The 2 Things Every Teacher Should Know About
Have you ever looked out into the sea of student eyes staring back at you and wondered,”are they just hearing blah blah blah? Do they get what I’m saying?” Yes…yes I have wondered.
Please just learn something today!
How would you teach your lesson if you were your own student? What would you want or need to focus and be open to learning?
Let’s take a quick look at 2 pretty awesome tools to help combat that blank stare and maintain the attention of students and flow of the lesson.
Why You Need Bellringers
This is probably my number one favorite thing to use with my students. Bellringers offer many benefits in the classroom.
Establish routine and classroom management
Write the bellringer on the board or post it using a slide like this one at the start of the class. Students will grow to expect this pre-lesson task in your class, and start working on autopilot. As a bonus, keeping students focused will decrease behavioral disruptions. Find some order in the chaos and set up expectations.
Engage students
Get students thinking and engaged from the start of class. This sets the tone for how the rest of the lesson will go — in an ideal world. Bellringers should be on topic or related to the lesson content. However, I have noticed that my own students really get into some of the bellringers I do that are general knowledge related.
I use this workbook for bellringers throughout the year. There are plenty of options to choose from. It can be used in order OR just pick what I want when you want it throughout the year. Make it work for you!
Mentally prepare them for the lesson
This is most likely the main reason to use a bellringer. In science, this is a great place for pre-labs! I tend to ask question prompts that will deepen their thinking or understanding centered around a lesson topic, engage them in an anchoring phenomenon that I an reference throughout the lesson, prepare them for an assessment, or test what they know about a topic already.
How do bellringers differ from do nows?
Well, they don’t. The main difference is that a bell is rung when time is up for a bellringer. This is also a great classroom management tool! Set a timer. Students will have a sense of urgency and you control the timing of your agenda.
The Power of a Brain Break
Reset student brains
The average 16 year old has an attention span between 32-48 minutes — I have not met any 16 year old that falls in that range lol — , 18 minutes is truly a better estimate. Giving students a moment to refocus or recenter themselves in the class will do wonders for their academic stamina. Students are rushed through their days and expected to soak up the knowledge provided in each class. That is an unrealistic expectation that we don’t even put on ourselves. Chunk the lessons into more digestible pieces and allow students the reset time.
Promote student engagement
Studies have shown that a brain break helps to reduce stress, anxiety, and frustration in students. That moment of pause can provide them the additional bandwidth to handle more information and maintain the interest for active engagement. Keep things moving but provide that side jaunt of mental stimulation. My students love 5 minutes of trivia as part of their brain breaks. Websites such as Blooket and Kahoot make this easy and fun.
Enhance the learning experience
Students need to feel that their needs matter. Recognize them as humans and focus on the overall needs. Not only did you teach them the standards required, but you also provided additional skills and movements that students will need as they grow and navigate the stresses of adulthood. Here’s a list of some great ideas for brain breaks that provide more to the student’s learning experience.
Once you set up your days to include bellringers and brain breaks, you’ll notice a change in your students and in your work day experience. Having these controlled outlets in place to allow students the time to focus and to reset will even strengthen your classroom management. Add some tools to the toolbox!
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Do you feel like you missed the boat in implementing either of these techniques? Don’t stress it! Start it now and be consistent. You’ll be surprised at how quickly your students rise to the expectations.
Day 1 can be ANY day! Monday is a great first day, but so is Wednesday, the off-centered Thursday, or even a pilot class in the middle of the day. Make it happen.
Let me know how these techniques have worked for you or send me some of your ideas for brain breaks. Leave a comment below.
