Dear Coach Sharon,
I am ordering supplies, and it has come to my attention that the large chart paper that I have been using for our Morning Meetings has been taken off our "necessary" list of supplies. I think we are supposed to use our SMART Boards next year for all our Morning Meeting messages.

My concern/question is that I know how much fun my students have going through the chart pad once it's filled up with morning messages (before we change over to the next one). We are in the habit of reviewing them individually, in small groups, or in the whole group when we have a moment of down time. I'm not sure the SMART Board is going to have the same interactive impact as the paper. How do I address this?

Thanks, Michele

Coach Sharon says,
It is OK to give up the chart paper for most of your Morning Meeting needs. In fact, one of the best features of the SMART Board, or any interactive electronic whiteboard, is its attractiveness to children. Everyone wants to use the new "magic" board!

You don't have to pay the price of separating the chart physically from the meeting area. I have seen teachers position an electronic whiteboard close to their morning meetings, so the message remains part of the circle. Students read and respond by writing on a surface nearby, or if the technology allows, respond right on the electronic whiteboard itself. It sounds like your school may be headed in this direction.

Regarding handwriting practice, it is good for students to write their responses on old fashioned paper posted near the message. Paper allows for more careful lettering. It's important to note that when you write your electronic whiteboard message, in order to model correct letter formation for the children, you'll have to take extra care with your handwriting. It can be much harder to get precision with the board pens than with paper markers.

By using one of these approaches, students are still reading and interacting with the message, and I have not seen any negative effect on learning or relationships. The tools are different, but the information exchanged is the same.

As for reminiscing on lessons later in the year, you can save your daily morning messages from the electronic whiteboard in a file on your computer and review them whenever you want. You could print copies of the messages, put them in a "Classroom Book of Morning Meeting Messages" for the year, and place the book in a prominent classroom area for easy reference. Allow students to peruse their morning messages book during breaks from structured routines.

There is some advantage in being able to save a year's worth of messages for your future reference without cluttering a closet or shelf with butcher paper. And when planning for next year, you might review the flow and content of the messages from the year previous, reusing a particularly successful question or theme.

In the end, I would say that electronic whiteboards can bring increased and more flexible interactivity to students in Morning Meeting, making them a welcome addition to any classroom using the Responsive Classroom approach.

Sharon Greaves is a Responsive Classroom consultant and administrator for School Services at Origins.

This article first appeared in Origins: A Newsletter for Elementary Educators, Fall 2011