learned from her about morning meetings. Thank you Dr. Anderson for inviting Sylvia Allan to speak to us and let us have a glimpse into her morning meeting experiences. She is an awe-inspiring educator. Please let her know how grateful we all are for the time that she took to come to our classroom and share so many wonderful insights with us.