I sometimes worry that parents and community members hear so much about the fun things that we do in our room that they get the impression that very little serious learning is going on. How can the work going on in Mrs. Rodgers's room be very rigorous if they are having so much fun.
First, it is my belief that students learn more when they are relaxed and having fun. Research backs this up. In my class we talk a lot about our brains and how they work. Have you heard of your amygdala? Do you know that when your amygdala is (as we say) "fired up" it is very difficult to learn? My second graders know this, and that is why I try very hard to make my classroom environment low stress. We take brain breaks to get the wiggles out, practice using calming breaths, and talk about being "mindful" when we are learning. I do these things so that when we actually get down to the business of learning it is fair for me to expect that students will be engaged and on-task. It is reasonable for me to expect my second graders to work very hard and remain focused because of the breaks I give them.
The same is true of the fun things that we do on Friday. It is my goal to have every student reach our behavior goal and enjoy a fun activity on Friday and at the end of the month. There are times when a student's behavior won't allow that to happen, but I will never be happy about it. The activities we do on Friday are fun and educational. When we made shrunken heads we talked about the evaporation that would occur in order to make them shrink. We talked about why sweet or salty decorations would dissolve when they hit the wet apple. This morning we discussed what variables might make some of our apples dry faster than others, and what we could do to speed up the process. Later we will take pictures of our apples and write about the changes we saw. Many of our fun Friday activities provide rich and complex learning experiences.
Finally, whenever we have fun together we are building our family, our community. We learn to trust each other, and to feel okay about making mistakes or taking risks. When I was so sick a few weeks ago I came in and said, "Look guys, I don't feel very good. Can you help me out today by working very hard so I don't have to?" And you know what? They did. They did because they know that most days I love to boogie down with them, sing like a fool, or share a crazy YouTube video. They know that I love them and enjoy spending time with them. When you show your students that they will work their little behinds off for you!
This Friday we will take nearly half a day off to drop pumpkins (making predictions about which ones will make it), enjoy some snacks, walk in a parade, and sing pumpkin carols for you (rereading these songs improves sight word recognition and reading fluency). I hope to see many of you there!
First, it is my belief that students learn more when they are relaxed and having fun. Research backs this up. In my class we talk a lot about our brains and how they work. Have you heard of your amygdala? Do you know that when your amygdala is (as we say) "fired up" it is very difficult to learn? My second graders know this, and that is why I try very hard to make my classroom environment low stress. We take brain breaks to get the wiggles out, practice using calming breaths, and talk about being "mindful" when we are learning. I do these things so that when we actually get down to the business of learning it is fair for me to expect that students will be engaged and on-task. It is reasonable for me to expect my second graders to work very hard and remain focused because of the breaks I give them.
The same is true of the fun things that we do on Friday. It is my goal to have every student reach our behavior goal and enjoy a fun activity on Friday and at the end of the month. There are times when a student's behavior won't allow that to happen, but I will never be happy about it. The activities we do on Friday are fun and educational. When we made shrunken heads we talked about the evaporation that would occur in order to make them shrink. We talked about why sweet or salty decorations would dissolve when they hit the wet apple. This morning we discussed what variables might make some of our apples dry faster than others, and what we could do to speed up the process. Later we will take pictures of our apples and write about the changes we saw. Many of our fun Friday activities provide rich and complex learning experiences.
Finally, whenever we have fun together we are building our family, our community. We learn to trust each other, and to feel okay about making mistakes or taking risks. When I was so sick a few weeks ago I came in and said, "Look guys, I don't feel very good. Can you help me out today by working very hard so I don't have to?" And you know what? They did. They did because they know that most days I love to boogie down with them, sing like a fool, or share a crazy YouTube video. They know that I love them and enjoy spending time with them. When you show your students that they will work their little behinds off for you!
This Friday we will take nearly half a day off to drop pumpkins (making predictions about which ones will make it), enjoy some snacks, walk in a parade, and sing pumpkin carols for you (rereading these songs improves sight word recognition and reading fluency). I hope to see many of you there!