5 Ways Teachers Can Spark Joy When Classroom Energy Tanks [Episode 232]

Heidi  0:00

This is episode 232 of Teacher Approved.

 

Heidi  0:06

You’re listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest. I’m Heidi.

 

Emily  0:14

And I’m Emily. We’re the creators behind Second Story Window, where we give research based and teacher approved strategies that make teaching less stressful and more effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from each episode at secondstorywindow.net.

 

Heidi  0:29

We’re so glad you’re tuning in today. Let’s get to the show.

 

Emily  0:36

Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today’s episode, we are talking about five simple ways to shake off the November slump and sharing a teacher approved tip for celebrating joy in your classroom.

 

Heidi  0:48

But let’s start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick one that you can try in your classroom right away. Emily, what is our suggestion for this week?

 

Emily  0:56

This one’s super simple. Just create a classroom playlist with your students. This is perfect if you’re looking to re energize your classroom in November. Ask each student to nominate one school appropriate song that makes them feel happy or focused. You can have them write it down on a sticky note, submit it through a Google form, or just share out loud during morning meeting. Once you’ve got all the nominations and you’ve double checked them for appropriateness, you can create a playlist that you can use during cleanup time, brain breaks or transition moments.

 

Heidi  1:27

Kids love having a say in what happens in the classroom, and music is one of those things that just lifts the mood. It’s a small thing that can make a big difference in the energy of your room, especially when November starts to drag.

 

Emily  1:41

My youngest daughter’s teacher does this, and they can submit songs throughout the year for the list, and she loves it so much. Talks about it all the time.

 

Heidi  1:50

I bet she puts Benson Boone in every time.

 

Emily  1:52

Oh, you know she does. And hey, you might discover some new songs that you actually enjoy too. So give it a shot tomorrow, your students will feel heard, and you’ll have a ready to go soundtrack for the rest of the month.

 

Heidi  2:05

If you like this idea or anything else that we have shared here on the podcast, would you please take a second and give us a five star rating in your podcast app? Ratings and reviews really do have a huge impact on the success of our show, and we are so appreciative of everyone.

 

Emily  2:20

And speaking of reviews, here is a recent one from a listener titled My Favorite Podcast. “Every single episode leaves me feeling empowered and motivated to support my students. I always have an actionable item that is easily implemented to create the ideal learning experience for my students. So grateful for Teacher Approved.”

 

Heidi  2:38

Oh, thank you so much. We really appreciate that so much. If this was your review, would you please email us at [email protected], because we would like to say thank you for your thank you with a little gift card.

 

Heidi  2:51

You know, November seems like it should be such a calm month in the classroom. It’s after the Halloween craziness, and the holidays are still weeks away.

 

Emily  3:00

And yet, somehow it is actually a perfect storm. The Halloween sugar rush has crashed, the time change means it’s dark before dinner, and those gray skies make everyone feel sleepy, me included.

 

Heidi  3:11

Boo. And you know the fun stuff, the holidays, are still weeks away, but the kids are starting to get that holiday restlessness. You know what I’m talking about. They can sense that winter break is coming, but it’s not close enough to actually look forward to yet.

 

Emily  3:27

Yeah, and you as the teacher are feeling totally drained, because that energy that carried you through the start of the year has kind of evaporated by this point.

 

Heidi  3:35

And we talked about this back in episode 51, oh, wow, way back in episode 51, when we discussed how to reset a rough day. There’s a great quote from Haim Ginott, and all these episodes later, we still don’t know how to say that name. He says, “I have come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather.”

 

Emily  4:01

Well, I hate that quote because it makes me feel like, Oh no, it’s all down to me. But I also love that quote because it reminds me that we have more power than we think. If the energy in the room is stormy, then we’re the ones who can bring back the sun. The kids cannot do it on their own, even if they’re the ones who created the storm in the first place, and let’s be honest, they usually are.

