25 Alternatives to Handshakes

I always took pride in teaching my students the proper way to complete a handshake. After all, shaking hands is a life skill, isn't it? Well, maybe not any more! But we still need to greet each other!

Building community in the classroom involves interactions.

 

Children (and adults) need to greet each other each day. The skill of positive interactions is one I am proud to teach because it is one they will need for the rest of their lives.

I think we can agree, handshakes are questionable with today's health challenges. But there are parts to the handshake that have value: a moment of "connection," eye contact, a greeting, and a respect for the other person.

I've come up with a list of 25 different greetings that students can do as part of a morning greeting, and end of school meeting, or simply saying hello to their teacher in the morning. Plus, they can be done in online meetings as well!

Here they are:

#1: Give the peace sign!

#2: Give each other heart hands!

#3: Give air hugs! 

#4: Share a squirt of hand sanitizer!

#5: Wave!

 

#6: Smile with your eyes!

#7: Jazz hands!

 #8: Give each other a salute!

#9: Do a "One Second" Dance!

#10: Raise your eyebrows!

#11: Throw your hands in the air!

#12: Do two claps!

#13: Do a fist pump!

#14: Give the "Sup" nod!

#15: Give a thumbs up!

#16: Blow air kisses!

#17: Jump for joy!

#18: Give "air" high fives!

#19: Give the "Live Long and Prosper" signal from Star Trek!

#20: Place your hand on your heart!

#21: Namaste! 

 

#22: Bow to each other!

#23: Wink at each other!

#24: Give each other the home alone face!

 and #25: Have your class make up your own greeting!

Well there, now you have 25 ways to start or end your day that can be used in a socially distant classroom or during remote learning!

Here are some other ways to build community and team work in the classroom:

Morning Meeting Greeting Activities

Who am I Boom Cards  

Building Friendships Boom Cards

Good Citizenship Boom

20 Team Building Socially Distant Games and Activities

Back to School Success Strategies Part 2: Build Relationships

It's getting closer to that time again. 

No matter where you are in your summer vacation, getting back is in your future. This series of posts is designed to make that return a bit smoother for you. 

Today is Part 2 in a five part series about returning to school successfully.

Build Relationships

As teachers, we all know that building relationships is as important as the teaching itself! After all, if they don't know you care, they won't learn from you!

Morning Meetings are a great way to build relationships with students, and help them build relationships with each other! Interesting topics of discussion are great for getting them to develop oral language as well as building those bonds. 

It's also a good idea to find times to connect on a more personal level. It can be a challenge to find one-on-one time with them, but it's worth the effort! If the children are old enough, it's fun to let them write in a journal, which they'll pass in. They love when you write back a personal note! This can be build into the morning routine, or perhaps a part of writing or literacy time.

Here are some resources and ideas to help build relationships and connections: 

These games can be easily used in the classroom, and are perfect for Morning Meeting! Plus, many of these games can be adapted to topics of learning! 60 Team Building Games and Activities

If you're not familiar with Boom Cards, it's time you hopped on this bandwagon! Why? They can be used on any device, since all you need to do is send a link. You can send the link through any platform! 

This set of Boom Cards lets the children answer questions about themselves, helping them get to know themselves a little better, and helping the teacher get to know them as well! (Don't tell them it's a great way to practice reading and writing skills, and the teacher can easily make assessments of their writing skills!) 

These can be done through distance learning, or in the classroom. It might be fun to bring this resource back a few times a year in order to see the growth and change the children are experiencing: Who Am I: Get to Know Your Students Boom Cards

I don't know if it's possible for children in classrooms to play board games while staying socially distant, but this game could be sent home to be shared with families. The cards themselves make great questions for discussion, during Morning Meeting or reading discussions! Get to Know You Board Game

I'm sure you have more ways to build relationships with students than I've listed here. Feel free to share your ideas in the comments below!

Be sure to read the other four parts of these Back to School Success Strategies! 

 

  

 

 

 

I imagine you're thinking of more strategies for building relationships!

 I hope you'll share some of these in the comments below.

   

What's Your High and Low?

I have a little tradition in my classroom that I've been doing for years at the end of the day. It's called "High/ Low". (In some circles, it can be called "Rose and Thorn.") It's when we reflect on our day and decide what was the best part of the day and what was the most challenging part of our day. 

I got the idea from an old romantic comedy starring Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer called The Story of Us.

 It was a cute movie about a married couple with two children who were struggling with their marriage. Every evening at dinner the family would share their high of the day and their low of the day. That got me thinking about ending the day in the classroom the same way. I tried it, and it worked out better than expected!

 

Sometimes people ask me why I let the kids focus on their low of the day... don't I want them to be positive? Well, yes, of course I want them to be positive, but sometimes they have something that is bugging them, and it makes them feel better to get it out. (Just like the rest of us!) Besides, it helps me know what's going on in the classroom. (And even though they don't mention names, I usually know exactly who they're talking about, and can address it privately later!)

In the beginning, there's usually plenty of modeling on my part. My high might be about a success the class had that day, "I was proud when the class got a good report from the art teacher," or "Everyone caught on to adding hundreds today!"  Sometimes, it's an individual success, "John turned 8 years old today," or "Mary has a brand new baby brother."

I'm particularly careful to model what a low would sound like, since I don't want this to be the focus, and I want them to know I care about them. It might sound something like this, "Fred was out sick today," or "Fran got hurt on the playground today," or maybe "Someone hurt George's feelings." More than anything, it's important to model positive feelings. This is when you learn about your students and build those important relationships.

High/ Low of the Day usually works best at the end of the day. However, it can be used in the morning for special events, such as High/ Low of the month, High/ Low of vacation, High/ Low of a holiday, High/ Low of a test, and so on!

Here's another blog post about how I do High/ Low by having the children hold a Beanie Baby when it's their turn, then tossing the Beanie to the next person: How to Have Them Happy When They Walk Out of the Classroom.