# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is it?

21st century learning is the development of a highly valuable skill set for the future. 21st century skills are flagged as critical for the digital and evolving economy. Instead of specific subject knowledge, 21st century skills are ways of thinking, ways of working and ways of living.

The Australian Curriculum includes seven general capabilities:

Literacy

Numeracy

Information and communication technology (ICT) capability

Critical and creative thinking

Personal and social capability

Ethical understanding

Intercultural understanding

The list below from the Assessment & Teaching of 21st Century Skills website shows another approach to categorising these skills:

Ways of thinking

1. Creativity and innovation

2. Critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making

3. Learning to learn, metacognition

Ways of working

Tools for working

1. Information literacy

2. ICT literacy

Living in the world

1. Citizenship - local and global

2. Life and career

3. Personal and social responsibility - including cultural awareness and competence

Best practice STEM education is complementary to 21st century learning. At the same time as developing important skills and knowledge in the STEM subjects, students engage in activities and projects that promote 21st century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration.

How does it help?

Linking to 21st century learning prepares students for the future world of work, and arms them with critical life skills. It supports students to be critical and creative-thinkers, communicators and collaborators.

How do you do it?

21st century skills can be included in the classroom through:

Project-based learning provided on the NSW Government Education website.

Creating lessons that promote critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Department of Education works to ensure Australians can experience the wellbeing and economic benefits that quality education provides.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about the sharemarket and how it works.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Financial education made easy for secondary schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The ESSI Money game supports students to explore the concepts of Earning, Saving, Spending and Investing in an educational and fun way. 30,000 unique players a year can't be wrong!

Through game play based in a 'virtual world', students achieve an understanding of how decisions made over a period of time can have both positive and negative impacts on their financial situation. The game allows students to practise real life financial transactions and experience the consequences in a safe, fun and challenging way.

ESSI Money is targeted to middle years students, although all students from years 7 to 12 are effectively engaged with the game. It has direct links (but is certainly not restricted to) the following curriculum areas:

Mathematics

Economics and Business

Personal Development Programs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
ESSI Money - Financial Basics Foundation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The ESSI Money game supports students to explore the concepts of Earning, Saving, Spending and Investing in an educational and fun way. 30,000 unique players a year can't be wrong! Through game play based in a 'virtual world', students achieve an understanding of how decisions made over a period of time can have both positive and negative impacts on their financial situation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
ReadTheory | Reading Comprehension Exercises

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Reading comprehension exercises — online, free, & adaptive. Fits K-12, ESL and adult students. Easily track progress for the entire class.

# data[].attributes.body
Handy for end of Week or Unit quizzes; also for Diagnostic Testing at start of term. My Sets under JaxTeach - see my Public Entrepreneur set for Year 10 ECB revision

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
TransMath - Math Intervention Curriculum (Grades 5–10)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This comprehensive math intervention curriculum for middle and high schoolers helps build the foundational skills necessary for entry into algebra. Students two or more years below grade level in math will benefit.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Since its release in 2014, the learning-management platform Google Classroom has quickly become one of the more popular online tools in K-12 schools. Adoption ramped up dramatically with the mass switch to virtual instruction that followed COVID-19-related school closures in March: This spring, Bloomberg News reported that the number of active Classroom users worldwide had doubled, to 100 million.

So how is this increasingly pervasive educational platform changing teaching and learning?

The effects are subtle but significant, argue a team of researchers led by Carlo Perrotta, a senior lecturer in digital literacies at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. As Google permeates schools with the "logics of datafication, automation, surveillance, and interoperability," the researchers argue in a paper published earlier this month, the corporation is funneling teachers and students alike into a narrow set of activities that software developers and business strategists have determined count as legitimate pedagogy.

The convenience of tools like Classroom is hard to deny.

But while the platform's impact on students' development is still uncertain, Perrotta and his colleagues write, what is clear is that student Classroom users are helping Google learn by providing massive troves of data the company uses to refine the artificial intelligence and machine-learning algorithms that power its most popular consumer tools. In the process, the researchers argue, Google is buttressing its broader business strategy.

"The moulding of Classroom users into datafied Google users represents a corporate 'long game' entirely consistent with its overall strategic outlook," the paper reads.

The research is based on an analysis of "boring technical things" like the company's privacy policy, terms of service, and the documentation it provides to hundreds of third-party developers who have built digital tools that can "integrate" and share data with Classroom via Google's application programming interface, or API.

