After any training or conference, I find that if I don't try a new strategy right away in my classroom, I don't tend to start it ever. Is this ever true for you? So, after the Kagan training we had, I decided that really, this is all good classroom practice and management. Come on, get the kids moving! Find out more about them! Place them in intentional seating to help them be most successful! It's all things we want to do to build good student-teacher relationships and do more kinesthetic activities with our kids.

So come day one back from break, I asked the kids to round robin what they did over break. They had to take turns with their face partner and go back and forth until time ran out. I had them "take off" if they did any of the following activities over break that I stated, "watched a movie in the theater," "did something kind for someone else," "got something for Christmas that they really really wanted," "went on a date..."

It's kind of nice to get permission to do things that are not always 100% content-related but we know that it will help us with the rapport we have with our kids. The best part is that it only takes a few minutes here and there when I want to implement it! Kids tend to fight change initially, but they come around. They get help from their partner or table with work. It lends easily to good management and for them to work cooperatively. This is a soft skill we want them to have leaving Arvada High School!

"Vouloir, c'est pouvoir!"

"Where there's a will, there's a way!"

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