Finding Focus in the Fall Frenzy: Keeping Calm When Everything’s Competing for Attention
The primary focus of this discourse revolves around the imperative of maintaining composure amid the tumultuous distractions that characterize the autumn season. As we traverse through a myriad of activities—ranging from conferences to spirited celebrations—the guidance of Nicholas Kleve, esteemed educator known as Mr. Funky Teacher, becomes invaluable. He delineates practical methodologies designed to anchor our routines, streamline our priorities, and harness the exuberance of our students, thus safeguarding our tranquility. It is essential that we, as educators, cultivate an environment where joy prevails over chaos, thereby allowing us to navigate the frenetic pace of fall with grace and intentionality. Through the adoption of these strategies, we can ensure that the vibrancy of the season enriches our teaching rather than overwhelms our efforts.
As the fall season unfolds, educators frequently find themselves amidst a swirl of activities that challenge their focus and composure. In this episode, Nicholas Kleve, known as Mr. Funky Teacher, shares invaluable insights on how to navigate this tumultuous period with grace and effectiveness. At the heart of his message lies the concept of establishing firm routines, which serve as an anchor for both teachers and students during times of chaos. Mr. Kleve posits that well-defined routines can provide a sense of security, allowing students to thrive even when the external environment is filled with distractions.
In addition to fostering routines, Mr. Kleve emphasizes the importance of prioritizing tasks effectively. He encourages educators to reflect on their responsibilities and determine which activities will yield the most significant impact on student learning and engagement. By focusing on essential tasks, teachers can mitigate feelings of overwhelm and better manage their time and resources. This approach not only enhances the educational experience for students but also promotes a more balanced and thoughtful teaching practice.
Furthermore, the episode highlights the necessity of channeling the exuberance that characterizes the fall season. Mr. Kleve advocates for utilizing this energy to create engaging lesson plans that incorporate seasonal themes. By transforming student enthusiasm into productive classroom activities, educators can foster a positive atmosphere that encourages participation and focus. Ultimately, Mr. Kleve's strategies equip teachers with the tools needed to maintain calm and clarity during the fall frenzy, ensuring that the joys of the season do not overshadow the vital mission of education.
Takeaways:
- The importance of anchoring routines in the classroom to provide structure during chaotic times, ensuring students remain focused.
- Teachers must prioritize what truly matters, emphasizing relationships and learning over the multitude of tasks that fall may present.
- Redirecting the natural energy of the fall season into productive classroom activities can enhance student engagement and learning.
- It is crucial for educators to protect their own calm, as students often mirror the emotional state of their teachers.
- Simple yet effective strategies for classroom management can alleviate stress during the hectic fall season, fostering a more productive environment.
- Establishing micro moments of peace and reflection throughout the school day can greatly contribute to maintaining a positive atmosphere for both students and teachers.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Be a Funky Teacher
Transcript
Yeah, he's Mr. Funky.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky Teacher.
Speaker A:Mr. Funky Teacher inspires greatness, makes you feel good.
Speaker A:Like your favorite playlist.
Speaker A:Keeping that fresh and funky.
Speaker A:Yes, he does.
Speaker A:He got some funky cool ideas to share for all you teachers.
Speaker A:He can empower others, students and teachers.
Speaker A:It's all about hard work and creativity.
Speaker A:He brings out the kindness in everyone.
Speaker A:He's got the passion to teach.
Speaker A:You hear it when he speaks.
Speaker A:He knows how to build strong relationships.
Speaker A:If you're seeking the best bunkiest, he is it.
Speaker A:He will empower you to improve.
Speaker A:He'll be helping others and loving it, too.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky Teacher.
Speaker A:Yeah, he's Mr. Funky Teacher.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:This is Mr. Funky Teacher with Be a Funky Teacher dot com.
Speaker B:I'm coming to you with another Be a Funky Teacher podcast.
Speaker B:Welcome back, everyone.
Speaker B:Today's episode is finding focus in the fall frenzy.
Speaker B:Keeping calm when everything's competing for attention.
Speaker B:But before we get into it, let's talk about the three things that I'm thankful for.
Speaker B:First thing that I'm thankful for parents who show up to conferences.
Speaker B:I'm so thankful for parents who make time to show up even after long work days because they want the partner in their child's learning.
Speaker B:And it also reminds me that education isn't a solo act.
Speaker B:It's a team effort.
Speaker B:Every conversation with a caring parent builds trust and momentum.
Speaker B:So I'm thankful for those parents who show up to conferences.