 

Heidi  4:24

Yeah, funny how that works, and somehow November comes in hard with that stormy energy. Back in September, everything was new new pencils, new chances, new energy. There was excitement in the air, but by November, that novelty has completely worn off. The pencils are all missing erasers, and probably a few of them have two marks in them. Why did they do that? And those routines that you work so hard to establish are probably feeling a little stale.

 

Emily  4:49

And I bet you can guess what we’re going to talk about here. What’s happening is the balance between structure and spark has tipped too far into the structure side. Your engagement scale is just out of whack.

 

Heidi  5:01

You know this is our favorite analogy. Picture a balanced scale with a bucket on one side, labeled structure and the other labeled novelty, or spark, as we have been calling it lately. When the scale is balanced, your students are engaged, but if it tips too far towards structure, kids get bored, and if it tips too far towards spark, kids get overwhelmed.

 

Emily  5:20

Turns out, neither bored kids nor overwhelmed kids can learn, and even worse, they’ll find something else to do if they’re bored and overwhelmed. And I think we can guarantee that it’s not what you’re going to want them to be doing.

 

Heidi  5:33

Oh no, definitely not. So our job as teachers is to keep that scale balanced. At the beginning of the year, everything was so novel that we needed to add tons of structure to keep kids from tipping into overwhelm. But now we have got structure in spades. So it’s time to add some spark back into the mix to reignite engagement.

 

Emily  5:53

And that’s what today’s episode is all about. So we’re sharing five easy ways to shift the energy in your classroom when November hits hard. These are simple, doable moves that you can make in the moment to reset the tone and get everyone back on track.

 

Heidi  6:07

We’re calling these the 5 Cs of classroom re-energizing: change, connect, create, celebrate and center. These are little ways to add the spark of novelty to your classroom, and the best part is that none of them require elaborate planning or a ton of work. These are things that you could start doing this week.

 

Emily  6:25

So our first C is change, and this is the quickest way to reset classroom energy. This does not have to be big, like, you know, when you move two desks and everyone acts like the classroom got a renovation. That’s what we’re talking about.

 

Heidi  6:38

Yeah, it really does not take much, even a tiny change can jolt those sleepy November brains awake.

 

Emily  6:44

One of the easiest things you can change is the ambience of your classroom. Try turning off those harsh overhead lights, no big lights, and using lamps or twinkle lights instead or play some calm background music during work time.

 

Heidi  6:57

Bonus points if you put a virtual fireplace or cozy nature scene on your projector, a snowy window or a crackling fire or a peaceful forest walk playing on a loop. Those little touches make the classroom feel completely different, even though you really haven’t changed anything else.

 

Emily  7:14

You could also change how you start class. So instead of jumping right into directions, you could begin with something unexpected, like a riddle or a joke or a mystery question.

 

Heidi  7:24

I saw a fun idea recently for playing guess the emoji to hook kids curiosity about the day’s lesson. Takes about 30 seconds, but it is a huge engagement boost. All you have to do is display a relevant emoji or a string of emojis, and then have the kids predict the topic of the lesson. So maybe you have a picture frame, a door, an envelope, a clipboard, I’m trying to think of some similar shaped items, and you display those before a lesson on quadrilaterals.

 

Emily  7:50

Oh, that’s fun. I like that. You could, mid lesson, try changing the sharing formats. You could let students show what they know in a different way than you usually do. So maybe they’re going to sketch it or act it out or build it with manipulatives. It meets the same goal as a worksheet, but it feels completely fresh.

 

Heidi  8:07

And if you don’t have the energy to mix things up, keep everything the same, but just give it a catchy name. Instead of silent reading, call it a reading retreat, or turn math practice into math Power Hour.

 

Emily  8:20

It’s so funny how a name change can shift the energy, because suddenly the exact same activity feels like an event. Like even a tiny change sends a signal to your students that’s like, hey, something’s different. You better pay attention.

 

Heidi  8:34

Sometimes that’s all it takes to wake a tired November classroom right back up.

