Tag: positive classroom

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The Benefits of Boredom

If you grew up in the 80s and 90s like I did (or even in earlier decades), you know very well the reality of growing up mostly screen free. You know what it’s like to make your own fun. You remember times growing up when you were forced to come up with your own ideas, rather than relying on a little screen. Simply put, you know how to be bored– and how to be okay with it!

Today’s kids are becoming more and more intolerant of boredom. I can’t tell you the amount of times I hear my own children say, “I’m bored! Can I play a game on your phone?”, to which I always respond with, “Nope! It’s okay to be bored! Put your mind to work and think of something fun to do!” The majority of the time, they will complain about it and try to state their case again and again, but every now and then, if they will sit in their boredom long enough, it’s amazing what they can come up with! 

Classrooms are experiencing the same epidemic. Because of the mass amount of information they are being fed through screens and other devices on a daily basis, their brains just can’t seem to handle any amount of down time. It’s almost like a panic mode clicks on– they can’t even fathom not having anything to do or look at, and that seems to drive anxiety and stress. Students are afraid of quiet. They are afraid of letting their minds relax and think away from screens. 

Granted, boredom is a stark contrast to the go go go state that their developing brains are almost always in. Quiet, slow, imaginative thinking is becoming a foreign concept. Students are so used to information being fed to them at a rapid pace that they aren’t sure how to slow their brains down. It’s like rush hour traffic, when hundreds of drivers are trying to merge onto, navigate, and drive on the same road. It’s chaotic and sometimes messy. There is so much going on all at once that it’s hard to make any sense of it all. It’s easy to miss things that are happening. Compare that to a late evening freeway: the amount of traffic has decreased dramatically. Cars don’t have to fight for a spot on the highway. The chaos is minimized. The noise and messiness have almost disappeared. It becomes much easier to navigate the road and notice things that are happening.


Kids today can greatly benefit from being bored. Their minds will quiet down. They will learn to listen to their own minds and come up with their own ideas. Imaginations will soar. Anxiety will lessen. Boredom will become something that is okay, and hopefully at some point, something that is wanted because of the benefits that come from it. Boredom can be a powerful thing if we allow it to be.

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Connecting With Students

Female High School Tutor Sitting At Table With Pupils Teaching Maths Class

Teachers can have a powerful and lasting impact on their students. Think for a minute about a teacher you had that made a positive impact on you. What about that teacher makes them stand out? Maybe it was their personality, perhaps it was the thought provoking assignments they gave, or maybe it was that they noticed you and got to know you. The reasons can be numerous, and are often personal to each individual. 

When I think of my favorite teacher, I immediately think of a couple teachers I had. First, I think of Mrs. Shimmin, who was my second grade teacher. She made learning fun, was engaging, knew when to be silly, and made each student in her class feel loved and important. Another teacher I think of often is Mr. Downs, my AP English and Literature teacher my senior year of high school. His class was anything but easy; I remember many nights, working until the early morning hours to finish term projects, but he pushed his students and challenged them to do better. Through his class and instruction,  I learned a lot about what I was capable of. He knew us each individually and was kind. He was understanding when the demands of high school and life were too much. He loved all of his students, and we all knew it. The last teacher I think of is Dr. Smith, who taught several of my education courses in college. She made her classes fun and engaging, and made sure to get to know each of her students, which is often a rare thing in a college course. I’ve been graduated from college for 15+ years now, and I still keep in touch with her. She still encourages me to do my best and shares in my happy moments. 

As I look back on what I remember most about my favorite teachers, there seems to be a common theme: kindness and love. It didn’t matter the subject taught or the age or grade at which I was taught. What mattered most was how I felt while being taught by these individuals. These teachers encouraged me to be and do my best both in and out of the classroom. They truly cared about who I was as a person. I wasn’t just a number on their roster. 

Isn’t what what we all need? To feel loved and cared for, no matter where we are? Since we spend a good majority of our time in a classroom during our child and teen years (and often into our young adulthood), teachers who create positive impressions are so important. 

So how, then, does a teacher go about connecting with their students and working toward those kinds of positive impressions? 

One way is to create connections with each individual student. Get to know their names, what they are interested in, and what their family life is like. Know when their birthday is and acknowledge it when it comes. If they are in any kinds of sports, drama, music, or other programs at school, try to attend those events and support them. If you can’t make it to their school sponsored events, be sure to ask about how they went. Ask them about what they did over the weekend or holiday break. Remember when they have big (or small) things going on in their lives, and remember to ask about those things. Simply put, take some time to really get to know your students. It’s an investment worth making, and is an investment with a great return.  A little effort goes a long way!

