Airplane antics

One of my favorite classroom activities to get children moving is called "Airplane Antics."  This activity involves a minimum of effort by the teacher, but a maximum of effort by the students.  Here's how it works: 

1. Take enough pieces of lined or unlined paper for each student in the room.  Provide a different label for the top of each page. (See the examples below.)
2. Tell the students to answer or respond to the key word or words at the top of the page.
3. They fold the paper into an airplane.
4. On your cue, they sail the plane across the room.
5. Another child picks up the airplane, unfolds it, then provides a new comment or answer.
6. Repeat the process 3-6 times depending on the available time and interest level of your students.
7. Collect the papers and review the answers.

How easy is that!

Here are some examples of possible labels for the top of the paper.  The examples provide only one label of many that you would put at the top for each session.  For example, in the math activity, you would have twenty different numberes for the twenty students in the class. For the animals list, you might also include wild animals, pets, poisonous animals, etc.)

• 15 (students provide different equations for the number at the top of the page)
• Green (students write or draw something that is green)
• Farm animals (students write or draw a different farm animal)
• Vegetables (students write or draw different veggies)

See how that goes?  What categories can you develop for this activity?  For more ideas, see my book, The Kinetic Classroom: Activities that Move Students to Learn.

Happy teaching!

Another use for a clothes pin

In a previous blog, I showed you how to use clothes pins to indicate movement upward on a sliding behavior scale.  Today, I adapt a hint from my daughter, a 7th grade science teacher.  She wanted to showcase student work on a rotating basis, so she hot glued clothes pins to bulletin board paper that was tacked onto the bulletin board.  Then when she wants to showcase new work, all she has to do is unclip and add a new piece.  So easy! 

Rewarding students with classroom recognition is almost better than giving them a big A on the top of the paper or a smiley sticker.  This recognition gives them positive attention in front of their peers, which multiplies the satisfaction level.  With stickers, only the student and his family or close friends see the achievement.  With the reward wall, everyone gets to see what good work looks like and who did it. 

Happy teaching!

Get those kids moving!

According to Science Daily, "researchers have found an association between physical fitness and the brain in 9- and 10-year-old children: Those who are more fit tend to have a bigger hippocampus and perform better on a test of memory than their less-fit peers."  In their test, The children who were in better physical condition also did better on tests of relational memory -- the ability to remember and integrate various types of information -- than their less-fit peers.

No surprise there!  I've long advocated that students in classrooms don't need to sit in nice neat little rows, copy notes from a blackboard or lecture, and then regurgitate that information two weeks later on a test.  (Excuse my yawn!)  Oh, right, that yawn was my body's way of getting more oxygen to my brain.  Here then, are some ideas for getting more oxygen into your students' brains throughout the day.

• Give them a true "activity" several times during the day to get them moving out of their seats.  Have them find clues you've hidden around the room, or ask them to stand up and join you around a table for a demonstration, for example.
• If you have long periods of time where they must stay seated for a test, give them physical exercise both before and after the test.  The first exercise (touching toes ten time, perhaps) gets the oxygen to their brains.  The sceond exercise gets the kinks out of their muscles and uses up some of that youthful energy.
• Establish active routines.  If kids know that an exercise session is approaching, they'll be more likely to endure the sitting time.  This is especially important for your little AD/HD learners.
• Add dance to your curriculum.  This links the kinesthetic intelligence with the musical intelligence as your work on their language and logic intelligences :-)
• Play active games.  Here are some marvelous ideas: http://www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip69.html

Happy Teaching!

Feng Shui Your Classroom

Some of you have already returned to the classroom (ACK!), others will be there in a few weeks, while a few lucky ones have one more month of summer vacation left.  Now is the time to think about how you can prepare your classroom according to Feng Shui to make this year's environment the best ever.  As a result of your efforts, you should have the best educational year ever, too!  Here are the steps:

1. De-clutter.  The custodial staff probably left your room in a shambles after they cleaned and polished the floors.  Now is the time to toss those aging posters and unused files into the recycling bin. 
2. Follow the bagua.  Look at the bagua at the bottom of this blog and energize those areas of your room with the appropriate chi-friendly items.  For example, to energize the chi in the creativity area, you might use an aluminum foil background for the bulletin board with 7 affirmations for creativity written on it.  Or, to energize the self-worth area, place four plants there.  Remember to rotate your bulletin boards and water your plants!  Attack the other areas of the room in the same manner, always considering how the chi would want to move from one area to the other as it energizes your students in the middle.
3. Remember Yin and Yang.  Most classrooms are way to yang (loud, noisy, bright).  So tone down the yang with some yin by lowering the lights, closing the shades, and adding incandesent rather than flourescent lights.  It's all about the balance!
4. Energize missing areas. If your room is not square or rectangular, consider what area is missing.  Add the appropriate elements to help the chi adjust to that missing corner.  For example, if you are missing. the "helpful people" area, you might find that your students are less than cordial to each other.  Energize the area around this missing corner with a gray earthenware pot that containes six wrought iron designs (think flowers!) of some sort.  Yard sales are wonderful places to find treasures to Feng Shui your classroom.  However, be careful that you don't bring other people's problems back with you.  Cleanse the items either physically with soap and water or metaphorically with incense before placing in your classroom.
5. Work on odors and ions.  When I was teaching, I ate an orange for lunch nearly every day, and then placed the peelings in a bowl near the door.  The natural orange scent welcomed students into the room and masked some natural teen odors!  Also, I absolutly love this Himalayan Salt Crystal Lamp because it acts as a natural air purifier.

For more tips, read my book Feng Shui for the Classroom.

Happy Teaching!

Classroom Feng Shui ... for next year

At this time of year, many of you are probably cleaning the classroom, tossing old projects, and looking forward to a relaxing summer.  Here are some ideas to consider over the summer so you can begin with a Feng Shui-ed classroom in September:

A.    Your entrance area needs to be welcoming and uncluttered.  It is also your diversity area.  FS this area to bring your students into your realm with an arrangement that helps them feel comfortable with their environment.  As with any other meeting, first impressions are important.  So, you need to attack as many senses as possible.  Can you find a round metal table from a yard sale that you can place there? (Remember to wash it well before placing it in your classroom to remove other folks’ bad chi.)  It should be no more than about 18 inches in diameter or whatever will fit comfortably in that space.   On the wall in that area, include posters or mantras that show people working together for the common good.  

B.     Put your metal file cabinet to the left of your door for strength – it will support your career area.  On the side of the cabinet as students come in the door, rotate career ideas for your subject area every month.  By the end of the year, you’ll have shown them ten different careers that will use your subject matter.  Avoid earth elements here, but include wavy, watery things, perhaps a wavy border around the four edges of that side of the file cabinet highlighting your career posters.  Keep the top clear of clutter by placing an incandescent lamp there – something blue or black, wavy, and metal. 

C.     Place your desk to the right of the door with your back to the wall.   A white flowering plant on your desk would be perfect.  Remember that this is usually an "metal" corner in most classrooms, so use a round ceramic pot that has a touch of turquoise or blue for that plant.  Also, keep your desk neat and clutter-free as much as possible. 

D.    The magic number for your knowledge corner (left as you walk in the room - see below) is 8.  Can you think of 8 key curriculum concepts you can highlight either on the wall?  Remember to refresh those eight concepts with each unit or marking period.

For more tips to consider this summer, read Feng Shui for the Classroom: 101 Easy-to-Use Ideas.  While you're browsing my website, consider reserving a workshop for the rest of the faculty next year!