 

Emily  8:38

You know, what else makes a huge difference when everyone’s dragging? Connection, and that is our second C, because if the classroom feels stormy and connection brings the sunshine.

 

Heidi  8:47

Yeah, when everyone’s feeling tired and gray, we all need a little warmth. Since it’s November, this is a great time to lean into gratitude. Try a gratitude circle where everyone shares one thing that they’re thankful for. You could even challenge kids to share the smallest reason to be grateful that they can think of.

 

Emily  9:03

I love that, because it’s so easy to be grateful for a warm home and a loving family, and like all those really huge blessings we all have. We shouldn’t take those for granted, but we should also be grateful when our shoes don’t slip on the wet pavement, or when we find the perfect speckled rock.

 

Heidi  9:21

Oh, I love a speckled rock. I feel like appreciating the good around us is a life skill that we could probably all use.

 

Emily  9:29

Yeah.

 

Heidi  9:30

And another way to build connection is to try a kindness challenge. Have students write a kind note to someone in class, or draw a picture for the school secretary or the lunch workers.

 

Emily  9:39

Another way to boost connection is to do something together as a class that’s just for fun, so maybe play a favorite morning meeting game or do a quick round of a game that you usually save for inside recess. Even just five minutes of play can totally shift the mood.

 

Heidi  9:54

And don’t underestimate the power of laughing. Try reading The Book With No Pictures, or sharing a joke or riddle. We include both jokes and riddles in our morning messages and fluency in a flash lessons, because kids never get tired of them. They are instant engagement, and they’re huge connection boosters.

 

Emily  10:09

An unexpected way to build a connection is to offer students a choice. When we give them some freedom to decide, it’s a way of showing we trust them and value their judgment.

 

Heidi  10:19

You can let students pick the order of tasks or let them select which brain break the class does next. Giving students small choices like these increases engagement and motivation. It helps them feel more in control, which boosts energy and buy in.

 

Emily  10:33

You could even give them the choice of how to reset the mood, so put it back on them and say, How can we turn this day around together, and let them be part of the solution.

 

Heidi  10:41

Don’t worry that this reset is taking away from learning. When kids feel seen and valued, they are more likely to engage, collaborate and thrive academically. It helps them feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves.

 

Emily  10:54

And in November, when everyone’s feeling disconnected and tired, that sense of belonging is exactly what we need.

 

Heidi  11:01

All right, our third C is for creating. This one is all about bringing back the fun and curiosity that might have gotten lost somewhere between September and now.

 

Emily  11:10

One way to spark curiosity is to present your lesson with a twist. Try adding a puzzle or a mystery to your lesson, like who ate the last pumpkin cookie for a math problem, or make it silly and start a lesson with a would you rather connected to your topic?

 

Heidi  11:25

You could also try lesson mashups. Combine two subjects in a creative way, like writing math story problems as fairy tales, or illustrating a historic timeline as a comic strip. These little twists make familiar content feel fresh and exciting.

 

Emily  11:39

Another way to create energy is through seasonal but subtle touches in your classroom. This could be a collaborative class mural where each student decorates one leaf for a tree of thankfulness or forest of kindness.

 

Heidi  11:52

Or do some quick academic crafts and decorate your room with the results—math pumpkin art or vocabulary leaf garlands. Fun and creativity are really powerful resets, and they help students remember what they’re learning too.

 

Emily  12:06

Okay, this next C might be my favorite. It’s celebration. It’s just a gesture of generosity that says, I see you and I’m glad you’re here.

 

Heidi  12:15

Now before you panic, celebration does not have to be big or earned. Low key celebrations, just because it’s a Tuesday afternoon, are absolutely our favorite kind. So look for little things to celebrate. You could make up your own classroom holiday, like thankful Thursday or mystery photo Friday.