With the U.S. Department of Justice and 11 state Attorneys General now suing Google for alleged antitrust violations related to its consumer products like Search, the paper offers a timely look at the company's expanding role in schools.

The following transcript of Education Week's conversation with Perrotta has been edited for length and clarity.

How is Google Classroom changing the work of teachers and students?

Infrastructure are things made by people to organize social life. Think of roads, or train lines. We looked at the way the Google Classroom platform is emerging as an infrastructure for pedagogy. It has features and properties that channel and organize the work teachers and students do.

All sorts of tasks are now offloaded on to the platform, on to third-party integrations, and on to parents and guardians. Teachers often no longer have a say about what functionalities get integrated into their classrooms. A system administrator now makes that decision. Teachers are required to accept it. They become a cog in this infrastructure.

Also, there is a degree of platform literacy that is now required to teach and learn. A lot of pedagogy becomes about how to engage with the platform correctly. The ability to engage meaningfully with the platform increasingly cannot be separated from actual teaching and learning. That benefits Google first and foremost. It gets users used to the Google environment, so when they leave Classroom, they will keep engaging with the Google ecosystem.

Isn't it a good thing to automate some of the rote tasks required of teachers?

There are a number of mundane day-to-day activities that can be automated, and that obviously has benefits for teachers. But the way the system is structured takes away a degree of agency.

There's also this idea about the "cascading logic of automation." It starts with rote and routine aspects that are difficult to argue. But automation then begins to colonize other aspects, and then it becomes increasingly dominant and pervasive, a way of organizing a particular activity. We can see it happening in policing and health care. Something similar can happen in education.

Can you give a tangible example of the problems you see with this in education?

The best example is actual literacy, learning how to read and write. Google Classroom now automates the process of originality checking, so it can be carried out by Google Docs itself. Teaching students how to engage appropriately with original material and explaining originality in a way that students can understand is a pedagogic process. But if that becomes automated, and it's just Google telling us what is original and what's not, it takes away the pedagogical dimension and becomes a matter of surveillance. Mistakes get flagged as a problem, rather than being treated as a teachable moment.

Why is Classroom different than the other learning management systems, some of which have been use in for more than a decade?

The short answer is Google. The company has an unprecedented scale, and it in many ways invented the business model of extracting and using data from users. The platform economy has monopolistic tendencies. That finds its way into classrooms in indirect ways.

You also write in the paper about the impact of Google Classroom's API, which prescribes a fairly narrow framework of supported teaching activities, such as assigning quizzes and submitting assignments.

The idea is that platforms operate by creating frameworks for other tools to work together and for users to engage with the platform. Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Google, there are certain predetermined ways you can engage. Those are determined through a design process. An API is part of that process. It determines what counts as a legitimate user action. We call it a 'data ontology.' It determines what is actually 'real' in a particular context. But this ontology is actually arbitrary. Developers and corporations make those decisions in the interests of efficiency. It's not like Google engaged with pedagogy experts to come up with the data ontology behind its API.

For teachers, though, the tendency becomes to go with what the platform allows. If certain teaching activities don't fit within that particular framework, they require additional work, technical skills, time, all things teachers may not have. The risk is that teachers just adapt and go with the flow of what Google allows rather than challenge it with something more pedagogically meaningful.

You also write about Google Classroom's "underlying logic," which you describe as focused on neutrality, personalization, and predictive capacity. Why is that troubling?

In education systems around the world, we see a huge focus on measurement, accountability, tests. The negative effects on teaching from these regimes of accountability, such as the narrowing of curricula, have been widely documented. This is the ground upon which Google Classroom is building its dominance. In the process, it's exacerbating those problems. The ideas of predicting student success and personalizing education are happening on the back of problematic developments in education.

How do data privacy concerns fit into this, especially given what you describe as Google's "extractive" business model?

Google is clear that any data they collect through Classroom is not being used to profile users or target them with ads. But the moment users step out of Classroom, the traditional extractive model applies. If a teacher assigned a YouTube video to watch, that extractive model applies. We call it a leaky pipe.

The integrations are also a danger in their own right. They're basically the Wild West.

And even the data collected within the confines of Classroom is still used to refine Google's tools. They use all the data collected from Google Docs, for example, to train the algorithms for the company's AI models. Anyone who uses Google Docs is contributing to that process.

So Classroom is not really a fully closed environment. There are gaps and holes. The current regulatory framework is unable to keep up. We suggest this framework should change to make Google more accountable as an educational actor that is shaping these dynamics in an active way.

