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The ultimate guide to world's weird, funny, wonderful, unknown and bizarre national holidays.

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Inside the Trenches: Rethinking Morning Work

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Inside the Trenches: Rethinking Morning Work

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The days of being an elementary school student, walking into class in the morning, completing a worksheet silently, and pulling out a book to read when you're done are over.
Wait. No they're not.
This age old practice continues in classrooms across the country and I am curious as to why. Teachers (including yours truly) have expressed frustration as a teacher with this routine:
- Students who always do their work complete it quickly and find it easy. Those who need practice the most either don't do it or can't do it.
- Students who come in late are either rushing to finish morning work or don't have time to do it.
- Even though students complete the work, you don't have time to review it.
- Students are talking to each other or are distracting each other when it is supposed to be quiet.
- The routine of morning work is boring and does not increase rigor since it's frequently comprehension or knowledge based problems.
- If you photocopy morning work you're battling for copy machine space. If you have a problem on the board, kids are finding gum-wrapper sized pieces of paper that they're solving the problems on.

What if we were to rethink our mornings? What if mornings were a time where students were excited to come into class? What if students were doing activities that involved collaboration, strategy, creativity, rigor, problem-solving, critical thinking, or addressing various learning styles?
I first saw the idea of "Morning Choice" floating around on social media, but then saw it implemented in a basic version in one of my student teacher's classrooms last fall. Naturally, I was curious what it would look like in a true, full blown fashion!
I employed one of my former students at Wake Forest, now a first year teacher in Atlanta, to test this out. Here is her story:

What if a student fails to meet the expectations or is not on task during Morning Choice? Well, in this class discussion, I also allowed the students to communicate and decide on consequences. By allowing the students to devise the consequences, I felt that they would be more likely to take ownership of their actions. The consequences my class agreed upon for being off task was eliminating the choice for the next morning and silently reading at their desk.

Choice 1 - Artistic Expression. The students have the option to paint, draw, or color at this choice. Students will have the entire week to complete their creation, or two. At the end of the week, their artwork is framed and hung up on a wall in our classroom, giving the students a sense of ownership of their learning space and they are proud that everyone who enters the classroom gets to observe their success!

mazes, and J igsaw puzzles. All activities encourage students to challenge themselves and use critical thinking skills to complete a task or create a design.

Choice 3 - Computer Time. As students are assigned this choice, they enhance their math fluency skills by supporting our school wide program - FirstInMath. Within this program, students compete against one another in the class, in the grade level, in the school, and in the district with different math fluency games and problem solving activities. For each grade level, there is a "Player of the Week" and a "Team of the Week." Students are motivated to come in and get to work to win for our grade level and help our classroom be the team of the week!

Choice 5 - Leadership. One goal I had for my students this year, as they are in their final year of elementary school, is to feel a sense of leadership. They are the oldest students in the building and I strive for the rest of the students, faculty, and staff to view them as leaders as well. One way this has been achieved is by teaming up with a kindergarten classroom to have some of my students review sight words with them or read them stories in the morning. Not only does this help the kindergart ners grow and learn, but my students are challenged with devising creative ways to help them reach their success! They love having the younger classes look up to them and wave at them in the hallways as we pass by!

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The days of being an elementary school student, walking into class in the morning, completing a worksheet silently, and pulling out a book to read when you're done are over. Wait. No they're not. This age old practice continues in classrooms across the country and I am curious as to why.

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LearningWorks for Kids - Playing Smarter in the Digital Age

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LearningWorks for Kids - Playing Smarter in the Digital Age

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Teaching children academic and study skills is crucial to their future in education and their life as a whole. Kids with ADHD need to learn these skills and apply them [...]

Mini-Guide: Amazon Whispersync for Voice
Recommended Age: 8+
Skills Used: Focus, Working Memory, Reading

All membership plans come with full access to our entire suite of tools learning guides, and resources. Here are a few of the ones we think you'll like the most:

Personalized learning profiles for up to 5 children.

Access to our complete library of technology learning guides.

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And of course, lots, lots more...

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LearningWorks for Kids - Playing Smarter in the Digital Age

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Teaching children academic and study skills is crucial to their future in education and their life as a whole. Kids with ADHD need to learn these skills and apply them [...] Mini-Guide: Amazon Whispersync for Voice Recommended Age: 8+ Skills Used: Focus, Working Memory, Reading All membership plans come with full access to our entire suite of tools learning guides, and resources.

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Paideia | Active Learning through Socratic Seminar

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Paideia | Active Learning through Socratic Seminar

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The Paideia Program advocates that all learners engage in the critical thinking, communication skills, and attitudes necessary to earn a living, be an active citizen, and pursue a meaningful life in the 21st Century.

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Meet the Dynamos! Character Strength Superheroes | GoZen!

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Meet the Dynamos! Character Strength Superheroes | GoZen!

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Dynamos are tiny and powerful beings from the planet Dynamis. They each possess a superpower called a Dynamic and have a Supertool to amplify their power. The Dynamos are here on Earth to teach youthlings about their greatest character strengths. Meet the Dynamos below and check out the first workbook here.
Get the Workbook + Flashcards!
Dynamo Flashcards are fun to use at home and school. See a sample here:
Get the Workbook + Flashcards!

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Meet the Dynamos! Character Strength Superheroes | GoZen!

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Dynamos are tiny and powerful beings from the planet Dynamis. They each possess a superpower called a Dynamic and have a Supertool to amplify their power. The Dynamos are here on Earth to teach youthlings about their greatest character strengths. Meet the Dynamos below and check out the first workbook here .

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Gifted, but Bad Speller - FamilyEducation

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Gifted, but Bad Speller - FamilyEducation

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Spelling problems may indeed indicate a learning disability, but look for other indicators.

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This article, written by Brock and Fernette Eide, discusses the concept of hidden dyslexia, which can be a common problem among intellectually gifted children.

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