Is your classroom a joyful place?  Recent challenges have left some teachers anxious and stressed, losing their zest for teaching.  One Florida teacher, Wendy Bradshaw, recently gave up her teaching career and caused a media fire storm when her resignation letter went viral.

We understand that frustrations are real. Teachers  have never been expected to do more with less.  Curriculum demands much of children and leaves little time for spontaneity, fun and exploration.  Mandates about what and how to teach have replaced teacher created curriculum based on student needs and interests.

Despite the many misguided reforms, high stakes tests and district priorities, we have to make time for joy in education. There are many good reasons to create a more joyful classroom.

Joy helps students love learning. If students love learning, they will be engaged, reducing the need for complex  behavior management  systems.  Joy encourages creativity, which opens the door for creative problem solving.  Joy encourages curiosity and self-motivated learning.  It is only when students experience love of learning that they will become life-long learners.

Though much of your day may be filled with required curriculum and prescribed methods, there are many things you can do to make sure that students experience joy.

Here are 8 simple, actionable things you can do to make a more joyful classroom.

Smile

We learn better from those we like.  Smiling makes you approachable and likable.  Smiling is contagious, and the act of smiling can actually help you to feel happier.

Laugh

Laughing reduces stress. Look for opportunities to inject humor into the day’s activities.  Offer to tell a joke if students line up quickly and quietly.  Get a joke book if you need one.  Telling a joke takes less than 30 seconds and  adds fun. We all remember a teacher who told corny jokes.  Notice that we remember that teacher.

Add Music

Music helps with retention.  There are songs that fit into all areas of your curriculum.  Check out You Tube for songs about multiplication or grammar from School House Rock.  Better yet, let students work in groups to write and perform their own songs based on their topic of study.  One sixth grade class wrote songs about world explorers set to the Sponge Bob theme song.  A high school biology class wrote and sang a fact filled song about mitosis set to Queen’s We are The Champions.

Read Funny Literature

If you read aloud each day (and you should!) choose funny stories.  When children have positive experiences with books they learn that reading is fun. If reading is fun, they will be more likely to do more of it. The more you read, the better you read.

Use Fun Reinforcers

You can quickly teach students to give themselves a “round of applause” by clapping while they rotate their hands in a circle.  Another way is to stretch your hand up high and then reach back and “pat yourself on the back.”  These are quick and simple movements that can add joy and a sense of satisfaction.

Use Fun Call/Response Attention Getters

Teacher:  “One, two three”    Students:  “Eyes on me!”

Teacher ” Hey, ho”   Students:  “To work we go”

Teacher: “Ready set?”   Students:  “You bet!”

These simple commands are more fun and more effective than repeatedly asking students to pay attention.

Have a Goofy Class Mascot

One teacher has a skeleton who holds a sign with the objectives of the day’s lesson.  He is also known to wear a holiday appropriate hat, a Valentine’s Day tie or a cape on Halloween.  We have seen a stuffed orangutan who wrote notes and left them around the room- reminding children to pick up or take home permissions slips.  Some mascots go home with a different child each night and encourage children to write a story about their adventures to add to a class book.

Give Students Choices

Students can’t always choose what they will do, but look for opportunities to give students a choice.  When students choose, their engagement and satisfaction are higher. Can they choose their partners? Their seats?  Can they choose a topic for their research report or the book they will read?  Think of the content, the learning process, and products to show learning. Can you give students a choice in one of those three areas?

Joyful classrooms are less stressful, less anxious places.  Neurological studies have shown that students’ comfort levels can influence long-term information storage and transmission.  Teachers and students face many challenges in today’s educational climate.  Living without joy does not have to be one of them.

Wishing you joy today,

How many of these ideas do you use?  Do you have more ways to add joy to your day? We would love to hear your ideas in the comments below.