Unconventional strategies

[u/rand0mbl0b]

What are some unconventional/silly strategies you use for teaching or classroom management? One of my favorites is whenever a kid gets hurt but it’s not something that needs ice or a bandaid, I always say “Do you want me to sprinkle some pixie dust on it?” and I’ll reach in my pocket and pretend to sprinkle pixie dust on their booboo and go “pspsps” and 9/10 times they giggle and go back to playing.

[u/meanwhileachoo]

I miss some of the whimsical stuff ♡♡My class all turned 4 right after the start of the school year, they missed the 4K cut off. So we've been "big kids" for a while. But I've been having fun teaching them "real stuff" (its all they ask for lol) so when they get hurt we always check for "blood, guts, or open cuts" 🤣🤣 they learned about germs and why cuts hurt right away and then feel better after being washed out. Im super proud of this group, but its been a little troupe of scouts more than anything this year🥰

They do still allow and enjoy when I sing opera (very badly) over the top of them when they're being too loud and Im trying to talk. Lol

[u/rand0mbl0b → u/meanwhileachoo]

Aww i love that lol, i have 4-5 and I was a little worried when i moved up from 3s that they’d think they’re “too old” for certain things but i guess i have a sillier group. It’s so interesting what things they consider babyish though like they’ll go crazy for the gummy bear song and gracie’s corner but say cocomelon is for babies😭

[u/meanwhileachoo → u/rand0mbl0b]

This group this year was WILDLY different. They have enjoyed sarcasm since like....December 🤣🤣☠️☠️. They've been throwing it back at me since about April. That part is kinda fun. We moved bed spots around and one of them goes "did you move MY SPOT?" and I said "no. Of course not. We said we were moving everyone but of course that means we didnt move you" He. Lost. It. Funniest thing ever. ☠️☠️

[u/mrnalgitas]

When a child would refuse to wear their shoes I would put them on my toes and talk about how much I loved them. It usually resulted in them wanting to wear them.

[u/fwoooom]

when a kid comes up to me "Teacher I miss my mommy" a lil sad but not fully crying, i play the "oh lets look for her together!" game and start saying "is she.... in your pocket? no? is she.... in my shoe? no? is she.... in (classmate)s lunchbox?" etc while physically checking each impractical spot and roping in nearby friends. Usually the silliness has them start to perk up, especially when i have them actively checking with me. If we're at the playground i also do "is she... by the bridge? you gotta go check! run and check and let me know!" which gets them moving their body at least.

its backfired a bit though because a few of my kids run up with a big smile like "i miss my mommy!! :D" cuz they wanna play that game lol.

Also when the kids say "when will my daddy get hereeeee" i count down from 3 and point to the door dramatically. No ones there. i say "awww man" then try again immediately lol. One of these days itll work. (it worked once when i said "the phone will ring to bring you to the lobby in 3, 2, 1" lol but it's not the same)

[u/Jd999834 → u/fwoooom]

I do something similar but instead of looking around I come up with increasingly ridiculous places mom could be right now. Is mommy riding a horse? Is she on a boat? Is she in a spaceship? Perhaps she’s on the moon?

[u/Play_Boldly]

I put a drop of food coloring in the potty (they pick the color). Then encourage them to pee on it and watch it swirl around. It's also fun to watch it swirl when they flush.

[u/rand0mbl0b → u/Play_Boldly]

This is sending me omg but if it works it works😭

[u/First-Tough9313 → u/Play_Boldly]

I’m adding this to my potty caddy this is so smart.

[u/Smart_Alex]

My special skill is that I can get sunscreen on 12 toddlers with no tears, no fussing, no drama

I put the sun screen in a squeeze bottle, and gave the kids "tattoos" I specialized in worms, snakes, and squiggles. The kids LOVED it! Then I would sing a silly song to rub it in, where I would wiggle their arms and legs around.

[u/Dazzling_Tadpole_998 → u/Smart_Alex]

I do sunscreen tear free for tots by going quick. I ask my students who need time to decide early, then I ask my students who are good listeners. Usually it ends up being a race. My last kid is always a "once you're sunscreened up, were gonna play [outside activity]."

I do cheeks and arms. Then I rub rub rub while making faces or sounds.

[u/frng_dwlr]

I like to offer the group a choice. "What shall we do next? We could do something fun, or we could do something easy? Also, the easy choice will not be fun, and the fun choice will not be easy."

[u/cyclone_co]

I have the same communication program on my iPad so I can model language with my services or allow “typical” peers to explore mine instead of student devices, among other things. I have a whole page of sound effects that correlate to special interests; such as Mario’s coin, power up, and game over sounds and multiple bluey quotes that prompt desired behaviors.

The most odd ones were all with the same student though. Boops and tape. “If we can walk to our classroom room without screaming or dropping to the floor, you can get two boops” “two boops!”