Speaker B:Second thing I'm thankful for people who care about others.
Speaker B:I'm thankful for those small, quiet moments of kindness, someone checking in or someone helping out without being asked.
Speaker B:They remind me why we teach to build a world where people notice each other.
Speaker B:Compassion EC doesn't need a microphone.
Speaker B:It just needs a presence.
Speaker B:Third thing I'm thankful for.
Speaker B:Fun decorations.
Speaker B:I'm so thankful for the Halloween decorations and fall colors that brighten our schools and communities right now.
Speaker B:There's.
Speaker B:There's something.
Speaker B:Thinking about my own school where I'm at right now.
Speaker B:There's something about walking past the hallway falling full of brightly colored pumpkin faces and.
Speaker B:And just, you know, or things that like.
Speaker B:Like Happy Halloween.
Speaker B:Or, you know, even like trick or treat.
Speaker B:Spooky trick.
Speaker B:Like spooky ghosts.
Speaker B:Just things that.
Speaker B:That are just fun, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:And I. I just love it.
Speaker B:Little bursts of.
Speaker B:To me, it's little bursts of joy that remind us that fun and focus can coexist.
Speaker B:All right, y', all.
Speaker B:So where.
Speaker B:Let's get into the.
Speaker B:The episode now.
Speaker B:Our.
Speaker B:Our focus of this episode is fall frenzy.
Speaker B:Keeping calm when everything's competing for attention.
Speaker B:So where we are at right now, it's that time of year when the calendar is stuffed and everyone's energy is half excitement and half exhaustion.
Speaker B:Conference.
Speaker B:We have conferences, football, playoffs, costumes.
Speaker B:You know, we just came off a spirit week.
Speaker B:It just seems like book fair fundraisers.
Speaker B:So much stuff that's happening all at once.
Speaker B:The trick is not to fight the noise, but to find your focus inside it.
Speaker B:So today we are going to be talking about how to stay steady when everything.
Speaker B:Everything around you feels like a blur.
Speaker B:So the first big idea is to anchor in routine.
Speaker B:When the energy is chaotic, students need structure more than ever.
Speaker B:Routines act like the heartbeat in our classroom.
Speaker B:Steady.
Speaker B:They are predictable.
Speaker B:They are reassuring.
Speaker B:They are so critically important.
Speaker B:I remember in past years where I've had.
Speaker B:I'm just thinking about during Spirit Week a couple of years ago, when I was at my prior school with students, there were some.
Speaker B:Some outfits that were worn during Spirit Week that cause causing a lot of distractions.
Speaker B:And, and I just had to.
Speaker B:We had a good laugh.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We smiled.
Speaker B:There was one particular outfit that was extremely distracting.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We leaned into.
Speaker B:We had a good laugh.
Speaker B:We joked about it for a moment, and then we leaned back into what routine is or what was the bell ringer.
Speaker B:We, we tried.
Speaker B:I tried to keep some systems that were the same, and then it didn't take long for students to get focused.
Speaker B:Had I let things stay kind of chaotic.
Speaker B:We acknowledged the, The.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The playful fun of this one particular outfit that was just, oh, my goodness, it was fun.
Speaker B:But then I, I got them refocused by, okay, what are we supposed to be doing now?
Speaker B:And I stuck to that with, with our routine, with our system that I had set up.
Speaker B:And, and we had a very successful morning.
Speaker B:Within minutes, we were back focused.
Speaker B:So consistency is the invisible calm that can bring students back to focus.
Speaker B:So I encourage you, when there's a lot of chaos, don't just say.
Speaker B:Just don't just throw your hands up and say, oh, we're not going to get anything done this week.
Speaker B:We can't afford to give up a whole week of learning.
Speaker B:We In.
Speaker B:In.
Speaker B:If there's chaos going on, if there's on, we.
Speaker B:We have to lean into our systems, anchor into our routines that, that we've set up and remind students of what we need to do.
Speaker B:Boy, it.
Speaker B:It'll make a difference, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:It will.
Speaker B:It'll bring some calmness back.
Speaker B:Second thing is to.
Speaker B:To.
Speaker B:The second big idea is to simplify our Priorities first.
Speaker B:Fall has a way of making us feel like we should do everything at once, doesn't it?
Speaker B:You don't have to be the teacher who decorates the door, plans the perfect costume contest and grade every paper the same day.
Speaker B:You don't have to do it all.
Speaker B:Focus on what matters most, relationships and learning.
Speaker B:Ask yourself what, what will students remember from this month or this week?
