Category: Classroom Management

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A Place For Jokes in the Classroom

When I was in sixth grade I had a teacher who would take the time every single day to read the Joke of the Day in the newspaper. Every day, without fail. 

We all looked forward to hearing the joke of the day and sometimes we would have a fun discussion about the joke, too. 

It was the very first thing we did in his classroom each day and it set the tone for the remainder of the school day. 

Laughing and joking immediately puts your mind at ease, it tells your body, “I am safe here, this place is okay.” This is why some people like to joke around when they are in dangerous or stressful situations, they are trying to trick their bodies into thinking they are safe and okay. 

School can feel stressful and scary for many students, but starting the school year, and even just your day, in a setting where joking and laughing and great discussions are held tells the mind, “This is somewhere we like to be. This is safe.”

If you’re not already doing something similar to Joke of the Day or adding humor into your classrooms or schools, I would strongly suggest finding a way to implement it. 

It’s a simple, easy way to tell your students that they are welcome, safe, needed, and happy in their environment. 

Do you do a joke of the day in your classroom? 

Photo by Katerina Holmes: https://www.pexels.com/photo/cheerful-black-teacher-with-diverse-schoolkids-5905918/

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Talking to Students About Current World Events

The world is a heavy place right now. With wars raging in Ukraine, Israel, and multiple other places dotted across the globe, there is a lot to process. There is also a lot out there throughout the media to sift through, some facts being truthful and some unfortunately not. 

How do we talk to our students about these heartbreaking events going on right now? Especially in a day and age where teachers can easily be attacked for what is said in the classroom. 

Teach your students how to find factual sources. No need to lead them to specific news websites or bring up current events if it’s not on the schedule. But in almost every classroom, a lesson on how to find and cite factual sources is relevant. Help them to decipher the information on their own, if their parents allow. 

Remind your students that they are safe. Allow them to use your classroom as a safe space emotionally and remind them of all the safety protocols around your school that keep it physically safe as well. 

Just listen. Sometimes, human beings don’t need someone else to pass facts and opinions back and forth. Not everyone is out there looking for a debate. Sometimes, people just need a listening ear. No words are needed, just validating feelings and thoughts and turning into a listening ear. 

Stick to facts. If the topic of wars, presidential elections, or something else comes up in your classroom, stick to the facts. There is a time and place for debate and opinions, but to stay on the safe side, the classroom is not this place. Stick to facts when students have worries or questions, and refer them to school counselors when and if needed. 

We as humans need the time and space to process everything going on around us. It seems as if every day there is something new going on to add to our worry list. But as teachers, we can put on a strong face and support our students who have heavy hearts and are struggling during this time. 

What other tips would you add to this list?

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A Pumpkin for Everyone

The annual first-grade field trip to the pumpkin patch is coming up. All students in the first grade are allowed to go as long as permission slips have been signed.

However, in order to pick a pumpkin out at the end of the field trip, a $5 fee must be paid by a certain date.

$5 for a school field trip isn’t a huge ask for parents… but for some parents, it’s everything. It’s more than they can give to allow their child the simple indulgence of picking a pumpkin at the end of the field trip.

On the day of the event, several kids will leave the farm with a small pumpkin.

And several will walk away empty-handed.

Maybe the parent forgot to send the money. Maybe the parent truly could not afford the money. Maybe the money was swapped with a 5th grader at recess for a candy bar, I don’t know the circumstances.

But what I did know was that some kids would be walking away without a pumpkin. And my heart broke for those students, regardless of the why.

So we sent an extra $20. It wasn’t much. It may not even cover every single child in the classroom that didn’t pay the $5 fee.

But I’m helping how and when I can, and I’m working hard to teach my children to do the same.

To find the friend on the playground who doesn’t have anyone else to play with and invite them into your game.

To notice the classmate feeling down and ask how you can help.

Because school is really cool, and we are there to learn how to read and add up numbers. But we’re also there to learn how to be really awesome human beings full of empathy and service.

So pay the extra field trip money.

Send a second sandwich in their lunch for someone who needs it.

