Morning Messages & Their Impact

As everyone is in the middle of their new school year, procedures and routines are in full swing. I want to bring you something that I treasure and believe is one of the most important parts of my classroom's day. Morning Messages.

I know many people use morning messages, but if you don't, or you just need new ideas as to why you should keep using them, you have found the right place! Morning messages are just what they say they are, messages that are put up in the morning as the students come into the classroom. People do morning messages in many different forms, some use chart paper, some use their chalk or white board, and some use their computer. I am one who uses their computer (well my promethean board). I have compiled a list of the amazing impacts morning messages can have on a classroom.

Stops the Repeating Questions

Repeating the answer to the same question a hundred times a day could go down as one of my biggest pet peeves as a teacher. Morning messages can be a solution to help minimize the number of questions you have throughout the day! On your morning message you can give the kids the daily schedule of whats going to happen in your classroom. They become informed and ready to face the day. It is also perfect for those days where you have  a convocation, picture day, or you have a two-hour delay and the schedule is weird. I have found that including that information in the morning message prepare the kids for the day (especially those friends who are schedule oriented), whether is be a normal or wonky day.

Encouraging Words 

One of my favorite parts of writing a morning message every day is including an inspirational quote. If you are anything like me, you love quotes. I am pretty sure this is the reason some kids leave my class loving quotes because I give them a new one to think about everyday! You can get your quotes from anywhere, but I have a few favorite sources. First one is 365 Days of Wonder, it is a book of Mr. Browne's precepts (if you have read Wonder you know who this is). It is a book full of 365 quotes, some famous, and some by kids. Another book is the Kid President's Guide to Being Awesome it also has some great quotes, and who doesn't love the Kid President?

I also have a large Google Doc that I made this summer of quotes from my notebooks, planners, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. On my Google Doc, I can go easily copy the quote, then paste it in my message. My trick is once you have copied the quote, change the font color in Google and you will never repeat or lose you spot in the list. Why not start your students' day out with a little inspiration?

Simple & Quick

As I said previously and what you can gather from the pictures, I type my messages and project them on my Promethean board. That being said, they are super quick and super easy to type up every morning. When I feel like I am rushed and running around like a chicken with my head cut off, a morning message will always be written because they take that little time to do! I know as teachers we have very full plates that are constantly being added to daily, but this is one that doesn't even take up a tiny part of the plate. My morning messages are all typed on Keynote (Apple's version of PowerPoint), and I use the same template everyday, so I just type what I want to say and its done!

Celebrate Your Students

Morning messages are a wonderful outlet to celebrate the successes of your students. It could have been something they did that was amazing yesterday, they could have won a game/activity, or helped out a friend. Nothing is better than seeing their faces when their names on up on the morning message!
 Another easy way to incorporate your students in the morning message is when birthdays roll around, post a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY, and some days will be completely changed! I am using Ron Clark's house system this year in my classroom and every Monday I update who the house leader is, and the kids love it! Any chance we have to celebrate our students we must do it, and what's easier than typing it up for all to see?

Fun for Clipart/Digital Paper Lovers 

If you are anything like my and have a slight obsession with digital papers and clipart, this is just another way to use all of those goodies you purchased on TPT! I love making new combinations and showing off new clipart, and I love using older clipart I forgot I had! You can get creative! I like to think of it as a blank canvas!

These are just a few reasons why I love using morning messages in my classroom!

My hope is that you give morning messages a try in your classroom if you don't already! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

Using Books to Build Your Classroom Community

The official countdown is on, I have 2 weeks from Wednesday until I get to greet my new kiddos at my door. (Insert panic face emoji!) There are still lots, and lots, and lots of things on my to-do lists, but I am slowly checking them off. 

I have three days to work with during our first week, and I recently planned those days out focusing around community building and building relationships among the students and me. I think my favorite part about teaching is building those relationships and seeing relationships build between my kids. What better way to start the conversation in my classroom than through books. I love books, especially when I get to read aloud a good picture books to my fifth graders. I am going to share 3 books I plan to use at the beginning of the year to help build my classroom community.

Wild About Us! by Karen Beaumont

(Get it for your classroom here)

This is one I am very excited about starting the first day of school with! Sarah from A Rocky Top Teacher posted this book on Instagram, and I instantly went to Amazon and pressed add to cart, purchase, and in just 2 clicks it was on its way. Amazon is a scary, yet wonderful thing.

This book goes through the different animals in the zoo and brings out all the special qualities of the animals. It is fun, cute, and a quick read. After you read it, the conversation about being different and acceptance in the classroom will naturally happen. I cannot wait see what conversations come from this book.

This could be turned into a writing activity where students right about what makes them special and unique. I think this could be rather challenging because I don't know about you, I am not good at saying what makes me unique or writing about myself at all. It'll be a fun challenge for them.

The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig

(Get it for your classroom here)

Wow. What a powerful book. If you do not have this, I believe every class should have access to this book, no matter how young or old. This story follows a young boy who feels 'invisible' at school and how much of a toll it takes on his life. I will spare you the rest of the details because you need to go get it and read it for yourself! Once again, the conversations after this book would be incredible talking about including everyone in the class.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

(Get it for your classroom here)

This book, right here, is hands down my favorite book. If you have not heard of Wonder, please run to your nearest bookstore or Target and pick this up! I have read it more times than I can count, and every time it makes me laugh, cry, and feel all the feels. I have read it to both of the classes I have had, and each of them LOVED this book and fell completely in love with the characters. In May, they were still mentioning Auggie and this story. (Side note: This is being turned into a movie!)  I could go on and on about why this book is amazing, but I will save it all and allow you to go feel all the feels!

I hope these texts inspire you to use books to help build a community in your classroom this coming school year.

SaveSaveSaveSave