Speaker B:I'm coming off of talking a lot about the eagle and the eagle metaphor.
Speaker B:The eagle doesn't flap at every moment in the valley.
Speaker B:It keeps its eye on what matters.
Speaker B:And teachers can too.
Speaker B:When I decorated my classroom here, I did some decorating for conferences and I threw some orange paper out in the tables.
Speaker B:And my paraprofessional, she wrote some fun little Halloween messages on on desk.
Speaker B:Like spooky trick or treat, Happy Halloween.
Speaker B:You know, little fun, little playful messages.
Speaker B:That wasn't, it was cheap.
Speaker B:It was easy to do.
Speaker B:It was festive.
Speaker B:And then I, I, we have a door dec.
Speaker B:I didn't do a whole redoor decorating.
Speaker B:I just, I could not make it work.
Speaker B:And so we were talking about simplify our priorities.
Speaker B:It was like this plastic door decoration that it says trick or treat on it and it's got a picture of a ghost.
Speaker B:It was fun, it was cheap.
Speaker B:It did exactly what I wanted to do because I, I, I could not afford to spend one or two hours redecorating.
Speaker B:Sorry I redecorating and doing this, this custom decoration.
Speaker B:I tried to simplify things how I could and I was able to get things decorated actually fairly quickly and and still make my room feel festive for actually when I decorated for student student led conferences because I wanted something that was fe October related October feeling.
Speaker B:My school takes Halloween very seriously.
Speaker B:So it, it just added the exact feel that I wanted without overwhelming me.
Speaker B:And it was just the approach that I needed to take to keep my sanity while also making sure that I was prepared for conferences.
Speaker B:And I'll have to talk in a future episode about my approach for conferences and how I did student led conferences with students and very successfully did student led conferences.
Speaker B:But the decorating, I found a way of doing it without overwhelming myself.
Speaker B:All right, so simplify your priorities.
Speaker B:And that includes decorating.
Speaker B:When decorating and many other things can become overwhelming.
Speaker B:So the third big thing I want to talk about is channel the energy.
Speaker B:Don't fight it.
Speaker B:You can't fight October energy.
Speaker B:You have to redirect it.
Speaker B:You can't just fight that.
Speaker B:Some teachers think that they can just fight the October energy.
Speaker B:Can't do it, you have to redirect it.
Speaker B:Let the season work for you.
Speaker B:Turn Halloween excitement into writing prompts.
Speaker B:Like what?
Speaker B:Like what makes a story spooky without being scary?
Speaker B:Or use fall themes in math and science projects.
Speaker B:Reward focus with movement breaks or class games.
Speaker B:See when students see their enthusiasm.
Speaker B:Okay, so when students see that their enthusiasm has a place to go, it stops competing with our lessons.
Speaker B:It's like wind.
Speaker B:You can't stop it, but you can use it to move forward, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:Fourth big idea here is to protect your own calm.
Speaker B:Students mirror your energy when they see it.
Speaker B:If you're rushed, they feel rushed.
Speaker B:If you're steady, they'll settle.
Speaker B:Build micro moments of peace into your day.
Speaker B:Maybe two minute, two minutes of breathing between classes.
Speaker B:Or if students leave to go to specials or students go to lunch, take two minutes just to breathe.
Speaker B:Maybe soft music during work time or a quiet walk down the hallway before dismissal.
Speaker B:You're not just preserving your sanity.
Speaker B:You're modeling emotional regulation, which is so important to do.
Speaker B:To model emotional regulation.
Speaker B:Calm is contagious to y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:So in as a reflective takeaway here.
Speaker B:This season is loud and beautiful and it's easy to lose focus in a noise.
Speaker B:But you need.
Speaker B:I want to encourage you that, that you don't need to control every detail.
Speaker B:You just need to be the steady center of your own classroom.
Speaker B:Anchor your routines, simplify what matters, channel the energy and protect your calm when everything feels fast.
Speaker B:Slow your pace on purpose.
Speaker B:Your calm becomes your student's focus.
Speaker B:I hope this episode proves to be valuable to you.
Speaker B:If you like the Be a Funky Teacher podcast, jump on over to the Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to your podcast.
Speaker B:Hit me up with a five star review and let me know what you think with a comment.
Speaker B:And I want you to go into your day and remember to inspire greatness in young people.
Speaker B:And don't forget to be a funky teacher.
Speaker B:Bye now.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky Teacher yeah.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky teacher yeah, yeah, yeah.
