In my middle school division we’re a week away from finals.  My students are stressed and tense. I’ve noticed that a great way to reduce the stress and elicit great work from the students is to add an element of fun and playfulness to our work.  I’ve been reading Ali Abdaal’ book: “Feeling Good Productivity” and he demonstrates through countless research studies that we’re more productive when we’re happy and  playful.

These beautiful comics and raps are an example of a technique I’ve  used with so many different aged students to make learning fun and more “sticky.” The coolest part of this technique- yesterday when I gave my students time to study for the  upcoming final one student started sketching and said: “I need to make a cartoon of all the information we’ve learned so I can remember it better.”