We all know that research says students need to feel included, loved, and safe in the classroom to learn. They also need to move. Team Builders are the best way to incorporate both of these!
Positive relationships with teachers are important in supporting higher levels of self-esteem, higher academic self-efficacy, and more confidence in future employment outcomes (Ryan et al., 1994)
Team Builders have their purpose. Here are the primary:
- Build connections – I always say relationships are the most important aspect of teaching and learning. Team Builders help build connections with teachers and peers.
- Mental break – We all need mental breaks to energize our body for more learning.
- Movement – Movement stimulates brain cells and the ability to learn.
Team Builders help our body refresh so students can focus on learning. If teachers need breaks when doing hard work, so do young students. Breaks from learning help us recharge and reset. They give us energy. Taking breaks is essential to learning.
Important social skills, such as, encouragement, acceptance, compassion, acceptance, cooperation, and respect are embedded in every activity. Team builders develop community and foster a positive classroom environment where students feel safe and encouraged to take academic, social and emotional risks.
You may be saying that you have a positive climate in your classroom so you don’t need team builders. Maybe you think you don’t have time for them or maybe you don’t see their benefit. I am going to respectfully disagree. Our students are going to need to be effective communicators, collaborators and problem solvers to get a job in the 21st century. Team builders work on all three. You only need 10-15 minutes for each activity and the benefits will far outweigh the time spent.
Team Builders come as projectable slides or printable cards. You choose the format you prefer.
If you are interested in fostering relationships in your classroom, you can find these team building activities here.
Here is another blog post where I wrote about fostering relationships in the classroom that will give you some other ideas.
Let us know how you build relationships in your classroom in the comments below.
