Developing a procedure for class meetings gives you and your students a forum for communicating. It’s a time for you to communicate with them and for them to communicate with you. Just like anything you do in your classroom, you have to teach the kids how to have a successful class meeting. And you have to practice.

Setting it Up
1. Begin by practicing the “class meeting formation”. If your students normally sit on the floor facing you, practice getting into a big circle.  When it’s time for a class meeting, you don’t want to waste time with the seating arrangements. I found that the kids love to practice this… time them getting into a circle (it only counts if they can do it silently).
2. Create a chart with the ground-rules. Ask the kids to help you come up with the rules, but they should include: one person talks at a time (you could use an object that the talker holds), respect eachother, accept responsibility, but don’t blame others.
3. Practice, practice, practice. Start with something minor - have a class meeting about getting a class pet. Review the rules and talk about the process. “I like how Carlos respected Sydney by waiting for her to finish”.

When to  Use It
Use the class meeting when you truly want to dialogue with your students. You don’t need to call a class meeting if you’re the only one doing the talking. Here are some examples of good instances for meetings…
- problem spots in the day (ex: we’re having trouble lining up from recess)
- upcoming events (ex: field trip)
- bad (or good) report from substitute
- bully issues (but don’t focus on a particular student)

Additional Classroom Management Resources:
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroom-management/interpersonal-skills/4864.html
http://www.nea.org/classmanagement/ifc020919.html
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev012.shtml