Another way is to give meaningful feedback on their work. So often, students who are struggling are the ones who get the most attention when it comes to feedback on assignments. But in reality, every student loves to hear what they are doing well at, and would also greatly benefit from the teacher taking a little time to discuss what they can to do improve.

In addition, teachers can also find ways to incorporate their students’ interests into lessons and assignments. For instance, when asking my students to write a persuasive piece, I would always make sure to select topics that they would feel more passionate about. Seventh grade students won’t be very invested in writing about who to vote for in the upcoming gubernatorial election, but they certainly will be invested in writing about whether or not they should be allowed to bring their cell phones to class or who the best current musician is. Gearing lessons and activities toward student interests will engage them and will make an impression on their growing minds.

There are many ways for teachers to connect with their students, and often times, these will be personal to each teacher. But what matters most is that teachers are making an effort to connect, impact, and care for each student in their classroom. Because after all, don’t we all just need a little more love and care?

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Are You a Clean Desk Club Classroom?

I’m a proud member of the clean desk club! I was throughout school and still (somewhat) continue to be. 

As an elementary school student, I felt so much pride as a member of the clean desk club, as I’m sure many do! But what about those students that aren’t part of it? 

Becoming a mom and spending time teaching has widened my view of the clean desk club. I have one child who will clean and organize all day every day if I let her, and while I haven’t seen her desk at school, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was part of the clean desk club at any given moment, too. 

On the other hand, I have a child whose brain just does not work in a way where things around him are organized or clean. The more chaotic his surroundings, the better he does in general. 

What I’ve learned is that some people just genuinely don’t want or need their workspace to be clean. 

So why is the clean desk club a thing? Or desk cleaning days? Or teachers micromanaging the state of their student’s desks?

My first thought is that the teachers doing this know they are more productive when they are organized and tidy, so they feel like their students will be the same. However, we have to also consider the teacher’s needs as well as the students, maybe it’s taking time out of their day to constantly have to wait on students who are searching a messy desk for a paper or book. 

How can we as teachers find the balance between a well-run classroom, while also giving our students space to be themselves and feel comfortable in the classroom? 

Allot the time to your students who need it to find items in their desks. Give them an early heads-up to start their search while you finish up other miscellaneous tasks. 

Minimize the space your students have to keep tidy to cut down on clutter. A teacher I know got rid of desks in her classroom and switched her students to tables. They have their pencil boxes, a shelf in the classroom with book boxes for their books, and a spot in their coat cubby for papers. Everything has a place and it’s easy to eliminate clutter when there’s no space for it. 

Stop praising the clean desks. This automatically places shame and guilt on those with messy desks, which is not helpful for those students. 

Have real conversations with your students, ask them what their needs are. Do they like clean desks? Do they work better with messy desks? How can you work together as a classroom so that everyone wins? 

What is your stance on the clean desk club? 

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School Affirmations Round Three

Last month we featured a post of affirmations for students to use at school. We also have a list of Back to School Affirmations. They were so popular that I knew right away we needed a part three. 

Affirmations can be so important to us when our bodies are feeling one way, but we need to remind ourselves what is important and who we are. They may be awkward at first to say to ourselves, but given practice and time, it can 

“When I want to shrink, I choose to expand” 

“I deserve to take up space” 

“I am enough”

” I am not responsible for others happiness” 

” I can feel hard feelings until they pass” 

“I can have restarts. I can try again. Mistakes help me grow” 

” I am doing warrior work” 

“I own peace and presence in all circumstances”

” I am brave” 

” I can communicate my needs clearly” 

” I am capable of moving forward” 

“I am still learning. I deserve grace” 

“I hold serenity and peace” 

” I am a champion” 

” I can feel frustrated and be calm.”

“My voice matters” 

“I embrace change and welcome challenges”

” I have the knowledge and space to overcome any obstacle I face”

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Putting Homework in the Child’s Hands

Homework… it can be such a tricky topic! There is little research that shows homework being effective for children in elementary-aged classrooms. Upon a quick Google search, “Is homework effective for elementary-aged students?” There are pages of results full of articles denying that homework is academically effective. 