 

Emily  12:31

Try a cozy reading day where kids bring a small blanket, you dim the lights, and everyone reads by firelight, quote unquote. We’ll take any excuse to make things cozy. Or set up a kindness lab, a corner of the classroom focused on creative acts of kindness, like notes, posters or secret compliments. Let students visit as a fast finisher or between activities.

 

Heidi  12:53

You can also celebrate student effort. Maybe you bring in some apple juice and crackers at the end of the month and celebrate how hard the kids have been working. Anything is a cause for celebration if you’re willing to celebrate it.

 

Emily  13:05

And joy is contagious, especially in November, when everyone’s feeling worn down, taking a moment to celebrate can really lift spirits.

 

Heidi  13:13

But really don’t feel like you have to do these often. Celebrations only feel special if you keep them special. If you do something every week, it really loses its power, but when students don’t know what to expect, then it feels like a treat.

 

Emily  13:28

You may want to use some celebrations as rewards for positive behavior, but don’t let that be the only time you celebrate. Plan a few as a fun surprise. It feels like you’re giving students a gift, and it’s a way of saying, I care about you and your happiness matters to me.

 

Heidi  13:43

All right. So far, we have made a change, connected, created and celebrated. Now it’s time for our last C, center. This might seem a little counterintuitive when we’re talking about boosting energy, but sometimes what feels like low energy is actually overstimulation or stress.

 

Emily  14:00

So this strategy is all about helping everyone feel calm and grounded. This is where breathing exercises, stretching and mindfulness come in. Even just taking three deep breaths together can help everyone reset.

 

Heidi  14:12

You could add some simple yoga poses or stretches to your afternoon. We have some yoga style brain breaks in our shop that work great for this.

 

Emily  14:20

Yeah, or you can have kids do the superhero pose, you know, where they stand with the hands on the hips and their heads held high, and they take a few deep breaths and repeat some encouraging words.

 

Heidi  14:31

Now, I’m a big fan of guided meditation with students. It helps everyone just feel more centered. You can have kids put their heads down at their desks or spread out on the floor. Now I tell them that they can close their eyes if they want, but I really don’t force them, because some kids are not going to feel safe closing their eyes in a room full of people. And we are not, we’re not after traumatizing people.

 

Emily  14:51

There are tons of free guided meditations online, or you can read from a book. And Heidi, I think you have some favorite books.

 

Heidi  14:57

I do. I love the Relaxed Kids book series by Marneta Viegas. I think that’s how you say her name. The Wishing Star is the best of her books, but I also really like Aladdin’s Magic Carpet. They’re both really great, they’re short, they have good messages, and the kids respond really well to them.

 

Emily  15:14

Another way to center and calm is through gratitude. This way you’re combining the benefits of connection and centering. You could have students share one thing they’re grateful for, or write thank you notes to each other or to someone in the school.

 

Heidi  15:26

Gratitude shifts our focus from what’s hard to what’s good, and that shift in perspective can be really energizing.

 

Emily  15:33

When we take time to center and calm, we’re giving our nervous systems a chance to settle. So don’t skip this step. Sometimes the most energizing thing you can do is slow down.

 

Heidi  15:43

All right, let’s recap the 5 Cs of classroom re-energizing. First, change. Refresh the routine with small tweaks to ambience, format or timing.

 

Emily  15:52

Second, connect. Rebuild classroom warmth through gratitude, fun, and giving students choices.

 

Heidi  15:58

Third, create. Bring back curiosity with mystery lessons, creative projects, and artistic expression.

 

Emily  16:05

Fourth, celebrate. Sprinkle in surprise and delight with made up holidays and spontaneous moments of joy.

 

Heidi  16:12

And fifth, center. Calm the chaos with breathing, stretching, meditation, and gratitude.

 

Emily  16:18

The thing we want you to take away from this is how energizing even tiny sparks can be. One study showed that just finding a dime on the ground boosted people’s happiness. So we’re not talking about elaborate, time consuming projects here.

