For interrupting students...(All Ages)
Submitted by Ed Snyder

I had an 8th grade class once that was dead silent when I asked questions, but kept interrupting me when I taught. The next class, I brought a stuffed Yoda doll with me (nevermind why I have this) and told everyone they couldn't speak unless they had Yoda. They had a blast throwing him around the class and answering questions. When someone did interrupt I promptly said, "Hey, the force is not with you" and we laughed and continued the lesson. This can work with any stuffed animal, but it works best when you include a novelty like an interesting name.  (I know a catechist who used a monkey named Armpit.)


Reviewing Vocabulary (3rd-5th Grades)
Submitted by Ed Snyder

Once when I was teaching a 3rd grade class we noticed that the kids had too much energy to sit still. We decided to play a weekly review game for 10 minutes or so to relieve some of that pent-up energy. We put cardboard strips with vocabulary words on them at one end of the room and had two teams form a line at the other end. When we said the definition of a vocabulary word the students would have to race, find the correct word and bring it back to the catechist. Since running in the classroom might cause an injury, we had the students "baby step" (walk heal-toe) as quickly as they could.