Warn Your Teaching Teammates Before Doing the Fun Stuff

A quick heads up shows respect for your teammates and protects team unity.

I just know that some teacher out there is going to look at this title and ask “Why can’t all of your learning be fun?”

Come on. Let’s be real for a second.

Yes, we always want learning to be fun.

We bring the hype and the noise and the smiles and the interactivity and the creativity and the technology and the gamification whenever and wherever we can.

But the reality of your typical classroom is that students aren’t calling it fun every single minute of every day, even if they like you, they’re grateful for the class, and they’re glad to be there.

You can live in denial of that fact or you can accept it. It’s a fact.

By “fun activities,” I’m talking about the Big Fun Deals, or BFDs. The stuff students talk about in the hallways.

The crazy review games. The slurpee treats. The movies. The mind-blowing projects. The spontaneous walks outside of the school. The potluck lunches. The pizza parties. Dance-offs. Ice cream sundaes.

There can be times and places for all of those things. But let me give you this tip: give your teaching team a heads up before doing them.

This is my 23rd year of teaching, and I’ve been on both sides of this equation.

Sometimes I’ve been the teacher suddenly doing a Big Fun Deal with my students.

Sometimes I’ve been the neighbor teacher who is doing “normal stuff” while the classroom next door suddenly explodes with loud music, smells of pizza, and roars of laughter for an entire block.

Not every class will always be doing the exact same thing at the exact same time, even within a grade level. That’s just school life.

And some teachers will ultimately become known as “the fun teacher.” More power to them. Those reputations are generally earned through consistent sacrifice, kindness, smiles, laughter, and emotional generosity.

Just give them a heads up first

But the point of the post is this: when you’re planning a Big Fun Deal in your room, give your teaching teammates a bit of a warning.

That gives them a chance to mentally prepare. To plan a similar version of your Big Fun Deal. Or even to join in on it.

It’s not to say that if they don’t have the advance notice, catastrophe will follow. Not at all. They may be totally cool with your BFD and simply encourage their own students to carry on with whatever their planned learning activity is at the time.

They may cheer you on and that is that.

But the other possibility is that they may feel sideswiped. Like you’re trying to one-up them. Like you’re trying to carve out a lane as Hero Teacher by carefully crafting your Big Fun Deal out of sight so that they can’t take part or they’re left looking boring.

That may not have been your intention at all, but that’s how it can come across.

This message doesn’t come from any recent experience — just a couple of decades in the biz.

If unity and cohesion is important to you and your teaching team — and I sure hope it is — keep your colleagues in the know.

And then lean into that Big Fun Deal like it’s 1999.