How to Overcome the Winter Blues of Teaching
Well, hello winter! I'm not sure what the weather is like in your neck of the woods, but here in NE Ohio it is blustery, cold, and the air puts some pep in your teacher step. That all being said, this type of weather this time of year can definitely bring on the winter blues of teaching. You don't want to get out of that nice warm cozy bed. You don't feel like thinking of a lunch to eat or dinner to plan. If you have to make one more phone call because a student isn't turning in homework, you might just pull your hair out. You feel like you're stuck in a rut and we completely understand! That's why we wanted to take time today to share ideas on how to overcome those winter blues.
Virtual Pen Pals
If you are a primary teacher then I highly recommend introducing your class to Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. This is such a fun story about Stanley who becomes flat and has all types of travelling adventures. Students love creating their own "Flat Stanleys" and mailing them out to friends and family. However, why not take this a step further and create virtual pen pals using Pen Pals School to collaborate with other schools. As much as this can be done electronically, how cool would it be to have students write good ol' fashioned letters and send them in the mail. You could easily create a week's worth of writing lessons teaching proper letter formation, editing, and how to address an envelope. Students will treasure their letters when they receive them from their pen pals.
Virtual Field Trips
We all know that taking field trips is an incredible hook into getting students interested in a topic; however, it's not always possible. Have you ever tried a virtual field trip? This is a simplistic way to easily take your lessons to the next level of student engagement. And let's face it, the more engaged our students are, the more we want to be up there teaching. You'll be amazed at how interested your students become when they see how excited you are to share this new opportunity with them. Bonnie Kirkley from iheartsteam.com has an enormous amount of virtual field trips available in her Teachers Pay Teachers store. Here are a couple of other links that may help in your search: Discovery Education Interactive Field Trips, Adventures in Familyhood, We Are Teachers Best Virtual Field Trips
Storybook STEM
Picture it: It's Friday. You're teacher tired. You're students have had a long week of learning and are starting to get a little squirmy. You can feel they need something, but you're just not sure what to give them. Enter Storybook STEM to the rescue. Find a picture book and turn it into a STEM activity. It doesn't matter if you don't know all of the ins and outs of STEM because STEM is so much more than the science. A great picture book to have on hand and to use as a springboard for this is The Things A String Can Be by Julie Goulis & John Ferguson. You can use this book with preschoolers or fifth graders because they all have so much fun taking string and playing with it. Then, you can easily have students write about what they made. Big SCORE for Storybook STEM!
So now that you have some resources, let's put some pep in your teacher step and get you out of your rut. Try at least one of these ideas this week and see if it helps to get both you and your students excited about the school day. As always, please feel free to reach to us on Instagram (@lessonplantoolbox) or email ([email protected]) and we are happy to serve you however we can.
Be sure to grab your copy of the 7 Habits to Prevent Teacher Burnout
Teach~Relax~Repeat
Lesson Plan Toolbox
