Favorite Things #4: Stress Balls

    We've all had that student (or twenty) who is just a little too fidgety.  Some have ADD, but others are just kids-- because after all, we are dealing with kids here.  These are the kinds of kids who drive teachers crazy: they drum on their desks, ask 10,000 irrelevant questions, poke classmates, and cause general dismay and chaos in the classroom.  I'm kind of a fan of these kids.  They make things interesting; I will never be able to say I'm bored at work.  But they can also be disruptive to other students, so what do we do with them?  

   In college, a professor showed me Wikki Stix, which are basically sticky pipe cleaners.  Students can manipulate them and play with them quietly at their desks, so they are occupied without becoming a distraction.  I'm sure these are great, but I don't use them for two reasons: 

1. As a first-year teacher, I spent a huge portion of my pay on classroom supplies.  The cheapest pack of Wikki Stix is about $10 online, so I wanted a cheaper alternative.

2. Because Wikki Stix are bendable and stick to just about any surface, they're great for molding into shapes.  I teach high school.  I really didn't want to imagine the {shapes} that some of my students might create . . . and the uproar that could cause in a classroom I'm already working hard to keep in order.

That leads me to Favorite Thing #4: Stress Balls.

   I ordered these cute apple-shaped stress balls from School Specialty about a month into my first year teaching.  I got two of them for about $3 at the time.  I ordered them with a particular student in mind, one who was a constant fidgety challenge but not a bad kid.  When they arrived, I told him my expectations for him: if I noticed he was becoming a distraction, I'd just hand him a stress ball.  That was my silent clue to him that he needed to manage his behavior, and that he could occupy himself with the ball.  I made it very clear that if the ball started to be a distraction of its own (if, for example, it managed to fly across the room), I would take it and we'd have to find another solution.  It was like a magic ball.  I think my student appreciated that I was working to find a solution that worked for both of us, rather than just sending him in the hall. He respected the system, and I never once had to take the ball away from him after giving it to him.  Most importantly, it never took time or disturbed others.  I would silently grab it from my desk and hand it to him.  He'd immediately focus his attention on the ball and off of whatever he had been doing.  Most of the time, other kids didn't even notice.  

   I have used these two stress balls for years, with many students.  It's one of my favorite classroom management tricks, because it's so simple and easy.  I strive to create a friendly atmosphere in which my students feel liked and respected, and this system definitely keeps kids out of trouble and in that friendly zone.

Cheap, easy, non-disruptive . . . how much better does it get?

The Importance of Teacher-Friends in Preventing Burnout

   I'm so enjoying this summer, and the easygoing productivity that comes with it.  I've painted the living room and hallway in my house, made some lesson plans, read several novels, and done lots of cooking.  It's nice to be able to accomplish things, but do so in a relaxed way.  One thing I love about summer is the freedom to spend my time as I choose-- and today, I'm choosing to spend some quality time with good friends.  Teacher friends, to be exact.  I had lunch with an old friend today, who recently became a colleague.  We spent our time talking, and a lot of it was, honestly, about school.  We compared techniques and ideas, and made plans to do some classroom thrift shopping together next week.  Tonight, I'm heading to a fun get-together with some of my favorite people ever-- most of whom are part of "the lunch crew" at school.  

Homecoming Week festivities with some of my faves

   Thinking about our time spent together reminds me of the importance of having a tight-knit group of friends at school.  We live in a time when teacher-stress is rampant: think standardized tests, complicated new evaluation systems, more and more security concerns, and the ridiculous habit some politicians have of blaming teachers for our nation's problems.  Many young teachers are sprinting out of the classroom before the ink even dries on their first year's grade book.  There is a lot of information out there about how to manage teacher stress and prevent burnout, but I can tell you firsthand that the best thing new teachers can do is to establish a close relationship with a group of colleagues.  

   My "lunch crew" is a group of fellow teachers from my school.  Obviously, we eat lunch together-- but we share a great deal more than that.  We've been through divorces, marriages, births, deaths, celebrations, and heartbreak.  We talk child-rearing and husbands and shopping . . . and you know what?  We even talk about teaching.  And our students.  Shocker!  We rally together to help one another in the classroom as well as out of it.  It's common for us to share lesson plans and classroom management ideas.  We discuss difficult classroom situations and learn from one another, and it just makes us all so much better.  

   I adore my job.  I honestly believe I teach in the best darn school on the planet, and a major reason for that belief is my colleagues.  I've been through some difficult situations in my career thus far-- angry parents, students in heartbreaking situations, and an often overwhelming workload.  Sometimes I understand why young teachers leave education behind for higher-paying (and easier) professions.  But I will absolutely not be one of them.  One reason for that is the relationships I've built with my colleagues.  Without a support system, anything will crumble.  So if you're new to teaching (and even if you're not), go find yourself some teacher-friends. But I bet they won't be as great as mine.