 

Heidi  16:31

No, really think of small, simple gestures that make a big impact, just a dime’s worth of spark. And bonus, you don’t even have to do this often, because what makes a big impact today will make a slightly smaller impact tomorrow, and after two weeks, it would just barely register.

 

Emily  16:48

Yeah. So, for example, if you hang a disco ball on your classroom, it is a huge wow factor at first, but then it just becomes normal. There’s no spark left in that sparkle.

 

Heidi  16:58

Sad. But if you only bring out that disco ball four or five times a year, the kids will go crazy for it. So resist the urge to make anything permanent. Keep your sparks small and occasional, and that’s what keeps them delightful.

 

Emily  17:12

Because you’re only doing this occasionally, it can be easy to forget to do it at all. Perhaps put a note in your plan book to add in one of these Cs every week to keep things feeling fresh without overwhelming you or your students.

 

Heidi  17:25

And although we are doing this to help our students, it has the added benefit of helping us at the same time, it makes teaching feel like a delight instead of a chore. There’s so little that we get to control about what we teach, but we can add a little sparkle of magic to how we teach.

 

Emily  17:42

Let November be the month that reminds you why you love teaching, because you get to create joy and connection for your students and for yourself.

 

Heidi  17:49

When the storm hits and everything feels out of whack, use your rebalancing plan. Change wakes everyone up, connection restores warmth, create to rekindle curiosity, celebration brings the joy, and centering keeps it all grounded.

 

Emily  18:03

And don’t do it all. Think about the one C that feels most doable and most needed for your classroom right now. Write it in your plan book, make it concrete, and remember even a dime’s worth of spark can turn a tired classroom into a joyful one.

 

Heidi  18:16

We would love to hear about how you’re adding spark to your classroom this month. Come join the conversation in our Teacher Approved Facebook group.

 

Emily  18:24

Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where we share an actionable tip to help you elevate what matters and simplify the rest. This week’s teacher approved tip is create a laugh jar. Can you tell us more about it, Heidi?

 

Heidi  18:35

Well, I saw this idea on edutopias Instagram page, and I thought it was so fun, we had to share it. Christine Esmond says, “In my class, I have a laugh jar. Every time something funny happens, we jot a quick summary about it with the date, and then pop it in the jar. On the last day of school, we read out all of the memories and laugh again.” And I love this because it goes right along with what we are saying about energizing. It’s building that meaning and connection that are so integral to helping students stay engaged.

 

Emily  19:02

I love this. My college roommates and I had a big poster on the wall where we would write down the funny things that would happen or that people would say in our apartment. And I still have pictures of those, and laugh at them. When I come across I’m like, I remember that that made us feel so connected. And it was 20 years ago that I lived with these people, but when I come across it, I still remember the jokes, and I feel so connected to them. So I think this is such a great way to connect with your class, and it’s training them to recognize what’s good. If we have a system for collecting moments of laughter, it will help everyone appreciate them more fully.

 

Heidi  19:36

It’s probably just a good idea, though, to have a discussion ahead of time about laughter that’s funny and laughter that’s hurtful. We don’t want anyone’s moment of being laughed at to become memorialized for the whole class.

 

Emily  19:48

Yeah, you probably want to go through that jar and make sure that only the best ones stay in there. But if you try this out, we’d love to know what ends up in your classroom laughter.

 

Heidi  19:58

To wrap up the show, we’re showing what we’re giving extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit?

 

Emily  20:02

I’m giving extra credit to the Brick.

 

Heidi  20:04

That sounds like a new gritty TV series.

 

Emily  20:08

Maybe it is. No, it is a device that you can use to block distracting apps on your phone at the times when you need to be focused. So you can set up different focus modes in the app that block certain apps at certain times, and you can schedule those to turn on at certain times, or you can activate it on demand. So I have tried using time limits on my apps, you know, like Instagram kicking me out when I’ve been on it for more than an hour, or whatever. Or I’ve used the focus settings on my phone that block apps at certain times. But the reason I like the brick better is that in order to unbrick your device, you have to go scan the device.