Researchers, journalists, and advocates have been raising these privacy issues for years. But as you note, the adoption numbers for Classroom have exploded. Are schools making the same calculation as consumers, that the convenience provided by this service is so great that they'll just brush aside more complicated concerns?

That's definitely a fair assessment. You can apply the same logic to many other areas where platforms become dominant. They make life easier and their efficiencies are undeniable. So people just go along with them without questioning the problems. But it shouldn't come down to individuals having to make those decisions. It's increasingly clear that individuals in their own personal lives find it difficult to resist or even questioning the underlying logic of these platforms. There needs to be a broader political debate about regulation, and about what these platforms are doing to society.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Google Classroom Is Changing Teaching: Q&A With Researcher Carlo Perrotta

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The popular software is bringing the "logics of datafication, automation, surveillance, and interoperability" to schools, researchers say.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Classroom Management Tools & Resources - Google for Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get started with Google Classroom, a central hub for tools and resources designed to help educators manage classrooms and enrich learning experiences.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
APAC webcast series: Faster and smarter marking with Gradescope

Hear from Carey Baptist College about their experiences in trialling Gradescope in their Science Department, and what they've learned during the process.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
APAC | Empower Students to Do Their Best, Original Work | Turnitin

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Turnitin Asia Pacific, your partner in education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kahoot! | Learning games | Make learning awesome!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that brings engagement and fun to 1+ billion players every year at school, at work, and at home.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Indigenous Australia, Culture, People & Resources | Australians Together

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Explore the rich diversity of Australian culture and First Nations history at Australians Together. Learn about Indigenous culture, migration, and more. Discover resources and information for educators, students, and all Australians.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Canva is a free-to-use online graphic design tool. Use it to create social media posts, presentations, posters, videos, logos and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
George Lucas Educational Foundation

The benefits of movement in the classroom aren't limited to younger students. Pairing new words and concepts with gestures or dance moves locks in understanding-and active brain breaks prime students to learn even more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Online safety resources and training for teachers, schools and communities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Why do you take notes? What do you hope to get from your notes? What are Cornell Notes and how do you use the Cornell note-taking system?

There are many ways to take notes. It's helpful to try out different methods and determine which work best for you in different situations. Whether you are learning online or in person, the physical act of writing can help you remember better than just listening or reading. Research shows that taking notes by hand is more effective than typing on a laptop. This page and our Canvas module will teach you about different note-taking systems and styles and help you determine what will work best for your situation.

In our Cornell Note Taking System module you will:

Examine your current note taking system

Explore different note taking strategies (including the Cornell Notes system)

Assess which strategies work best for you in different situations

The best way to explore your current note-taking strategies and learn about the Cornell note taking system is to go through our Canvas note taking module. The module will interactively guide you through how to use Cornell Notes - click on the link here or the button below. This module is publicly available.

Just want to see a bit more about Cornell Notes? You can view the videos below.

Watch: What are Cornell Notes?

Watch: Learn how students use the Cornell Note Taking System

The Cornell Note-Taking System was originally developed by Cornell education professor, Walter Pauk. Prof. Pauk outlined this effective note-taking method in his book, How to Study in College (1).

Pauk, Walter; Owens, Ross J. Q. (2010). How to Study in College (10 ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth. ISBN 978-1-4390-8446-5. Chapter 10: "The Cornell System: Take Effective Notes", pp. 235-277

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why do you take notes? What do you hope to get from your notes? What are Cornell Notes and how do you use the Cornell note-taking system? There are many ways to take notes. It's helpful to try out different methods and determine which work best for you in different situations.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The purpose of this curriculum connection is twofold. It is designed to: guide teachers to identify content in the Australian Curriculum that supports the teaching and learning of online safety connect teachers to a range of interdisciplinary resources that have been developed to support the teaching and learning of online safety.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Blundell 2022 where teachers are implementing SAMR

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Riddles are a great way to add some laughter and humor to your school day, but riddles can serve an ever bigger purpose. When students hear riddles, they will begin to make associations, link what they are learning in the classroom, and come to conclusions about things they already know. For example, a riddle about the moon might connect something your students are learning about in science class. Even if your riddles aren't educational, the simple experience of laughter will increase joy in the classroom, and joyful students are more likely to enjoy school and become deeply engaged in their learning.

Here are 100 riddles for students to help get you started!

