Putting the Fun Back In Teaching: 11 Easy Ways

Are you in that middle of the school year rut?

You know... the "I'm tired, they're tired, everybody's tired" 

and 

"If I have to do indoor recess one more time...."

Well I've compiled a list of easy ways that ensure I'm still bringing the funk I mean fun!

#1

Take brain breaks.  

It's okay every once in a while to stop between lessons and take a moment to just relax.  It doesn't have to be anything fancy, even just doing a couple stretches and running in place will do wonders. 

#2

PopSeeKo

Want a structure and source of kid tested and teacher approved brain breaks?  Check out GoNoodle.  My kids are OBSESSED with almost every video.  

Every student has their favorite one...  

Mine happens to be anything with Koo Kangaroo!  

#3

Make lessons memorable!

I had some wonderful teachers who inspired me to be a better learner and eventually to become a teacher.  Be that educator for your students!  Bring the lesson to them.  Make it fun and engaging.  Recently I had my students write friendly letters to their favorite Disney characters as their final draft for letter writing.   Imagine their surprise when they got a signed letter back in return!!!!!   

#4

Bring Back the Read Alouds and Self Chosen Reading Time

My favorite time as a kid was choosing and reading my favorite books 

or hearing my teacher read aloud a classic story that was new to me.

Bring that passion for reading back to your room.  

Choose some of your most favorite books in your room.  

Read it aloud with the passion you had the first time you read it.  

Choose a series and read the first book... and then watch them fly off the shelves!

I dedicate 15 mins daily in my room for DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) Time.  

I make it engaging and fun with little tricks like Glow in the Dark Reading. 

#5

Working With Partners Can Be Fun Too

Every student loves to hear: "Work with a partner!" and some teachers dread saying it.

I take the worry out of it by changing up the partnering in quick and easy ways.  

Finger Learning Scale:  Have students identify their understanding of the topic and pair them based on mastery.  

Check out the FREE signs I have in my classroom from Mrs. Cain's TPT store here!

OR

You can also use Dollar Store purchases to help with partnering.

"Choose your ______ & __________ partner."

Milk & Cookies partner= High and Low

Mouse & Cheese= Random Selection

#6

Student Choice Seating

Bean bags, bath rugs, Hot Spots, and Cushions are all great choices.

 When you get to work time in your room let your class choose "good for me" spaces to work.  You'd be surprised at the engagement you'll see from your students.

#7

Go Outside!

(Within Reason)

My favorite time of the year is the beginning and the end.  

The weather is perfect and the kids are rambunctious and need the space to move!  

Use a kickball and play multiplication ball.  

Grab the school jump ropes and have your kids jump to the linking and helping verbs chants. 

Take sidewalk chalk and have your kids practice subtraction by hopping backwards with the number line. 

#8

Dress Up Your Room and Yourself

This is the room you spend 8+ hrs a day.  Make it a place that you and the class feel at home.  Make that library cozy.  Hang things from the ceiling.  Open up the blinds and let the sunshine in.  

Put up their work.  Especially hang those anchor charts!  

Look at the smiles at my minions during my last Valentine's Day Party.

You can also use your room to make learning come alive!  

If you're learning about problem and solution do a week long mystery theme.  

Put down footprints and give them "case file folders" to work from.  

Dress yourself up with a trench coat.

Or maybe you're doing a space unit.  Decorate the ceiling with stars and dress up like an astronaut. 

#9

Think Outside of The Box

This is the catch all category!  If you are always using the workbook or basal things get boring!  

Bring out the dice and have it dictate what word problem you'll do next.

Have them type their spelling words on old computer keyboards!

When your students meet expectations celebrate it with a 10 second cheer or class wave.

Have  competition between the girls and boys for who can pass the papers back faster.  

Make up a song for your class to get pumped to! Most of these cost little to nothing to you and bring back tons of fun!

#10

Enjoy the seasons, milestones, and holidays with your kids.  

Remember all those magical moments you had as a kid?  

You know, like a visit from the tooth fairy or the beauty of a snowy day?

Help make your students have those special memories with you.  

Get excited with them when these events pop up.  Use them to your advantage!  

If it's Thanksgiving or Easter hide problems or task cards in eggs around the room. 

 If it's Earth Day take your kids out and have them clean around the school and/or community.  I always decorate my room based on the holidays. I play Christmas Music for my kids work time.