 

Emily  20:45

So when my Instagram time limit would pop up, it’s so easy to just override it. But if I want to unbrick my phone to scroll Instagram, I have to go scan the brick. The key is that you got to make sure you put the brick somewhere that’s inconvenient. I read that some people like keep it in their car. If they really don’t want to scan it, they’d have to go all the way out to the garage. That’s smart. I like to brick my phone before bed to cut down on late night scrolling and then, probably most importantly, it’s still bricked when I wake up in the morning, so then I can’t stay in bed all morning, scrolling my phone when I need to get up and get moving so that my kids are not late to school. Yeah, so my brick is way downstairs on the kitchen fridge, and that is enough of a barrier to keep me from overriding. I’m not gonna walk all the way downstairs, scan it, get back in bed so that I can scroll Instagram. That’s not gonna happen.

 

Heidi  21:35

That’s so smart. I think Gretchen Rubin calls this like the strategy of inconvenience, where, like, if you make something just a little bit harder, it’s easier to make a good choice.

 

Emily  21:43

Yep.

 

Heidi  21:44

And I like that. It gives you an out. So if you really did need to do something, you could, you know, make the journey to the kitchen and unlock it so you’re not completely locked out, but just enough of a push to be like, do I really want to be doing this right now?

 

Emily  21:57

Yeah. And you have like, five emergency unlocks in the phone so that if you can’t get to the brick and you need to unbrick it, you could. And there are ways to get around this. You know, you could delete the app, but you can set in your settings that it can’t be deleted. There’s something that you can do. So they try and help you. But the thing is, there’s always a way around it if you want there to be, but they’re annoying enough that I haven’t been tempted to use the ways around this one. This has been enough of like, enough inconvenience to make me do what I already want to do. So then I’m not tempted to be like, I’m gonna find a way around this, because it would be, it would be inconvenient to go around it, you know? So just trying to make it inconvenient to do the thing that you’re trying not to do.

 

Heidi  22:40

Yeah, that’s smart. I’m gonna have to get that because my downfall when I’m supposed to be getting ready for bed and I don’t want to get up and get ready for bed. I’d rather just scroll my phone, but if it were, yeah, I’m gonna have to look into this.

 

Emily  22:50

I’ll send you the link. What are you giving extra credit to this week, Heidi?

 

Heidi  22:55

Well, I’m giving extra credit to James Cook on Instagram. His account is James Cook Artwork, and now he makes the most incredible art using a typewriter.

 

Emily  23:06

What?

 

Heidi  23:07

It’s astounding to watch. He uses letters and punctuation to make amazing artwork, like a picture of the Colosseum or the Statue of Liberty. And I promise that whatever you’re picturing right now does not do this justice, because if you just glanced at the picture, because I I saw a video of his and he was talking about the typewriter, I was like, clearly, you didn’t do that with a typewriter. Clearly you drew that. But when you look up close, you can see that it’s all these tiny little letters. It’s amazing to watch him work. It’s amazing to see it all come together. So I will put a link to his Instagram in the show notes if you also want a little art appreciation moment.

 

Emily  23:42

Whoa. I just pulled it up on my phone. That’s crazy! That isn’t what I was picturing. So that’s that’s pretty impressive.

 

Heidi  23:50

And he, like hides himself in the pictures with little, he makes himself out of, like, letters and punctuation. It’s wild. Really worth checking out.

 

Emily  23:59

I love that.

 

Heidi  24:00

That is it for today’s episode. Use the 5 Cs to re-energize a sluggish class, and don’t forget today’s tip to create a laugh jar.

 

Heidi  24:10

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I’m Heidi.

 

Emily  24:13

And I’m Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an episode.

 

Heidi  24:20

You can connect with us and other teachers in the Teacher Approved Facebook group. We’ll see you here next week. Bye, for now.

 

Emily  24:27

Bye.