1. What has a face, but can't smile. Answer: A clock.

2. There is only one word spelled wrong in the dictionary. What is it? Answer: W-R-O-N-G.

3. I can fill up a room, but take no space. What am I? Answer: Light.

4. What is a bunny's favorite kind of music? Answer: Hip hop music.

5. What kind of room has no doors or windows? Answer: A mushroom.

6. What can you catch, but not throw? Answer: A cold.

7. What begins with T, finishes with T, and has T in it? Answer: A teapot.

8. What goes up, but never comes back down? Answer: Your age.

9. What is brown, has a head, and tails, but no legs? Answer: A penny.

10. What room do ghosts avoid? Answer: The living room.

11. What belongs to you, but other people use more? Answer: Your name.

12. What gets wetter the more it dries? Answer: A towel.

13. What is bright orange with a green top and sounds like a parrot? Answer: A carrot.

14. What two things can you never eat for breakfast? Answer: Lunch and dinner.

15. You buy me to eat, but you never eat me. What am I? Answer: A fork.

16. The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I? Answer: Footprints.

17. What kind of tree can you carry in your hand? Answer: A palm.

18. What has four legs but can't walk? Answer: A table.

19. How many months have 28 days? Answer: All of them!

20. What is full of holes but still holds water? Answer: A sponge.

21. What has an eye but can't see anything? Answer: A needle.

22. What has a key, but can't open a locked door? Answer: A monkey.

23. What do dogs have that no other animal has? Answer: Puppies.

24. What must be broken before you can use it? Answer: An egg.

25. I am full of keys but I can't open any doors. What am I? Answer: A piano.

26. What kind of coat can only be put on wet? Answer: A coat of paint.

27. The more you take away, the bigger it gets. What is it? Answer: A hole.

28. What follows you everywhere but can't be caught? Answer: Your shadow.

29. What goes up and down but never moves? Answer: A flight of stairs.

30. I have no eyes, ears, or legs, but I can help you move earth. What am I? Answer: An earthworm.

31. What is as big as an elephant but weighs nothing? Answer: An elephant's shadow.

32. When does Friday come before Thursday? Answer: In the dictionary.

33. If an electric train is going south, what direction is the smoke going? Answer: There is no smoke - it's an electric train.

34. Why do lions eat raw meat? Answer: Because they don't know how to cook.

35. How can a pants pocket be empty but still have something in it? Answer: If it has a hole in it.

36. Why are teddy bears never hungry? Answer: Because they are already stuffed.

37. Why is the Mississippi such an unusual river? Answer: Because it has four "i's" and can't even see.

38. What bank never has any money? Answer: A riverbank.

39. Why isn't your nose 12 inches long? Answer: Because then it would be a foot.

40. What kind of cup can't hold anything to drink? Answer: A cupcake.

41. What goes through towns and over hills but never moves? Answer: A road.

42. What type of house weighs the least? Answer: A lighthouse.

43. What has a lot of teeth but can't chew a thing? Answer: A comb.

44. What is the best place to grow a garden in school? Answer: In kindergarten.

45. Why did the boy bury is flashlight? Answer: Because the batteries died.

46. What building in a town has the most stories? Answer: The library.

47. What falls in winter but never gets hurt? Answer: The snow.

48. What kind of shower doesn't need water? Answer: A baby shower.

49. What has ears but cannot hear? Answer: A field of corn.

50. A girl fell off a 25-foot ladder but didn't get hurt. How? Answer: She fell off the bottom rung.

51. I have no legs so I never walk, but I always run. What am I? Answer: A river.

52. I am as light as a feather but even the strongest man can't hold me for more than a minute. What am I? Answer: Breath.

53. I am not alive, but I can still die. What am I? Answer: A battery.

54. I will always come but never arrive today. What am I? Answer: Tomorrow.

55. What can you easily break without touching it? Answer: A promise.

56. What is the hardest part about skydiving? Answer: The ground.

57. A king, a queen, and two twins are in a room. How are there no adults? Answer: They are beds.

58. Every time you stand up you lose it. What is it? Answer: Your lap.

59. I am bought by the yard but worn by the foot. What am I? Answer: Carpet.

60. What kind of flower does everyone wear on their face? Answer: Tulips.

61. What can travel the world while staying in the corner? Answer: A stamp.

62. I'm tall when I'm young and short when I'm old. What am I? Answer: A candle.

63. If everything in a one-story house is yellow, what color are the stairs? Answer: There are no stairs in a one-story house.