Any excuse for my favorite Christmas song! Thanks @adventuresofroom129 for the amazing idea. #letterstosanta #indianachristmas #straightnochaser #teachersofig #iteach2nd

A video posted by Ride Away With Mrs. Ridgway (@rideawaywithmrs.ridgway) on Dec 9, 2015 at 12:41pm PST

#11

Let Them Be Little

With all the testing, standards, assessments, etc. it's so easy to get caught up in the HAVE TO's.  

I'm guilty of this too!

We may be molding the next generation of scientists, artists, leaders... 

But that next generation are still kids now.  

Let them be little.  Let them color.  Let them read.  Let them giggle and talk.  

Let them enjoy being kids now.  

Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten...

Yes Blog Readers, yours truly is still alive.  I know it's been a while since I last posted, but you would be surprised how much life has changed in the past months.  Here's what I've been up to teaching wise.  Stay tuned for a future blog post about some exciting personal life changes.

1. I am finishing this year teaching at a charter school which has been quite the experience.  We started in a section of high school, moved to a brand new building, and are still being renovated.  Lots of changes.  It's been quite a different experience than teaching in my little village in Alaska.  The needs are all the same though and as Mr. R always says, "There are children in need everywhere!" I also made some really great friends from my colleagues and was able to get a whole bunch of professional development. 

Click here to get this wonderful sign from Chalk & Apples!
• Whole Brain Teaching:  Mirror Words and Gestures
  For those of you not familiar with Whole Brain Teaching, let me just say it's amazing!!!! I can't believe I didn't know about it until this year.  You combine learning and classroom management with movement and fun.  From Day 1 in my classroom my class got used to "moving and grooving".  They know when I say, "MIRROR WORDS AND GESTURES"  there is something they will be learning and practicing with their mirror partners.
  

  

  http://teachlikeachampion.com/books/teach-like-a-champion/

• Teach Like A Champion Behavior Management:  Weekly our principal had us come in for feedback meetings which, from experience can really stretch a teacher.  Most of his advice came from the the book Teach like a Champion (TLC).  The main components of TLC are "Right is Right", "Do It Again", "Check For Understanding", and "J-Factor".   Most teachers do lots of these naturally, but if you're being focused on a specific one regularly you can't help but grow.  Although it is based from a charter school perspective, everyone one should check out the book if you're curious to learn more.
2. I wrote third grade curriculum from scratch.  For an entire year.  My non-teaching friends may not get how difficult that is, much less do it on top of teaching as well.  But, I survived and enjoyed some of the awesome things my kiddos were able to accomplish.

My favorite day of the year, Market Day

• Economic and Persuasive Unit:  I was able to combine the ideas from Barnard Island's Economic Unit of Study and my own Persuasive Writing Unit to make writing and social studies something full of impact and engaging.  Besides understanding goods and services, supply and demand, and types of resources... my kids really got into assembly lines and how they changed economics as we know it.  I got some really great pictures of their favorite lessons, Assembly Lines and Market Day.
  
  
• Black History Wax Museum
  You may recognize those kids up there.  They are the living wax figures of famous African Americans such as Muhammad Ali and Diana Ross.  As a school of nearly 90% African American population we took Black History Month very seriously.  I was put to the task to create and facilitate the school's first Living Wax Museum.  But, don't worry we didn't just pick sports and music stars for our scholars to look up to, we also chose famous African American's such as Thurgood Marshall, Ruby Bridges, Phyillis Wheatley, and the late Maya Angelou.
• Fraction Lines
  
  
  If anyone asks you what's the hardest concept for 3rd graders to grasp, they will probably say fractions on a number line.  If they don't say that, I think they're lying.  Haha, but seriuosly, my kids really struggled with figuring out where a fraction would go.  What I ended up doing eventually is coming up with the idea of combining fractions and candy.  Talk about engaged!  My kids now have no problem finding where 4/6 is on a unmarked number line.
  
  
  
• Prepping for IREAD and ISTEP
  Oh standardized testing... The time where the teachers and the students all feel the pressure of states and schools on their shoulders.  On the bright side, my scholars went from struggling to write a paragraph to a prompt to actually writing their little hearts out on the test.  They also were really struggling with finding text evidence.  But with the help of one of my favorite bloggers Jenny at Luckey Frogs Lilypad, my kids were able to mark up text like real college students.  I wish I would've gotten pictures of their silent engagement, but when it's ISTEP season in Indiana teachers are lucky to make it out alive. 

And there you have it... my first year teaching in Indianapolis. Like I said before, it has been quite the experience with it's own ups and downs just like Alaska.  Who knows where the 2014-2015 school year will take me.  But, I for one can't wait to find out.