The Breakfast Club – #BFC530 – is a 15 minute, 1 question Twitter chat every weekday. We chat in 4 timezones Mon-Fri – 5:30am Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific Times. The mission of BFC is to empower participants to make a difference in education by engaging in consistent reflective practice in a supportive community that inspires and challenges one another.
Good morning #bfc530! I see that Kathy, Travis and Veronica are the early birds this morning. I am doing well on this last day of May 2018. Just finished with my quiet time. Joining really quick before working out.
I have some special coffee for my coffee clan at school today, in honor of the last day. They will be wired for their Awards Day (mine was yesterday). #bfc530
For the purposes of this question, I am going to assume downtime is when students are done with their work. They then read, work on any missing work, and then if all work is done for me can work on work for another class. #bfc530
There's so much hateful & harmful rhetoric in the media landscape - relating to our students' lives. So, how can we create authentic & supportive discussions in our classrooms?
Listen to history teacher - @mrfieldmanchs -> https://t.co/MFjEkNgUnk
Not in a classroom but in an office. There will be down time in my office today because I won’t even step into it. I will be on the road all day. #bfc530
I try.. a lot more at the beginning of the year and during times of needing it. I wish I did it every day. But usually after a brain boost.. 1 - 5 minutes #bfc530
#bfc530 Last day of May! My son comes in from Boston for a long weekend at home! Can't wait! All is well in the world! (Except that Vegas lost last night. )
Downtime is two-fold. If we are using it wisely, they must be doing something productive (like a study hall). If it is a break, computer games, uno, blokus and chess are happening. #bfc530
Mornin’ #bfc530 Downtime in my classroom currently looks like a bunch of kids knitting, making “restaurants” out of blocks/math manipulative, and hanging out in the rocket making flipgrid vids.
#bfc530 There is nothing #better than giving #students extended time to #read in #class. They are engaged, it's relaxing, and it is a perfect way to start the day, because they are still tired period 1.
Observed some students playing board games during downtime this week. It was so nice to see them circled up, sitting in the floor, having a great time playing uno, jenga, etc. Just kiddos being kiddos. Made me smile. #bfc530
A Kindergarten classroom? NO DOWN TIME!!! 🤣🤣🤣
On a more serious note, we do practise mindfulness...time for reflection and quiet...it’s like heaven on earth! 😊 #bfc530
Downtime looks like kids having fun being kids: dancing, building with Legos, playing Cool Math/Prodigy, building robots with Cubelets, coding with Dot and Dash, exploring things they want to learn about. In other words: organized chaos! #bfc530
We really don’t have downtime in my class. There is always something to do.. We are always learning something.. That is why I am so exhausted at the end of the day.. we don’t stop, ever, except for mindfulness. #bfc530
Uno is big in my room, and finishing up on projects. We've been coloring and creating our superhero project, where students use their own strengths and weaknesses to create a superhero based on themselves. Oh, and movies on the topics we've covered in class. #bfc530
I have observed some of my teachers having a “brain break” with their class with everyone up dancing to some music. I may or may not have joined a few times! 😉#bfc530
Observed some students playing board games during downtime this week. It was so nice to see them circled up, sitting in the floor, having a great time playing uno, jenga, etc. Just kiddos being kiddos. Made me smile. #bfc530
Downtime = music and allowing students to talk. By reducing lunch and/or recess time in the name of recovering academic time, we have gutted those times for social skills to develop, allowing them that time when I can is a postive #bfc530
#bfc530 Downtime could be any time between resource review and activity completion. Time to reflect to connect-the-dots. Time to receive formative assessmet.
#bfc530 I started a puzzle club this year. #Students come before #school starts or during study hall. It is amazing how relaxing it is. A puzzle in the back of the room brings kids together and is a great de-stresser.
As a specialist in the building, I don’t have a lot of downtime. Between classroom visits, meetings, and paperwork there’s no time. I do try to go for walks with colleagues though and definitely make time for relationship building with staff and students. #bfc530
Working independently on things of interest: Reading, passion projects, maker space. In ES, “downtime” really is Ss choosing to work on things rather than directed to by their teacher. We really don’t have time for free for all- so this is the closest to free time. #BFC530
I play music as a slide show runs sharing the ? & plan for the day, upcoming assignments, etc. My students dancing during that time in not discouraged. They need time to get up and move #bfc530
“Downtime” takes various forms in my classroom. Earlier in the year it was reading or drawing, but the past few weeks it’s been @iCivics games which are both fun & educational. This week students have instead been working on a review scavenger hunt they want to work on! #bfc530
Observed some students playing board games during downtime this week. It was so nice to see them circled up, sitting in the floor, having a great time playing uno, jenga, etc. Just kiddos being kiddos. Made me smile. #bfc530
This is why I do my best to eliminate homework. Hopefully they can play at home in the evenings, but not as fun without all of your school peers. #bfc530
As a principal, I liked downtime in the classroom to be Ts either walking or conferencing w/ Ss. Meanwhile the rest of the class was focused on beatification or clearing of the classroom or building before the closing of school. #bfc530
I started a review scavenger hunt quest for the Golden Skull, students must solve clues, answer questions about the year’s content to get more clues. It’s been such a success Ss are flying through their work to have time to work on the Golden Skull Quest. #bfc530
Or it is a time to throwing some cool tones from @OldDominion or @train and lets Ss socialize. Creating a healthy culture is just as important as any subject #BFC530
I missed #bfc530 today, but if we don’t give Ss time to reflect, connect with each other, and decompress, we are missing opportunities to teach them that these are also important to their growth and learning.
"Alone we can do so little; together we an do so much."- Helen Keller How does this apply to your work with students and your colleagues? Celebrate how far you've come! #EOYpositives#bellinghamps#principalsinaction#bfc530
We do have reward time. The students can choose to be on their laptops and we have several appropriate activities that they can do. Otherwise, we have checker matches, play superfighters, read comics, water out crops, collect recycling etc. #bfc530
Personally experience the power of first person interpretation and you will see the value it has for student retention. Mon. 6/4 in Malvern, PA or Tue. 6/5 in Exton, PA https://t.co/dAuK4YGQNM
pmarquette@ccls.org #bfc530#edchat#satchat#SSChat#sunchat
Admittedly, I have not been good at creating space for this. So, I've tried brain breaks for the first time in my hugh school classroom just last month during a station activity. 2/6 stations were breaks including a breathing activity and a brain teaser.
#BFC530
My favorite downtime with kids is just spending time talking with them about what they’re interested in and just connecting with no pressure about time. Kids are so awesome! #bfc530
I did this past year. The kids didn’t like it at first (because I didn’t know how to sell it). However, Ss really got to know their peers so much better! #bfc530
I struggled at times with the end of the year keeping my Ss attention. Lessons were short, I was unprepared, and so afterwards, we played math baseball. It’s a game more like Mastermind. #bfc530
As a pull out push in SPED T there is no down time for me. I see my kids for 30 to 45 minutes. I guess down time is between groups. But I love it!
Today is my official start of summer. Tomorrow I start PD for summer school. Resting today. #bfc530
