Should students wear uniforms in school

Allow them to set the pace. Let your students choose their own starting point on an assignment, and they’ll stay comfortable and challenged. For example, try giving your students tiered math problems, with increasing levels of difficulty. From least to most sophisticated, the tiers could be: determine the surface area of a cube; determine the surface area of a rectangular prism; determine the amount of wrapping paper needed to cover a rectangular box; determine how many cans of paint you’ll need to buy to paint a house with given dimensions. Once students choose a starting point, the teacher can guide them through increasing levels of mastery.

Try homework menus. Instead of having all of your students complete the same homework assignment, why not offer a menu of options that tie in with your lesson plan? A little variety and choice go a long way toward relieving the sense of drudgery some students experience when completing their homework. Take a look at this math menu for an example of how to give students a choice of homework problems to complete.

 Hook their interest with fun transitions
As Julie Causton and Chelsea Tracy-Bronson point out in their book, The Educator’s Handbook for Inclusive School Practices, “all students are more engaged when they enjoy classroom life, laugh, and connect with peers.” Transitions between activities can be the perfect time to infuse more joy and fun into your daily routine–and get your students energized and excited to learn. Here are a few suggestions from Causton and Tracy-Bronson:

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  Take 45 seconds to have a dance party.
  
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  Find out which songs students are singing in chorus or music. Sing them as you’re cleaning up and making the transition to the next activity.
  
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  Start a new activity with a fun and interesting way to physically enter the space (such as a crab walk or backward walk).
  
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  Lead a firework cheer (rub hands together, make a sizzle sound, then clap hands and say, “Oooh, ahhhh”).
  
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  Organize a walk-and-talk activity (give the class a question related to the content, set a timer, and tell them to discuss the answer while walking around inside or outside for 4 minutes).
  
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  Play a short part from an energetic song to cue your students to a new task or activity.
  
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  Take 5 minutes to do whole-body stretches.
  
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  Pump students up with a “45-second challenge,” such as jumping jacks, yoga tree pose, or another physical activity.
  
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  Use musical instruments to signal transitions—a clap of the tambourine can signal freeze, a light shake can mean start moving, and a repetitive tap can mean get stepping!
  

(Want more suggestions on how to infuse joy into your classroom routines? Read this post.)