19 Tips On How To Be The 'Cool' Teacher

1. Allow students take their shoes off in the classroom at certain times

2. Allow students to eat during class time provided it is a fruit or vegetable

3. Sing, let go of your inhibitions and join in with your students. Students will enjoy you more for it

4. Start or end the day outside

5. Sit on the floor with your students during group activities, news or when a student is presenting

 6. Pack your running shoes and join in sporting or fitness activities. Your students will be thrilled if you have a running race against them. It encourages the less active students to get involved

7. Hold disco parties at lunch time. Darken your classroom, hang a disco ball in the centre of the room, turn on some flashing lights. Be the DJ or simply create a playlist on YouTube (ensuring words are appropriate). Join in the dancing with the students. An extra addition is to have glow sticks

8. Incorporate cooking or experiments into your program

9. If you go away on a holiday bring your class back a small gift such as a pencil with the place name on it

10. Take learning outside when appropriate e.g. write spelling words using chalk on the footpath

11. Anything that is hands on or not sitting at tables as usual is classified by students as cool. Have your class standing up or on the floor at least once a day

12. Disguise learning as fun; hold a trivia or a quiz, play individually or in teams. Hold competitions in class; kids are very competitive, this will increase participation and they will get more from your lesson

13. Be interested in your students. Ask them about their weekend, their afternoon, their birthday, their family. Remember their siblings names and include them when you see them at school

14. Incorporate YouTube videos or invite special guests into your classroom for your unit of learning

15. If you have eating time in the classroom, put on a TV short series e.g. Charlie and Lola, to watch during this time

16. Allow your students to write on the window panes using whiteboard markers or in shaving cream. This is a great way to practice sight words or letter/number formation

17. Write your students birthdays on the classroom calendar at the beginning of the year so you can celebrate them when they come up

18. Don’t assign homework for the first week of school term and the last week of term

19. Allow students to earn weeks off from homework, morning tea with the teacher, iPad time

What do you think of when you think of your ‘cool’ teacher at school? What did they do that stood out? We would love it if you joined the conversation and left a comment below.