64. I shave every day but my beard stays the same. How? Answer: I'm the barber.

65. What can't talk but will reply when spoken to? Answer: An echo.

66. The more of me there is the less you can see. What am I? Answer: The dark.

67. What is black when it's clean and white when it's dirty? Answer: A chalkboard.

68. What has a lot of eyes but can't see? Answer: A potato.

69. What has a lot of needles but can't sew? Answer: A Christmas tree.

70. What has one head, one foot, and four legs? Answer: A bed.

71. What kind of band can't play music? Answer: A rubber band.

72. What has a lot of words but never speaks? Answer: A book.

73. What runs around your backyard but never moves? Answer: The fence.

74. What has a thumb and four fingers but isn't a hand? Answer: A glove.

75. What always tastes better than it smells? Answer: Your tongue.

76. What has four wheels and flies? Answer: A trash truck.

77. You see me once in June, twice in November, and not at all in May. What am I? Answer: the letter E.

78. A dog crossed a river without a bridge or a boat, but didn't get wet. How? Answer: The river was frozen.

79. What has lakes with no water, mountains with no stones, and cities with no buildings? Answer: A map.

80. What do dogs and trees have in common? Answer: Bark.

81. I can travel up to 100 miles an hour but never leave the room. What am I? Answer: A sneeze.

82. I am always running but I never get tired. What am I? Answer: The refrigerator.

83. I have seven rings that you can't wear on your fingers. What am I? Answer: Saturn.

84. I can be 100 yards long but you can hold me in your hand. What am I? Answer: A ball of yarn.

85. What is really easy to get into but really hard to get out of? Answer: Trouble.

86. What can be full without eating a thing? Answer: The moon.

87. What can you taste everyday but never eat? Answer: Toothpaste.

88. A boy throws a ball as far as he can and it comes back to him without anyone touching it. How? Answer: He throws the ball straight up.

89. What five letter gets shorter when you add two letters to it? Answer: Short.

90. If a rooster is sitting on top of a barn and lays an egg, which way will it roll off? Answer: Roosters don't lay eggs!

91. Which weighs more: a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers? Answer: They both weight a pound.

92. I am an odd number, but if you take away a letter I am even. What number am I? Answer: Seven.

93. Where is the ocean the deepest? Answer: On the bottom.

94. What word has 26 letters but only three syllables? Answer: Alphabet.

95. Grandpa went for a walk in the rain with no umbrella but his hair didn't get wet. How is that possible? Answer: Grandpa is bald.

96. I am always in front of you and never behind you. What am I? Answer: The future.

97. What starts with P, ends with E, and has over a thousand letters in it? Answer: The post office.

98. What do you find at the end of the rainbow? Answer: The letter W.

99. What has a tongue but cannot talk? Answer: A shoe.

100. I can run even though I have no legs. What am I? Answer: Your nose.

A riddle a day will keep your classroom joyful and ready to learn new things! Enjoy watching your students figure out these riddles and enjoy their laughter when they do.

Have some riddles you want to share with other educators? Come join the comversation in the Empowered Teachers community!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
100 Riddles for the Classroom Your Students Will Love!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When students hear riddles, they will begin to make associations and come to conclusions about things they already know. Add some to your classroom today!

# data[].attributes.body
I'll add to these when I find ones that work in my classrooms - junior and senior secondary students in a regional Catholic High school, mainly in Economic and Business :-)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Kids, like adults, cycle through periods of attention and inattention-though the duration of the interval changes with age and is variable across individuals. By high school, according to neurologist and classroom teacher Judy Willis, concentrated study of "20 to 30 minutes for middle and high school students calls for a three-to-five-minute break."

Regardless of attention spans, brain breaks can prevent older students from feeling overwhelmed and provide space for reflection, joy, and connection during a packed school day. They're also a crucial part of the learning process.

"According to one popular school of thought, it's the active, repeated manipulation of material that lays the neural foundations for skill development," writes Youki Terada, Edutopia's research editor. But breaks are often misconstrued as a pause in the active learning process, instead of "the period when our brains compress and consolidate memories of what we just practiced," neuroscientist Leonardo Cohen and his team explain in a June 2021 study. In fact, Cohen continues, incorporating breaks into learning "plays just as important a role as practice in learning a new skill."

