Call it spontaneity, or capitalizing on the power of novelty in awakening the brain, I am realizing more each day that seizing and creating playful moments in the classroom builds a positive classroom environment where everyone learns.
Many times these opportunities arise, yet often we use excuses that prevent us from seizing the moment. We cite time constraints and adhering to schedules as reasons to rigidly "stick to the plans." Here's an example of when I jumped right in anyway, knowing that it would take a couple of minutes out of our busy schedule.
Yesterday, just after morning recess, my students were getting ready for a vocabulary quiz. As they noisily went about putting their desk items away and putting up their privacy screens, I exclaimed: "Ooh! I have a great idea!" Heads peeked above the colored cardboard screens as the room fell silent. "What, what?" several exclaimed in unison. I suddenly had all eyes on me, awaiting my announcement. "Michael!" ( not his real name), " Would you grab the camera and take pictures of us looking nervous about our quiz?" I knew that my students would love "hamming it up" for the camera, as they come alive when they get to play act. I had serendipitously discovered this as they had played vocabulary charades for 10 minutes at the end of the prior day. "These will be awesome for our blog this week," Michael shared. After Michael took a few shots, which only took about a minute or two, I told the students to take a deep breath, smile, and think a happy thought, which was easy after the giggles from the posing. We had previously talked about how our facial expressions can impact our feelings and that at times we can help counter negative feelings by changing our thoughts and facial expressions. As the room fell quiet again, the students took their vocabulary quizzes.
Of course, I can't be sure that my spontaneous photo tactic was the reason for the 100% score on all of the quizzes. What I observe is this: students are awake, enthuiastic, and engaged in class. When we lighten the mood with humor and fun, we create a safe and enticing classroom environment. Within this positive space, where the challenges of test stress are acknowledged and dealt with, we can then encourage and empower students to do the tough work of critical thinking and risk-taking. They will work hard, not because they have to, but because they want to and believe they can.