So as a teacher or a parent with higher-ups enforcing homework in the classroom, what can you do? 

Change the role of homework, stop seeing it as academic advancement, and start seeing it as an opportunity for students to build their self-awareness, self-fulfillment, and responsibility. And we do this by putting the homework in the child’s hands. 

This means as teachers we are encouraging parents to remind, but not nag, about the homework. 

It means, if possible, grading based on completion and participation instead of correctness. 

It means giving the responsibility of the homework, completion, and bringing it back and forth from home to school, to the child and not the teachers or the parents. 

It’s doing our best to teach them the intrinsic motivation of learning and practicing by watching them accomplish more and do better with the work they have put into their studies. 

It can also mean starting the conversation with your principal and superintendent about the research on homework in younger grades and seeing if you can help change school policies. 

In the end, putting the homework in the child’s hands and letting them take control of their learning can bring them more benefits later than actually doing the homework will.

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School Test Scores Won’t Tell You the Important Things

We moved to a new area about a year ago. We relocated to a rural farming community of about 2,700 people. For the sake of this blog post, let’s call the town Smallville. In this community, there is one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school, and that encompasses the entire school district. 

During our period of searching for homes, I also spent time researching schools in each town and area that we were considering moving to. Of all the cities we possibly could have chosen, Smallville was last on my list because the school rankings for the district were… well… not great. In fact, they were some of the lowest. 

But lo and behold, we ended up in Smallville. With my oldest starting kindergarten just three months after moving there, I was in constant worry about what we should do for school. Should we keep her at Smallville Elementary or drive her to one of the surrounding town’s schools each day? Every passing day throughout the summer it was constantly on my mind. 

We ultimately decided to keep her at Smallville Elementary at least for her first year of school, see how the year would go, and then move her to a new school for first grade if needed. 

After her first full year of school, I was absolutely humbled. Sure, the school rankings on the Idaho State Department of Education website weren’t favorable for Smallville by any means. But do you know what the website doesn’t tell you? 

It doesn’t tell you about the principal that is outside each and every morning and afternoon, no matter the weather, helping the teachers manage school drop-off and pick-up lines. 

It doesn’t tell you about the kindergarten teachers and how every single one of them loves their students something fierce and will do anything to help the students succeed. 

It doesn’t tell you about the first-grade teachers organizing a fundraiser all on their own to help raise money for a field trip. 

The website doesn’t ever mention the school janitor that helps your daughter clean up her spilled lunch box off the floor of the cafeteria and then comforts her when she is in tears from embarrassment. 

There aren’t stats for what a community bonding experience it is to attend a high school basketball game and have everyone come together for the evening, catch up, and rally together to cheer our athletes on to victory. 

Never once did the website mentions how the superintendent, principal, and teacher would bend over backward when you make the difficult decision to pull your child from school temporarily and give distance learning a try. 

It doesn’t tell you about the text your child’s teacher will send you in the middle of the school day, “I noticed your child was struggling with a specific math skill, I sent home some classroom manipulatives she can work with this week to help her.” – Classroom manipulatives that the teacher surely purchased herself. 

It doesn’t tell you the important parts of the school. 

The website can show statistics of test scores all day long, but what it can never show you is what an incredible community you gain in any one specific school, or in our case, one specific school district. 

Going to school is based on academics, but that’s not our only goal at the end of their 12+ years in those hallways and classrooms. The goal is to raise good humans that know how to problem solve, interact with others, be a friend, have empathy, and more. 

I’m grateful for our little Smallville school district and I’m even more grateful that we didn’t try to send our child away from such a community-driven school, regardless of what the test scores said. 

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Dear Students,

You’re walking through my doors for the start of the school year soon. You’re not the same kid you were a few months ago when you left for summer break. You’re bigger, stronger, and smarter. 

I know you may feel so small and not ready to be in this classroom, but let me tell you- you are needed here. You have a place, a desk, a seat in here. And you are more than ready to start this school year in this classroom. 

This year you’ll make new friends, meet new teachers, and explore the walls of not only our classroom but our school. You are here to make your mark and take up space, and I cannot wait to see how your school year unfolds! 

I am excited to meet you and get to know you and your heart. I cannot wait to learn more about you, what your favorites are, and how your mind learns. 

This school year we’ll not only build a classroom, but we’ll also build a family. And you are an important part of our classroom family. 

I can’t wait to see you. 

Sincerely, 

Your Teacher ❤️