Teacher: Hey, everybody! Do you know what day it is today? It’s Ketchup Day!

Teacher: Good morning, friends. Here’s your video message for Thursday.

Kasia: The Morning Messages are extremely important in a regular classroom, but even more so during COVID-19. A Morning Message for an online classroom is a short video to the students recorded daily.

Teacher: [singing] Good morning, good morning, good morning to you!

Kasia: When online learning began, we were all starting from scratch. We were creating a new classroom environment. Kids found themselves very stressed. Kids found themselves very stressed, and the social emotional learning became key. Morning Messages are consistent, they ease the kids anxiety, and they inform them what will happen on any given day. They also help create a strong community.

Teacher: Guess what? It’s Amina’s birthday! Happy birthday! Yay!

Kasia: It takes between 15 minutes and half-an-hour to make a Morning Message. That includes scripting and recording, also posting it. The first thing that you want to do with your Morning Messages is make sure that they’re short. When I first started, I tried to give the kids information about every single subject. And then I discovered, if a longer explanation was needed for a specific activity, it was better to record an additional video. None of the messages should be longer than five minutes. Ideally, two to three. Another important ingredient is keeping it consistent. During the pandemic, their whole world was changing. It was very important to have something the same every day. I always started my messages the same way.

Kasia: Good morning, third graders!

Kasia: And then I would go over the schedule for that particular day. If there were important announcements, maybe a birthday or holiday–

Teacher: Happy birthday, Galilea!

Kasia: Then I would end with a closing phrase, hopefully motivating them.

Teacher: So fun day today, guys! Looking forward to it, bye!

Kasia: Another key ingredient is keeping them visual. I started with typing up a script and reading it to them, but that wasn’t holding their attention. So abandoned that idea, and include pictures from the internet, or cartoon images. So the children were looking at the images while I was giving them short instruction.

Kasia: After you mix those first three ingredients, you add a little bit of personal information. I would try to include something about my family, my life, my pets and my mood. And ask the same thing of my students. I might have said, “Oh, my goodness, everybody in Mrs. Jarvis’ house is lazy! Are you feeling lazy today?” Just to form that connection.
Teacher: Do you see what I’m so excited about with the plants?

Kasia: Last, but not least, you mix in a little bit of fun. There are a lot of options for being silly. You can wear a wig, do a little dance. Anything that comes to mind to get those creative juices flowing.

Teacher: Oh, hi, everyone! It’s Mrs. Whitehead. I got really bored today, so I thought, “Ah! Let’s go up in outer space!”

Kasia: The benefits to morning messages are huge. They gave my kids information, provided a clear understanding of clear understanding of daily expectations. But most of all, it was the basic tool for building the community and staying connected to each other.

Teacher: Have a great day, everyone, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Teacher: You guys are amazing!