Matching Tracksuits

For about four years now, each of my classes during the book fair has picked out a poster that seems uniquely out of character for me, which they then all sign, and I hang it on the wall.

Previous years' posters include two BTS posters, a Riverdale poster, and several kitty posters.

Today was our day in the book fair, so all classes picked a poster. They'll be signing it tomorrow, and they should be on the wall by the end of the week.

This year, more kids seemed more interested in picking the poster. Usually, it's just a handful of students in each class; this year, the whole class at times was inspecting the poster and making suggestions about which one to buy.

It made me feel exceptionally good.

One of my classes is working on clauses -- recognizing them, using them, transforming them. Today we had a lower-than-usual attendance because of a Junior Beta Club field trip, so it was a somewhat relaxed day. We finished with a game of Kahoot, an online learning site that gamifies quiz-type reviews. We played a variant called Submarine Squad. According to the site,

You and your crew are stuck in the deep blue! A hungry fish is quickly approaching. Answer questions correctly to boost your submarine and follow instructions to escape.

Kahoot usually encourages a bit of competition; this particular variant encourages teamwork and cooperation. They have to work together to escape, and as the beast approaches, opens its jaws, and slowly begins to crunch down on the ship, the encouragement to each other increases.

When they do manage to escape (they didn't make it the first round), they all jump out of their chairs and cheer, giving each other high fives and doing silly little happy dances.

It's one of the reasons I love teaching eighth grade: they're still kids at heart.