ROO WAAG #29
May 17, 2026 - May 23, 2026
Hey Roos!
Check out the link for High School Activities over this month’s theme of Integrity for Capturing Kids’ Hearts. With less than two weeks left in school, it’s the perfect time to finish strong with quick, meaningful activities that still make an impact!
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Conversation Starter with Students:
"Is it harder to show integrity when no one is watching? Why or why not?"🤟
Conversation Starter with Students:
"Why do you think honesty is an important part of integrity?”🤟
Conversation Starter with Students:
"Why is integrity important for your future (college, jobs, relationships)?”🤟
Surviving and Thriving Activities!
Flip your classroom
In a flipped classroom, students do the prep work (reading, watching videos, etc.) at home. Then they spend their time in the classroom actively engaged with their teacher. For instance, kids might spend some time the night before reading about the Roman Empire. Then in class, they work together to create a big, illustrated timeline of the era. You don’t have to use the flipped classroom strategy every day, but mixing it in once in a while can really bring your learning to life.
Learn more: What Is a Flipped Classroom?
End-of-Year Teaching Strategy: Use Humor
Humor in the classroom comes naturally to some teachers, while others don’t feel as comfortable using teaching strategies like this one. But with a little practice, you’ll find ways to bring laughter and levity into your teaching, and your students will thank you for it!
Use humor to bring materials to life
Humor doesn’t need to be intentionally planned, although it can be. Sharing a laugh with your students is often best (and most authentic) when it happens in the moment. This video from Solution Tree offers tips for easy ideas to add some humor into your classroom interactions.
Learn more: Demonstrating Intensity and Enthusiasm by Using Humor at Solution Tree.
Read funny stories or poems
Students can often learn just as much from funny stories or poems as they can from more serious literature. When you have the option, choose something a bit lighthearted and playful. Laughing students are more engaged in the material, priming them to learn whatever literature objectives you’ve got on tap for the day.
Learn more: 21 Best Funny Short Stories To Teach in Middle and High School and 40 Hilariously Funny Poems To Read and Share
Try a joke-of-the-day
This is so easy, and it’s something students will really look forward to! Each day, post a joke or riddle on the board for kids to read when they first come in. If it’s a riddle, you can provide the answer as you start the lesson, or even wait until the very end of the class period or day to reveal it. Check out some of our favorite jokes for this time of year below, then visit the We Are Teachers Humor hub for more joke roundups and other funny posts.
Learn more: 75 Funny Summer Jokes for Kids and 140 Funny Jokes for Teens
Connect with students through humor
Think about the people you laugh with the most in your personal life—chances are good they’re the people you know the best. You can do the same with your students. You’ve had most of a school year to get to know them now. You know what will make them giggle, individually or as a group, and shared humor always makes a group feel closer. Create some “you had to be there” moments for your class, and they’ll remember them for years. This video from Solution Tree shows you how.
Learn more: Showing Affection for Students by Using Humor at Solution Tree
End-of-Year Teaching Strategy: Reengage Their Interest
In the last few weeks of school, you’re bound to find students gazing out the windows at the beautiful weather, or chatting with friends as they plan for summer fun. But there’s still learning to be done, and it’s up to you as the teacher to bring their attention back to the classroom using strategies like these.
Grab their attention with a hook
You know those little teaser scenes they often have at the beginning of a TV show, a minute or two of action before the opening credits? That’s a great example of a hook—something that grabs your attention and makes you want to know more. Teachers who use hooks will find it easier to carry that enthusiasm through to the rest of the lesson. You might start with a short video, an unbelievable fact, a captivating image, or even a song. Find more ideas in this video from Solution Tree.
