A Calm Start to Monday Morning

It can be hard for students to get back into school mode after a weekend. Some kids may have had a positive weekend packed with soccer games, trips to see family, and playing with friends. Others may have had a challenging weekend filled with dysregulated family interactions and other stressors. If we can give kids a calm start to Monday morning, they’ll be able to transition back to school more smoothly. This sets them up for a better week. Let’s consider a few ideas.

Greet Students at the Door

We should try to be at the door greeting all students as they enter each morning. This is especially important on the first day of the week. When we stand in the door (or greet kids on the playground—wherever we first see them), we can greet each student with a friendly personal greeting. “Good morning, Ava! It’s great to see you this morning!” “Hey, Jamal. I’m glad you’re here!” Consider using a friendly, inviting, and relaxed tone (not too energetic or enthusiastic).

You can also use this as a chance to touch base with kids who you know often have a hard time reentering school. If they seem particularly sensitive or prickly, you might give them a bit of extra attention to help them ease into the day. The goal is to help kids feel a sense of belonging and safety—two foundational human needs.

Monitor and Supervise Hallways

An added benefit of being in classroom doorways to greet students is that we can also monitor the hallways. As a school, consider making sure that arrival time (everyday, but especially Mondays) is all-hands-on-deck. Have faculty placed strategically throughout the school, welcoming kids with friendliness while also making sure that they are walking and using appropriate voice levels. Sometimes the nuttiness of a bus ride can spill over into hallways, which then spills over into classrooms. Use arrival time as a chance to set a tone of safety and calm from the moment kids walk in the door.

Set a Quiet and Comfy Mood

Have you ever felt your pulse quicken and your anxiety spike when you walk into a store with harsh lighting and grating music playing? In contrast, think of how you feel when you walk into a coffee shop or bookstore that has soft lighting and quiet soothing music on. Your shoulders relax, your breathing slows, and you want to slide into a chair and stay a while.

If your classroom has cold fluorescent overhead lights, try only turning on some of them. Or, use safe light covers to both cut the glare and create a more pleasant color in the room. Put on some quiet instrumental music that sets a mellow vibe. Also, make sure your classroom is neat and clean on Monday morning. A cluttered space increases students’ anxiety and decreases their ability to learn. Get the week off to a good start with a physical space that is conducive to emotional regulation and learning.

Keep Routines Predictable

Another way we can help kids have a calm start to Monday Morning is to keep routines predictable. Students thrive on predictability. Make sure that students know just what to do when they enter the room, and have these routines be reasonable for the age(s) you teach.

For example, young children might (after greeting you at the door), hang up their coat and backpack and check off their name for attendance and lunch. They could then head to a table to look at books, build with Legos, or color. Older students might (after greeting you at the door), put away their coat and materials and turn in notes from home. They could then grab a book or meet in the meeting area to talk with classmates.

When you want to add some fresh energy to the morning routines, set it up the day before so that students know about changes before they arrive in the morning. Also, remember to revisit routines with students after vacations–to help everyone get back on track.

Structure A Soft Academic Start

Athletes know that one of the most important elements of a workout is how well they warm up. Swimmers do some dynamic stretching, kicking and easy swimming before they begin their harder sets. Baseball players warm up with light stretching, tossing the ball to teammates, and gentle jogging before getting into the main parts of a practice. Athletes know that a good warmup helps prevent injury and is a key to high levels of achievement.

Sometimes we get into the unrealistic and unhealthy mindset that we have to maximize every minute of every day with hardcore academics. Though we certainly want to use our time in schools with purpose, more challenge isn’t always better. If we expect kids to put in strong academic effort during the day, let’s let them warm up with some light academics.

Here are a few ideas to help you structure this time:

10-20 minutes: Try carving out 10-20 minutes of time to let kids ease into the day. This gives kids time to eat breakfast (if they eat at school), chat with classmates, and do some light/fun academic work. Remember, this isn’t wasted time—this is a valuable warm-up time that will help the rest of the day be more positive and productive.
Choice: You can meet students’ needs for autonomy and competence by giving them choices of activities that are relaxed and cognitively engaging. Independent reading or writing, working with blocks or clay, playing a numeracy or word game—all of these provide cognitive engagement that let kids warm up for a great day of learning.
Connection: Even if students are all working on different things, they should still be able to talk with each other. Encourage kids to connect with peers as they work. You might even post a few conversation-starters for kids to talk about. (What are you looking forward to this week at school? If you could be any animal for a day, what would you be? What are some of your favorite foods?)
Avoid Required/Assigned Work: Kids who eat breakfast or students who need to ease into the day may not have enough time to finished assigned tasks. This will lead to anxiety and feelings of incompetence—not the feelings you’re going for.

Facilitate Calm and Safe Morning Meetings and Advisory Meetings

Once the whole class has finished breakfast, completed morning routines, and had a chance to ease into the day, you can then facilitate a morning meeting or advisory. Later in the week, you might try games that involve a bit of social or academic risk, or you might introduce a complicated new sharing structure. One way to create a calm start to Monday mornings is to err on the side of safety and predictability.

Keep greetings and sharing structures simple and safe. Kids might simply greet the person on either side of them in the circle. They might have a couple of short partner chats about what they did over their weekend or what they’re looking forward to about the coming week. Keep games collaborative and simple.