Loosli Learning

The Cookie Giver 🍪 Hi Teacher Friend, One of the most meaningful traditions I do in my classroom happens at the end of the year, but I actually start planning it around this time. It’s called The Cookie Giver. This is an activity I learned from my mom, and it has become something my students talk about even the next year. It’s one of those moments that sticks with them far beyond content or testing. At the end of the year, we pause and reflect on the people who made a difference in our lives....

Connection Before Content Hi Teacher Friend, One of the most important things I’ve learned about classroom management is this: When students feel connected to you and to each other, everything else gets easier. When your class becomes a place they enjoy being, when it feels like their “favorite class”—they are so much more willing to engage, participate, and meet expectations. That buy-in changes everything. No matter what subject or grade level you teach, building connection between teacher...

Get Students Talking About Something Good Hi Teacher Friend, One simple prompt can completely change the tone of a classroom. I’ve started asking my students to “Share Something Good That Happened Today.” You can post the prompt as students walk into class, or you can pause at a specific time during the week and give them a moment to think before sharing. What I love most is the pause. Students actually stop and think about their day for a moment before responding. Sometimes it takes a few...

Let Students Run Your Fun Fridays Hi Teacher Friend, One of the best things I’ve done for my classroom culture is letting students plan and run their own Fun Fridays. In my class, students are organized into community groups that compete together all semester for points toward short-term and long-term incentives. One of the biggest ways they can earn points is by planning and facilitating a Fun Friday for the class. It’s worth the most points in our system because of how many skills it...

Build Classroom Community with “Underground” Spirit Days Hi Teacher Friend, We often wait for school-wide spirit days to build excitement and connection. But the truth is, you don’t have to wait. You have full control to build culture inside your four walls. One of my favorite simple traditions is what I call an Underground Spirit Day, a spirit day that is just for your class period. No announcements. No campus-wide participation. Just something special that belongs to your room. Pick a day...

How I Get Students to Actually Focus During Work Time Hi teacher friend, My students are currently working on a project, and I gave them a full class period to work on it. I teach on an 80-minute block schedule, and I’ve learned something over the years: If I simply say, “Use this time wisely. Whatever you don’t finish is homework,” they will hardly get anything done. They struggle to get started. They struggle to stay focused. They struggle to manage the time. So instead of leaving the work...

The Science of Learning (That No One Taught Us) Hi teacher friend, There is one book that completely transformed how I teach Advanced Placement courses, and I truly think every teacher should understand what’s inside it. It’s called Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning by Pooja K. Agarwal and Patrice Bain. For a long time, I knew how to build community. I knew how to make class engaging. But I hadn’t fully broken down how learning actually works in the brain. Not everyone takes...

The Book That Shaped How I Build Classroom Community Hi Teacher Friend, One of the most foundational books behind how I design my classroom experiences is The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath. If you’ve ever wondered how I think about: game days the first day of school Valentine exchanges community traditions moments students remember long after the content …it all traces back to this book. The Power of Moments Framework The book explains that meaningful, memorable experiences are...

A Valentine’s Day Tradition That Makes Every Student Feel Included Hi Teacher Friend, One of my favorite classroom traditions, yes, even in high school, is a Valentine exchange. I started doing this after realizing just how many of my students never did a Valentine exchange in elementary school. They missed out on that core memory. And as kids get older, we tend to stop doing traditions like this with them, even though they still want them just as much. For many students, Valentine’s Day at...