Learn more: Maintaining a Lively Pace With Motivational Hooks at Solution Tree
Pivot your media selections
We Are Teachers / StockSnap via PixabayTeachers have more ways to use media in the classroom than ever before. If you’re not already integrating short videos, audio clips, image slideshows, or other types of media into your lessons, now’s the time. If you do use media regularly, try to find something new your students haven’t been exposed to all year long. One terrific option? Podcasts! There’s bound to be one on the topic you teach, or something fun your class can enjoy together for a few brief minutes each day. Teach kids to be active listeners, then cue up the latest episode to enjoy and discuss.
USE these phrases CONSISTENTLY so students RECOGNIZE the ROUTINE—that’s what drives it—POWER !
1. Say it with me…
Purpose: Build confidence and reinforce academic language
Example:
*** “Say it with me… photosynthesis is the process plants use to make food.”
2. Turn and Talk…
Purpose: Get every student thinking and speaking
Example:
*** “Turn and talk—what evidence supports your answer?”
3. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Purpose: Encourage observation and curiosity
Example:
*** “Look at this graph—what do you notice? What do you wonder?”
4. Prove it.
Purpose: Push for evidence-based answers
Example:
*** “That’s a good answer—now prove it using the text.”
5. Which one doesn’t belong?
Purpose: Promote reasoning and justification
Example:
*** “Which one doesn’t belong—and why?”
6. Convince me.
Purpose: Deepen critical thinking
Example:
*** “Convince me your answer is correct.”
7. Add on or disagree…
Purpose: Build academic conversations
Example:
*** “Do you want to add on or disagree with what was said?”
8. What’s your strategy?
Purpose: Focus on process, not just answer
Example:
*** “What strategy did you use to solve that?”
9. You have 30 seconds…
Purpose: Create urgency and focus
Example:
*** “You have 30 seconds—write your best thinking.”
10. Make a prediction.
Purpose: Activate thinking before learning
Example:
*** “Based on the title, make a prediction about the text.”
- Actively monitor your students throughout the lesson.
- Post the focused skill(s) for the week in a visible location.
- Provide support and guidance when students are struggling with skills.
Continue encouraging students as we work toward mastering two skills each week. Let’s keep pushing forward with 15 correct questions per week — we believe in OUR Students, and we are KHS STRONG!
Hey ROOS! Pass the Word On to Your Students....
Hungry Students Afterschool? Killeen High’s Got Dinner Covered!!! 🦘
Spread the Word! 🦘
GRADES – Be sure you have contacted guardians if failing. Also now you should have your 9 formative and 3 summative – remember this is without any grades being dropped, absent, or missing. There has to be 12 total grades. I have seen some that still have absent from way back – I just went in my dyslexia grades and changed every absent to a zero unless it was a grade from last week. PLEASE MAKE SURE you are specific when your last day to collect make-up work is. You will be submitting senior grades Thursday from 2nd and 4th period – Friday you will be submitting grades from 6th period, and you will not see those students again.
KEEP STUDENTS IN YOUR ROOM - Be sure you are not letting students go to another classroom, and are not letting any students in your room that are not assigned to you. If they are work release they need to be in the bistro or off campus. Every student that leaves your room needs to have on their ID AND have a pass. If you turn in your hard pass, you will need to write blue passes for your students to leave. If they want to go to the clinic or counselor, I would check to make sure the student made it to that destination.
Thank you for your flexibility on Friday with the secure hold – it was crazy with all the career center kids here, but everyone stepped up and make it work.
Many of you know last week was a real struggle for me. I honestly thought for two days I would have rather been in child birth. When I came back I appreciate all the check ins and smiles and hugs – MUCH GRATITUDE to all you / the best staff in KISD.
Remember starting Friday everyone will be on duty. I will be posting the stations on the door of the mail room on Monday, and I will email one out. You will keep the same time frame - Mornings will be morning and after school will stay after school. Closer to the last day we will work on the staggered release and clearing the building quickly on Thursday so you can complete grades and complete your check in.
This came to me a lot this past week – a year older and hoping to soon be wiser! I have not talked to Reverand Towers in a while, so when this came to me today it caught my attention – and a reminder that no matter what happens, JOY COMES IN THE MORNING.
