Tips for Morning Meeting during Online Learning

You probably know that I LOVE morning meeting / circle time! It's always been one of my favorite times of the day. I was scared that morning meeting would be impossible and not as enjoyable for students when we switched to online learning... but we love it just as much as when we are in-person! Keep reading for tips for morning meeting during online learning!

1) Build in movement breaks:

Students need to move! Sitting for hours at a time isn't beneficial or ideal for students. I like to build in time for students to move by using educational videos. During morning meeting online, we complete activities for a few minutes and then watch a video so students can get up to dance or move! Adding videos is an awesome option because they offer educational content, are fun & engaging and encourage students to move!

2) Create routines for all students to engage:

Just like while we are teaching in-person, we want students to take turns sharing/ speaking, to teach students to speak one at a time and to encourage all students to participate. I have built in a variety of ways for students to share non-verbally while another student is unmuted and sharing on video calls. 

A few ideas for students share non-verbally:

• Have students use hand signals to share (I've been using thumbs up, thumbs down, and simple numbers to keep it consistent & simple for students)
• Have students hold up cards or signs to share their response. You can think about generic response cards for students like > yes, no, I need help, I agree, I disagree, I have something to add, etc.

3) Teach new routines & skills:

Morning meeting is a great time to teach new routines and skills that students will need when they return to in-person learning for two reasons: 1) Students are often really engaged and fresh during morning meeting and 2) it's a time of day that you have your entire class together. 
 
Here are a few skills & routines that we have taught and continued to review during morning meeting:

• A variety of mask skills (when we need to wear them, when we can take them off, wearing them and speaking in them, why we need to wear them)
• Handwashing and cleaning routines (if you need visuals for this, check these out!)
• New school routines (handwashing & cleaning schedules, new arrival & dismissal routines, supply & material changes, etc.)
• How the classroom / school will look different physically 

If you're in need of a morning meeting template with Google Slides, you can grab it from my TpT shop here.

What tips and suggestions do you have for morning meeting during online learning? Share your ideas in the comments or reach out on social media @littlemisskimsclass