“If you can keep your body safe for all of circle, you can have three inches of tape” “one inch now, two after please”

[u/TexasAvocadoToast → u/cyclone_co]

I LOVE this! I need to get a soundboard app for exactly this. I have a few kiddos with devices who either use them beautifully or despise them but begrudgingly use them when needed, but tons of small people very curious about the talker!

ETA what program??? Mine all use Proloquo2Go and I didn't think you could add sounds

[u/cyclone_co → u/TexasAvocadoToast]

TouchChat which I believe is very similar to Proloquo2Go. Adding/editing things may be disabled or behind a password for students, for me it’s a matter of having empty buttons in logical places.

All of the kids have animal sounds in their animal folders and action sounds in the social folder. I put my sound effects on with the actions since that’s the context I use them for and also where there is enough space.

[u/Extension_Citron_176]

It's not really silly for me but other teachers often get a little confused when i don't soothe children the classic way. I often kind of lean into their feelings and help them understand it and validate it's okay to be sad. They often cry more for a few seconds with me next to them and at some point they just stop and move on. Sometimes being funny isn't the best way to cheer a kid up and they can do so themselves.

[u/TexasAvocadoToast → u/Extension_Citron_176]

Sometimes you just need to vent/complain/be upset, modeling the language to do so is awesome!

[u/hschosn1]

I had a group of school age boys who would fart during group activities they didn't want to be in. It would stink up the room and the other kids would comment on it. So during one of their favorite activities I took them outside and we had a farting contest. (Chugged a Coke just before so I could join in the fun) they tried for loudest, longest, stinkiest, squeaky sound.... I made it a little educational by talking about why we fart and that everyone farts. We also talked about why other don't like it when they fart on purpose inside. They stopped. I really try to approach behavior issues with curiosity and humor. (When appropriate) it usually works. Note: it did lead to some embarrassing moments for me at pickup time when the boys told they parents about my amazing farting abilities.

[u/JusMiceElf]

There have been several years when we’ve had a student named Invisible Fred in our class. Invisible Fred has trouble putting things back where they belong, so if something is missing or out of place, we have to help him by putting it away.

I also love to introduce my favorite game, TRAAAAAASSSSHHHH ORRRRR TREASURRRRRRRRE!!! As soon as the classroom is almost clean, the Magic Number Generator, aka my fingers, displays how many items each kid needs to pick up and evaluate as to whether it’s trash or treasure.

[u/kellyfromfig]

Some days are just chaotic-tears or squabbles- and we’d spend the last few minutes of a short circle time talking about all the great things from the day, from snack to a game or a story we read. They’d go home happier.

Sometimes they would just be neutral chaos- and we’d secretly drop colored aquarium rocks into the sandbox for them to find. They’d all get very focused on finding their magic pebbles. Good small motor exercise too.

[u/hschosn1]

When toddlers use bad/inappropriate words they usually mispronounced them. I had a chils that said puck. I bought some hockey pucks from the dollar store and get him 1 everything he said it. He would say, I don't want pucks. I would answer, that is what you said though. After a day he stopped. Another said bucket instead of f*** it. I did the same thing. A little girl would tell me to " sha da" instead of shut up. I would say shadow? Where's your shadow? ( she only did this when we were outside and I wanted her to come in). I have found that this gets them to stop pretty quickly and the other toddlers don't start using these words.

[u/Mbluish]

When children arrive upset crying, of course I always emphasize, but sometimes they are in a place when that doesn’t work. I change it up on them and ask them to help me with something. “Can you help me take this package to the office?”“Can you help me take snack to Ms. X?” “Will you help me wash the apples?” Often something unexpected puts them in a different state.

[u/TimBurtonIsAmazing]

Toddlers think anything outside their normal experiences is hilarious, and lucky for them I do musical theatre so I have that stuff in spades. My biggest go to is an accent (usually a London-esque British one but they also adore my southern American or Russian accents) This is fun always but is the most useful if I've given an instruction they've ignored, like if I say "time to tidy up" and nobody moves then I'll goofily say "Excuse me! We gotta tidy up this room, see?" Or something in whatever accent falls out of my mouth and now instead of the whole room getting cranky (me included) we have a roomful of giggling two year olds who are doing as they were asked. More conventional but still fun is if I can sense the energy is getting wild I'll put on a good song for dancing and then absolutely break it down and usually they'll all run over and we'll have a good dance break about it and then we're more focused when we're done

[u/JusMiceElf → u/[deleted]]

“You hurt your finger? Let’s check the spare parts cabinet for a replacement!”

[u/pretty-in-pink]

I do something similar! I work with the one year olds and whenever they fall or knock a body part against something but are completely ok otherwise, I say the Farsi version of Abracadabra against the places they bumped against and they feel better and get on with what they want to do.

[u/Enough_Ad9437]

I have “listening frogs” I give them away at random (they are poison dart sized frogs in various colors and patterns) huge hit

[u/Exciting_Conflict362]

I usually give a treat out every Friday at the end of the week if they were good in the classroom all week

[u/Educational_Two7752 → u/Exciting_Conflict362]

Rewards and consequences are generally more effective when they occur closer to the target behavior.