Monday Motivator #27 2025-26

 

How To Handle A High Energy Class

March 13, 2026 by Michael Linsin

Having energetic students isn’t a bad thing. In fact, there are three big advantages:

• They’re primed for learning.
• They’re fun to teach.
• They’re eager to participate.

However, they’re also prone to excessive talking and disruptive behavior.

Therefore, even if you have solid classroom management skills, there are three adjustments you need to make.

1. Pause often.

Timely pausing keeps students focused on you. The momentary silence interrupts their racing mind, slowing it to a more absorbent state and improving interest, understanding, and retention.

It also keeps them grounded in the moment, stopping them from moving on mentally before they have all the information they need to successfully work independently.

Furthermore, it strengthens the discipline to delay gratification, which is a learned ability that can predict academic success.

2. Restrain your energy.

Your students will take their energy cue from you. Calm presence transfers and fills every classroom you enter. It soothes frayed nerves and anxieties.

It also signals to students that you know what you’re doing. They can relax because a competent leader is running the classroom. Thus, they don’t have to.

It also pays to limit your movements. Avoid pacing, tapping, buzzing about, and talking your students through every this and that. 

3. Get them moving.

Get your students up and moving at some point during every lesson. That is, before releasing them to work independently.

Have them model along with you or playact, perform, sketch pictures, maps, or diagrams on an easel, or teach others. Make them prove they grasp it.

Experiencing learning deepens understanding far better and more permanently than simply sending them off after you’re done talking.

Good Teaching

Yes, all three are just good teaching.

However, they may need to be exaggerated with certain groups of students. You may need to increase their frequency or take them further than you would otherwise.

The point is that no matter how energetic your class, there are ways to embrace its advantages while curbing the potential negatives.

Adjusting to the needs of your class, after all, is just part of being a good teacher.

https://smartclassroommanagement.com/2026/03/13/high-energy-class/

Monday Motivator #26 2025-26

 Interesting, brief video on the power of tone, and your face is the remote control.

How to add tone to your voice. 

(It pulls up on Facebook, but you don't have to have an account, just click the x to close out of the log in if it pops up)

Monday Motivator #25 2025-26

The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.

—Mike Murdock

What Routine Will You Create?

I keep having the same conversation with educators. It goes like this:

 

Me: How’s your year been going?

Educator: It’s going.

Me: What’s something that brings you joy?

Educator: Ummm…

 

After a pause or a little chitchat, the educator tells me a version of this sentiment: You know, I’m tired. I’m not sure why, but it just seems like I’m exhausted before I even begin.

 

I understand. When stress mounts, fatigue settles in. It’s easy to look around life and blame the circumstances. We might think that if our supervisors communicated sooner, we wouldn’t be so tired. Or if the weather would just warm up, we would feel better. Circumstances can be stressful. I’m living in a season of circumstances outside of my control that feel heavy and unfair. 

 

What I’ve recognized is that although I cannot change the circumstances, there is something I can control that will change the load I carry. I can control the routines of my day.

 

We all have routines that stack together throughout our days. Perhaps your school day begins with checking email and reacting to each message. Before you know it, the halls are full of students, and you jump up to quickly post the day’s learning target. You dig out the materials for the day and rush a greeting to some students. You forgot to grab a cup of coffee, so you rush to the workroom. The announcements begin, and your day continues down this path of reacting to one moment after another. 

 

This is a routine many of us tolerate.

 

By contrast, I think about Tammy Mulligan’s morning routine. She arrives in her classroom and turns on the SMART Board, opening the morning’s agenda for students to see. She organizes the day’s materials, making them accessible for students. She has plans to meet with two or three students who need extra phonics or fluency practice. Students come in and read the morning message, preparing for the day. Tammy finishes the tailored phonics practice as the morning announcements begin. The day starts with intention and joy. 

 

This is a routine we can create.

 

The quality of our days depends on the routines we create or tolerate. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and fatigued, rather than wishing you could change your circumstances, consider a routine you could create. I was having a difficult time focusing on the most important tasks of the day, so I created a routine to end my day. I place three sticky notes on my desk and write the three most pressing tasks to complete the next day. When I arrive at my desk the next day, I know exactly what to do. 

Ruth Ayres
Editor in Chief

https://choiceliteracy.com/big-fresh/