Donate the dry-erase markers.

Because when our kids see us treating others in schools this way, they’ll turn around and do the same.

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Saying Goodbye to our Students

The school year is coming to a close, which is always so exciting (and needed). But it seems like after all of the hectic end-of-the-year parties and celebrations are over and we’re sitting alone in our empty classrooms, that’s when the reality sets in. 

They’re gone. They’re really gone. 

Your students aren’t coming back to your classrooms again, they’re moving up and moving on. 

For so many months, the routine was the same. Your students walked in, took their seats, and your school day started. 

Together, you learned new concepts and reviewed the old. As a team, you worked to problem-solve within your classroom to create the best learning environment possible. 

There were so many hours spent in the classroom that you all became a family, functioning together as a family does. 

And yes, times were hard, deep breaths were taken (by everyone), and problems were dealt with.

But at the end of the day, your classroom dynamic was still a family dynamic, and there you all were, sticking up for each other, advocating for each other, and learning together. 

So as you sit in your empty classroom in the silence to follow the crazy end of the year… take it all in. Remember all of the good times and bad times you had. Appreciate those students for everything they were and weren’t. And feel good knowing that they walked out of your classroom a better person than they were when they entered. 

It’s okay to feel sad and to feel happy at the same time, there’s space for both. 

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Is Undivided Attention Still the Best Practice in School?

We were deep in the trenches of distance learning with my daughter this winter when my 3-year-old decided to join in and learn right along with her. It was fun having him interact and adapt the lessons to his level. It was the first day we started reading Charlotte’s Web out loud together and almost immediately when he was required to sit still and listen to the book, he started bouncing off the walls. I urged him to sit down and listen, but that was met with him fidgeting with the pencils and crayons, and paper in front of him. 

To be honest, it was driving me mad! I know that everything I was feeling was straight from the social norms that I had in school and required as a teacher. However, times have changed! We’ve learned so much about the human brain and body and it’s a fact that sitting still with undivided attention is not the best way to learn for every single kid. 

The first day he fidgeted and messed with everything in front of him, it drove me crazy. I continued to tell him to stop, to sit down, and to listen. It was a fight until he finally just left the table altogether. 

The next day I was somewhat more prepared and allowed some Lego building while I read. It helped so much but didn’t completely keep him captivated and listening. 

In the days following, I adjusted my own expectations and emotions as he moved and jumped and crashed all around us as I read. It was hard for me to come to terms with him acting this way when I wanted him to listen. But the kicker was this, he was listening because I was allowing him to act this way. 

I was allowing his body to move freely and do what he needed to do best in order to listen. 

I also reflected on the times as a student when I would doodle during a lecture and I would take in more information by keeping my hands busy with a mindless activity instead of having my mind wander when I wasn’t allowed to doodle or fidget in some way. 

The way we learn is incredible and so vastly different among different personality types and students. It’s unfair to assume that just because we are not “distracted” and our eyes are looking directly at the teacher, we are taking in information and retaining what is being taught. 

It was interesting to see the difference in how much my son knew about the book based on what he was doing while I was reading. In the beginning, when I would dictate what he did during the reading time, he didn’t seem to retain much information Later on in the book when he was free to move and play as needed, he was able to tell me more about what was happening and knew who each of the characters was, even the smaller, less significant characters. 

It’s 2023- moving is listening. 

Photo by Pixabay via Pexels

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New Logo, Who Dis?

The time has come to unveil the new branding for our scholarship! As I stepped into the role of scholarship chair and content writer, I began noticing some variations in the way that those who came before me referred to the scholarship. The original name for our scholarship was the Design A Better Future scholarship (which I’m assuming came from the fact that the projects needs to be based on the design thinking cycle). But as the years went on, it also started being referred to as the Build A Better future scholarship and both titles started being used interchangeably.

