5 Morning Routines To Get Students Excited To Learn

By Diana Eastman

For students, parents, and teachers alike, mornings can be a rough part of the day to get through. Getting out of the house, carpooling, catching the bus and then actively participating in their own learning can sometimes be too much for growing minds, and teachers can find it difficult to get things rolling in the mornings. Thankfully, teachers have been conquering mornings for thousands of years, and have figured out a few great ways to get minds and bodies pumped up and excited to learn first thing in the morning. Here are a few of our favorites:

Personalized Greetings
If you haven’t see the YouTube video where the teacher greets each student outside of his classroom with an individual handshake or hand gesture, stop what you’re doing and watch it. The kids look so happy and are lined up outside of the classroom just waiting for their special and personalized interaction with the teacher. This takes dedication and time, but personalizing a greeting for each student makes each student feel unique and special and gives them a confidence boost before they even sit down at their desks. Students come from all different situations at home, and a warm and personal greeting from their teacher could make their morning. For an easier start, greet each student at the door and ask if they’d like to be greeted with a hug, handshake, or fist bump. This allows each student to be greeted in the way that makes him or her the most comfortable.

Morning Meetings

As adults, it can be overwhelming to jump right into your day. Most can agree that a quiet, reflective, planning time before the work day begins results in a happier and more productive morning. The same goes for kids. Consider implanting a morning meeting into your morning routine, where the whole class comes together in an intimate setting where they can discuss goals for the day, ask questions, express concerns, recognize achievements or address problems. This helps the students remember that the classroom is a team and that they’re there for each other. If Suzy is having a bad morning and needs space, she can use this time to vocalize her feelings so that classmates know to leave her alone or provide encouragement and support. If the teacher was unhappy about how lunchtime went yesterday, a morning meeting is a safe place to discuss the issue and work together as a collective unit to figure out what they could do better next time. Connecting with each other and with you as the teacher puts everyone in a positive mindset that allows for learning. Some may think morning meetings are better suited for primary age students, but a time to connect and reflect is one of the things teenagers and middle schoolers are lacking in their educational journeys.

Turn Up Some Tunes

Having upbeat and positive music playing as students enter the classroom and get settled in can have a positive effect on the rest of the day. When they come into a room that is happy and full of music, major shifts in mood and energy are possible. While you’re taking attendance, setting up the room or doing other morning responsibilities, a little tune can help get everyone ready for the day. Music at a lower volume, while they do their journal writing or morning work, can help them to focus and get more out of their assignments.

Compliments, Praise, and Feedback

Before lunchtime, find a way to compliment each student individually. Whether you tell them quietly about how you love their handwriting today, or you make an announcement to the class that a few students are blowing you away with their focus, acknowledging each student’s strengths and accomplishments in the morning is a great way to lighten the mood. Encouraging students to say positive things about each other  creates a safe and friendly work environment.

A Classroom Creed

Before the start of a new school year, take time to come up with a motivational message that you can recite to your students each day, and that they will eventually know and recite themselves. Focus on the things you want them to feel about themselves, your expectations in the classroom, their unique purpose in the classroom and in the world, and how the work they do now matters for their future. This empowering message will stay with them for a lifetime and can be a reminder first thing in the morning that they are loved, valued, capable, smart, hardworking, leaders who will make a difference. Hearing these words each morning, especially in unison with their classmates, has a powerful and long-lasting effect on their willingness to learn.

As adults, teachers have much more control over how their mornings go than kids do. Teachers have the ability to plan for, decide on and anticipate how the morning will go, but kids don’t always have that option. This is why it is so important for teachers to use the morning to reconnect with the students and remind them that they are a vital part of the classroom community. A positive and fun morning routine can do wonders for a student having a rough morning and can set them up for a day full of positive interactions, connections, and learning.