Dealing with Spring Fever Behavior in Students
The weather is warming, and students are getting restless. Check out these classroom management ideas for spring fever.
What Is Spring Fever?
In some ways, spring feels like a new beginning. The bleak winter is passing, birds are chirping and the breeze softens and warms.
But for teachers and students, spring falls at the end of the school year.
Students have been working hard all year. They are tired of focusing on school, and the warmer weather beckons them outside.
How do you know if your students have spring fever? There are three telltale signs.
Lack of Focus
Your once attentive class will now stare out the window, shift in their seats, and zone out.
Procrastination
Students don’t want to do school anymore. They are tired.
They may outright refuse to do work, but more typically, they will put off their assignments until the last minute.
Behavior Issues
When academic fatigue and distractibility come together, behavior issues follow.
You may see more acting out when spring fever sets in.
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Is Spring Fever Behavior the Teacher’s Fault?
Veteran teachers know that spring fever has nothing to do with you.
Every student experiences spring fever, every year. It’s natural.
If you are honest with yourself, you feel it, too. The school year is long, and by spring, you are ready for a break.
You can help your class navigate spring fever and finish the year on a positive note with these tips and tricks.
How to Deal with Spring Fever Behavior
These tips will help you manage your classroom and motivate your students when spring fever sets in.
Take Learning Outside
Students long to be outside when spring weather hits. Let’s face it: so do you!
If possible, take learning outside. Try some of these Outdoor Learning Activities.
Get Students Out of their Seats
If your students have the wiggles, use up that excess energy by planning activities where students can get out of their seats.
Incorporate movement into your lessons. Reinforce learning with hands-on activities.
Allow Students to Be Creative
Students’ minds wander during the spring. They are letting their imagination take over. Use that!
Plan activities that engage their creativity. This could include arts and crafts projects, creative writing, and problem-solving activities.
Break Up Your Lessons
Your students have a shorter attention span. That’s the reality.
You need to adjust your lessons accordingly.
Instead of teaching in one long session, break up your lessons into smaller chunks.
You can place review games, hands-on activities, kinesthetic learning, and brain breaks between your lesson segments.
Take Brain Breaks
No one can sit still and pay attention for extended periods. A person’s mind and body need a break.
Brain breaks like stretching, dancing, reading, and playing add some fun and variation to the day and make it possible for students to focus more effectively afterward.
Do you need some brain break ideas? We’ve got you covered!
Here are some of the best brain break ideas for kids and the best brain break videos out there!
Break Up Your Assignments
Remember that students procrastinate when spring fever sets in.
You can ward off that procrastination by breaking up larger assignments into smaller milestones with individual due dates.
This helps keep students on track.
Try a New Classroom Setup
A new classroom setup is like magic!
Try a new seating arrangement, a special reading nook, and new bulletin boards.
You can even consider alternative seating to help kids manage their wiggles.
Use Call and Response
Try a new way to grab your students’ attention. Use a new call and response!
Call and response chants get your students’ attention and prime them for listening.
You call out a phrase, and the children have a set response that they call back.
For instance, you say, “1, 2, 3, eyes on me!” and the students respond, “1, 2, eyes on you!”
Here are some other call and response ideas:
- Hocus pocus…Everybody focus!
- Are you ready?…Ready to learn!
- Mac and cheese…everybody freeze!
- All right, stop!…Collaborate and listen!
- To infinity…and beyond!
- Hakuna…Matata
- Freeze! Everybody clap your hands…(students respond with 7 claps)
- L-I-S…T-E-N
Call and response is just one classroom management strategy. Take a moment and refresh yourself on other classroom control tips.
(If you are a new teacher, check out these tried and true classroom management techniques.)
Review Classroom Rules
Your students feel more comfortable with you. That’s a good thing! But it also means they are more likely to take liberties with their behavior.
Do everyone a favor and review your classroom rules. Display them in a prominent place, like your classroom focus wall.
Shake Up (But Don’t Upend) Your Routine
While consistent routines lower anxiety and help kids manage transitions, you can add a little variety to the day to engage your students.
Consider adding something new to your morning routine or switching up the order of your subjects.
Try a New Motivator
Positive reinforcement works wonders when it comes to managing behavior.
You can devise new behavior incentives, like a Friday Minute-to-Win-It game (for good behavior), desk pets, or a treasure chest with toys and scratch-offs.
Spice Up Your Centers
Your tired centers won’t keep your students engaged when spring fever hits.
Add some brand new activities to your centers.
Use Game-Based Learning
Games are not just for play. Kids learn by playing games, especially when you tie them to subject content.
Check out these math games, writing games, and reading games that you can use in your classroom.
Collaborate with Other Teachers for Project-Based Learning
Cross-curricular learning is an ideal way to add variety to the spring and keep students engaged.
This is especially true if you can work with another teacher or class on a cross-curricular project.
To get the ideas flowing, check out these math project-based learning ideas for elementary, middle, and high school.
Managing Spring Fever Behavior
Into every classroom, a little spring fever must fall. You can manage it (and even embrace it) with these tips and tricks.