In order to *hopefully* limit future confusion, I decided to update the scholarship logo and declare one title to be the official title from now on. The HGU scholarship will henceforth be known as the Build A Better Future scholarship. I felt as though using the verb “design” was too passive and wasn’t giving our applicants enough credit. Yes, they are using the design thinking cycle but they are also going above and beyond to bring their designs to life.

design a better future scholarship high school seniors

In addition to updating the logo and title, the website has been updated with all the information needed for our 2023 scholarship! I look forward to seeing how the next group of applicants works on building a better future for their communities. If you or anyone you know is a high school senior that will be graduating in 2023, you can find more information regarding the scholarship here and here. Please email scholarship@honorsgraduation.com with any questions. Good luck!

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Nourishing the Seed

Here is a brief list of book recommendations for middle grade readers (3rd-6th Grade). Stay tuned for more recommendations and more age groups!

Hooky by Miriam Bonastre Tur

One scoop of graphic novel, one dash of fantastical adventure, and two heaping tablespoons of witch makes this book the perfect recipe (or spell!) for the hesitant reader in your life. With beautiful illustrations and an engaging storyline, this is the perfect way to introduce middle-grade readers to novels without making them feel like they are reading a novel.

“When Dani and Dorian missed the bus to magic school, they never thought they’d wind up declared traitors to their own kind! Now, thanks to a series of mishaps, they are being chased by powerful magic families seeking the prophesied King of Witches and royals searching for missing princes.” -HaperCollins Publishers

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

“Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona… she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined.” -GoodReads

This book is the perfect reminder of the importance of friendship, courage, and acceptance (of yourself and others).

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane by Julia Nobel

Nothing captivates a reader like the suspenseful twists and turns of a good mystery, and this book is no exception! Read aloud or read alone, you’ll find your readers on the edge of their seat.

“With a dad who disappeared years ago and a mother who’s a bit too busy to parent, Emmy is shipped off to Wellsworth, a prestigious boarding school in England, where she’s sure she won’t fit in. But then she finds a box of mysterious medallions in the attic of her home with a note reading: These belonged to your father. When she arrives at school, she finds the strange symbols from the medallions etched into walls and books, which leads Emmy and her new friends, Jack and Lola, to Wellsworth’s secret society: The Order of Black Hollow Lane. Emmy can’t help but think that the society had something to do with her dad’s disappearance, and that there may be more than just dark secrets in the halls of Wellsworth…” -Sourcebooks

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Alright, this recommendation might come from a place of self-indulgence as this was a series that I absolutely LOVED as a kid. But I’ve also reread them as an adult, and they still hold up.

“For centuries, mystical creatures of all description were gathered to a hidden refuge called Fablehaven to prevent their extinction. The sanctuary is one of the last strongholds of true magic. Enchanting? Absolutely. Exciting? You bet. Safe? Well, actually, quite the opposite . . . Kendra and her brother, Seth, have no idea their grandfather is the current caretaker of Fablehaven. Inside the gated woods, ancient laws keep order among greedy trolls, mischievous satyrs, plotting witches, spiteful imps, and jealous fairies. However, when the rules get broken, powerful forces of evil are unleashed, forcing Kendra and Seth to face the greatest challenge of their lives, to save their family, Fablehaven, and perhaps even the world.” -Shadow Mountain

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

“Boys don’t keep diaries—or do they? It’s a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you’re ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary.” -ABRAMS Publishing

Anyone who has been a kid, is a kid, has kids, or has even looked at a kid has heard of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This series is another resource to encourage disinterested readers. I mean, Jeff Kinney wouldn’t be able to write a 17-book series because kids aren’t reading his books, so he clearly knows a thing or two about getting kids excited about reading.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

“Accidentally built sideways and standing thirty stories high (the builder said he was very sorry for the mistake), Wayside School has some of the wackiest classes in town, especially on the thirtieth floor. That’s where you’ll meet Bebe, the fastest draw in art class; John, who only reads upside down; Myron, the best class president ever; and Sammy, the new kid—he’s a real rat.” -HarperCollins Publishing

Comedic, clever, and kooky; this book has it all! With chapters that read like short stories, it is ideal for reading out loud. These far-fetched stories will fetch a laugh or two (or 89).