Sylvia Allan.....God of the Morning Meeting

I would just like to start off by saying I want to BE Sylvia Allan. I have never been so inspired by a guest speaker like I was with Sylvia Allan ever! I was so impressed with her and all of the wonderful tips and ideas she had to give us. She is to firm in her beliefs of creating community in the classroom and what it can bring to everyday classroom content and instruction. Her way of thinking and being so honest and up front with her students is the thing that stuck out to me the most. Her intuition as a teacher on how her students are feeling and what needs need to be met is amazing. There are so many subjects that are taboo with teachers but not with Sylvia Allan. She is so willing to talk and be open with her students. This creates a comfort level with all of the students that could not otherwise be created. Morning meetings are something that I was always open to but I didn't really know much about them or how to run them no less. Being able to see and hear first hand by a wonderful women like Sylvia really helped me understand how important they can be and how many other avenues they can open with the students. I got the feeling that morning meetings pretty much can solve almost every problem that can come up in the classroom. I think classroom management, critical thinking, problem solving, listening skills, being respectful, and even bullying are all things that morning meetings can help with. The classroom community will be there and the students will feel like they have friends and people they trust with in each other and also with their teacher. I am glad that on the last blog I touched on classroom community and the importance of i,t because now I can see that morning meetings can help with community in a non forceful way and the students enjoy it. It is great because it is discrete, you are not forcing students to be friends with each other and play with each other on the playground, it just happens on it's own! I am a huge believer in classroom community and the morning meetings because of Sylvia Allan, and am so happy I had the opportunity to hear from her and all of her wonderful insight!