Brain "breaks" can take many different forms inside of the classroom, depending on the aim. To boost students' mood, Willis suggests activities that increase restorative neurotransmitters like dopamine: anything that involves "laughing, moving, listening to music, and interacting with peers." Likewise, brain breaks that incorporate physical activity not only provide a moment of stress relief for students but also increase the blood flow and oxygen supply to the brain-stimulating brain activity and helping students regain focus in the face of fatigue.

1. Thinking Outside the Box: On the board, provide students with the start of a doodle that they'll have to creatively transform into something unexpected. This can be anything from two lines to a squiggle or a half circle. To add in some student voice and choice, have volunteers suggest what the initial drawing prompt should look like. Sourced from Tina Centineo via X (formerly Twitter).

2. "Train Your Brain": A fun activity thatstarts by having students touch the tip of their nose with their right index finger and then touch their ear with their left hand index finger. Then have them switch the position of their hands, touching the tip of their nose with their left hand index finger and moving their right index finger to touch their ear. Kids should keep doing this until they can get it right, which may take only a few tries for some and much longer for others. To add an element of competition, see which student can do this activity for the longest without messing up. Sourced from PE teacher Matt Head via TikTok.

3. Would You Rather: Pair students up and have them discuss fun "would you rather" questions. Here are some examples of prompts:

Would you rather live in a world with no technology or a world with no nature?

Would you rather have the ability to speak with animals or the ability to speak all human languages fluently?

Would you rather have your favorite movie character as your best friend or your favorite book character as your sibling?

To add an element of movement, do this activity together as a class. Announce the prompt out loud, and have students go to one side of the room or the other to show which option they'd rather choose. A select couple of volunteers can raise their hands to explain their reasoning. Sourced from Education World.

9. What Is That?: Find a picture of something your class may never encounter in your subject area and display it for students to see. "I showed a physics class a murmuration of starlings but did not tell them what it was," explains former principal Peter Embleton. "No phones or computers, they had to figure out what was happening and why." This not only ignites student curiosity but may introduce your class to something they didn't previously know existed. Sourced from Peter Embleton via X.

11. 1, 2, 3, Math!: Similarly to rock, paper, scissors, students play against each other in pairs. After the players say "1, 2, 3, Math," each displays one, two, three, or four fingers in the palm of their hand. The first of the pair to correctly call out the sum of both players' fingers wins that round and a point. The first person to win three rounds is the champ. Sourced from: Lori Desautels.

13. Classwide Wordle: The word game that swept the nation is sure to keep your students on their toes. According to the game's website, you'll have six tries to guess the five-letter word of the day. The tile color changes depending on how close the guess is: A green tile means the letter "is in the word and in the correct spot," a yellow tile means the letter "is in the word but in the wrong spot," and a gray tile means the letter is not in the word at all. Try playing together as a class, and have students shout out their suggestions, voting on which ideas they like best. Sourced from Kim West via X.

14. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1: To keep kids alert during a long lesson, have them spend a couple of minutes stretching and moving around the room. Consider creating a short sequence of exercises that students can all do together to get their blood flowing-such as five high knees, four jumping jacks, three push-ups, two deep breaths, and one squat. Offering students the option to stand and do the sequence or alternatively sit and stretch in whatever way they choose ensures that this activity is inclusive and considers everyone in your classroom. Sourced from We Are Teachers.

15. Odd One Out: This Google Arts & Culture game challenges you to "guess the AI-generated imposter" among the artworks. You'll be presented with four images and have to guess which of the options was created by AI before time runs out. Compete all together as a class, or have students play together in small groups. This could inspire an interesting conversation around student perceptions and misconceptions of AI. Sourced from Tony Vincent via X.

17. Invisible Pictures: In groups of two, have one student "draw a picture in the air while their partner guesses what it is," writes assistant professor Lori Desautels. To give students a starting point, provide them with categories like foods, animals, or places, and then allow their creative minds to lead the way. For a bit of extra help, allow the guessing partner to ask one or two yes or no questions that will provide them with crucial context. Sourced from Lori Desautels.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
17 Brain Breaks Tailored for High Schoolers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As high school students navigate more rigorous academic tasks and denser curricular material, the occasional 3-to-5-minute break delivers a wide range of benefits.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
15 Brain Breaks for Subs at Secondary Schools (+Tips for Beginners)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These quick, effective brain breaks will help older students re-energize and refocus! Plus, learn how to run brain breaks successfully.

# data[].attributes.body
Super fun brain break for longer classes. I had the students stand up and we added some actions too - to get the after-lunch wriggles out!