One of the opportunities I had in teaching during my placement was conducting morning meetings. Morning meetings were a time used to slowly transition students from being at home to learning through a device. First, we had our daily greetings; for that particular day I asked students to greet each other as if they were an inflatable tube man. Then I proceeded to read them their morning message, which detailed the content they will be learning. After that, we continued with our morning activity, which was a "Would You Rather Wednesday", where students decided which option they would rather do. Finally, I ended with a book to read to them.

When I first started the morning meeting, I was nervous. I didn't know if the kids would enjoy today's greeting, message, activity or book. Sometimes, when I would do morning meetings some students would really enjoy performing the reading or the activity, but there would always be one student who would just sit there. I also felt excited, because for the students I knew well, I knew they would have a blast during morning meetings. They always have a smile on their face after morning meetings end. Looking back, I feel pleased with the selection of greeting, message, activity and book I selected.

What was good about this experience is that I got to know more about the students. During our "Would You Rather Wednesday" activity, I got to know students' preferences, as well as interests in a fun way. One of the "Would you rather. . . " questions asked if students would rather be able to speak all the languages of the world or read all the languages in the world. Some students preferred to speak, while others preferred to read. This helped me know that some students are more social students, while others loved reading. Another thing that went well is that everybody participated in the morning greeting. I think a large part of this is because I included a greeting that was unique and catered to their mentality. What didn't go well in this morning meeting is that I wasn't able to interact with all the students. I was only able to call out on seven students, while the other twelve students were left raising their hands without me calling on them. I could see that some of the students were quite disappointed, because some of the kids I didn't call out on were those who loved to socialize and I made it seem like I was uninterested in hearing them.

What I learned from this is that students love to socialize. I thought they would feel more reserved or shy; that they would feel reluctant to speak out in class, but this is not the case. They want others to know what they're thinking. I also learned that students need to feel valued in the classroom; to have teachers see them, not just physically, but socially. Without giving students time to speak or listening to them, students can feel dejected and feel as if the classroom is not a good environment for them. If not properly managed, then students will be less likely to participate in their learning because they'll always be thinking, "What's the point?".

In the future, when I have my own classroom, I will be sure to give students several opportunities to speak in class. Preferably, throughout the day so students know that I will always want to hear what they say. I also understand that sometimes, not all students will be able to speak out in class because sometimes, there simply is just not enough time for them to do so without interrupting the lesson. So, for those who are not able to speak, I will try to include them in some other ways. Maybe, piggyback on some comments some students say and include them in it. For example, during the activity, before moving on to the next prompt, I should have rounded up all the students that were not able to express themselves by saying, "It looks like _____, ________, _______ and _______ also agree with _______ that they prefer to speak all the languages in the world, rather than read". This way, it feels more inclusive with the children.