One Tired Teacher
One Tired Teacher
OTT 261: When Halloween Takes Over: Keeping Learning Fun (and Focused) in October
Sugar highs, costume talk, and boundless energy—October's Halloween excitement can quickly derail even the most carefully planned lessons. But this seasonal shift doesn't have to steamroll your learning objectives or your sanity as a teacher.
This episode dives into practical strategies for maintaining classroom stability during the Halloween season. We explore why October presents unique challenges—from increasingly distracted students to disrupted routines and schedules filled with assemblies and special events. Rather than dreading this time, you'll discover how thoughtful preparation can transform your experience.
The key to October success? Strong anchors that keep your classroom steady. Maintaining consistent routines provides the stability students crave, especially those with special needs. Cross-curricular Halloween themes allow you to acknowledge the season while continuing meaningful instruction. And having backup plans ready—whether you need them or not—gives you flexibility when October exhaustion hits.
Most importantly, you'll learn that fun doesn't have to equal chaos. Students don't need elaborate celebrations to enjoy the season; they need engagement. Simple activities like Halloween-themed "Would You Rather" discussions that incorporate movement and opinion writing, spooky STEM challenges, and character analysis through costume themes can create memorable learning experiences without sacrificing classroom management.
Ready to embrace October's energy rather than fight it? Listen for practical ideas to keep learning both fun and focused during the Halloween season. And if you're looking for ready-made resources, check out Trina's TPT store for seasonal activities that maintain educational value while acknowledging students' Halloween excitement.
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Welcome to One Tired Teacher, episode 261, when Halloween takes over. Keeping learning fun and focused in October. I cannot believe that I am talking about Halloween, but it is. This episode comes out September 29th, even though I'm recording this in August, so it feels even crazier to be thinking about it. But it is around the corner and everywhere we look, we've already got Halloween decorations out. It's insane. And actually in this case, we're just, you know, a couple days away from from October, so it's just crazy.
Speaker 1:All right, so I first of all, I want to remind you that I would love for you to join my would we do not care club. Teacher chapter on tick tock Trina underscore debris. I love to hear your we do not care comments, so message me on Instagram, message me on tick tock, and I will include them in the next episode of that. All right, so that's the first thing. So next, after that, we are talking about heading into October. You know what that means Sugar highs, costume chatter and a whole lot of classroom energy. Today we're talking about how to plan ahead. So October doesn't steamroll your learning goals or your sanity. Hope you stick around.
Speaker 2:Welcome to One Tired Teacher and even though she may need a nap, this teacher is ready to wake up and speak her truth about the trials and treasures of teaching here. She is wide awake. Wait, she's not asleep right now, is she? She is awake right. Okay, from Trina Debery, teaching and Learning your host, trina Debery.
Speaker 1:Hey, all right, this can be a crazy time, but it doesn't have to be. And, to tell you right up front, I have a lot of activities on TPT that you can use in your classroom to make learning just go the extra mile, and they are so fun. I have a Would you Rather Halloween? That's a really fun thing to do as a morning meeting every single day, and then you can have kids do some opinion writing. It's super engaging. I have lots of books that have literacy based activities, as well as makerspace extensions, and I have STEM challenges, and I just created a new resource that will have been out yet it's not out yet. All right, so I'm posting it in September, and so Actually it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is September, it will have been out, it will already be out, and it's how to disguise a ghost and it's a really fun little writing activity about craft. You're creating a I give you a ghost template and you're creating. You're letting kids create whatever they want, like they're trying to figure out who their ghost is and they're kind of trying to disguise their ghost. So it's a really fun thing to do in the classroom and then there's a little writing thing that goes with it and there's a couple of like listening and speaking activities as well. And then there's a bulletin board. There's bulletin board things to put on a bulletin board. It's such a cute little thing. I had so much fun making it. I hope that you love it. It's such a cute little thing. I had so much fun making it. I hope that you love it. So lots of things if you need it, if you're like I'm out of time, I just need help, please give me some help. I would love to help you. And yeah, all right, let's get started.
Speaker 1:So what makes October hard? Oh gosh, what makes it hard? The kids are distracted. The behavior starts to get a little spicy. We might have to remember some of our routines and our procedures and they might need to be practiced again. And that's okay. Everyone's schedule is weird. We've got assemblies, first pitchers, we've got full moons, we've got all the things. It's like full on. You're in school now, full on going along, but there's like some disruptions that tend to happen in October. It's fun. It's so fun, but it is so exhausting.
Speaker 1:A little pre-planning now can totally change how the next few weeks feel. That's why I wanted to get this out early, so you had as much opportunity to prepare for October as possible, all right. So anchors that keep things steady. Here are a few October anchors that have helped me in the past. Number one this is so, so important Keep your routines strong. You want to have your routines.
Speaker 1:Kids thrive on predictability and consistency. It is very crucial, especially for some of your kids with special needs. They need this consistency. Your reading block, your morning meeting, your cleanup systems you got to stick with them. Kids need that stability.
Speaker 1:The second anchor is to use cross-curricular themes. Bring Halloween into your read-alouds, bring STEM and writing prompts so you can feel fun and productive and, like I said, I have that stuff for you. So if you you need it, you need a little creativity, then have at it. Prep a backup plan, even if you're not taking time off. Have sub plans ready. It is a gift to your future self, trust me, and I also have October Halloween plans. So, if you're a secondary teacher, I've done that for you, I have it all ready to go and it does have October Halloween plans. So, if you're a secondary teacher, I've done that for you, I have it all ready to go and it does have a Halloween.
Speaker 1:You know October theme. Feel so the kids are engaged and still practicing skills, skills that are appropriate for October. And you don't have to be. You don't have to worry. It's five days of plans too, so if you need a whole week off in October, then you take it. That's why I created these flexible set of sub plans, so that they can work with pretty much any book, and that is that makes it really helpful. And then you know that you'll. You can have your day to regroup or your week if you need it.
Speaker 1:All right, fun doesn't have to mean chaos. Let me say that again. Fun doesn't have to mean chaos. Here's a trick. Kids don't need over-the-top activities to have fun. They need engagement. A spooky story followed by a creative STEM challenge. That works wonders.
Speaker 1:Halloween themed would you rather writing? Warm up, so fun, so engaging and also can lead to writing. And that can be. And if you want to make it like a full body experience, a fun thing to do is to post, you know the would you rather Halloween theme and then have the two choices as two different sides of the room. So if you would rather do you know where be a ghost for Halloween, you're going to go stand on this side of the room. If you would rather be a Harry Potter for Halloween, you're going to go stand on this side of the room and then you let kids get up and move to their choice and then, while they're there and their choice, they're going to go stand on this side of the room and then you let kids get up and move to their choice and then, while they're there, in their choice, they're going to turn to either a partner or they can do like a round. You know round, I don't know what it's called Round Robin. No, because they're I don't know. Let's just they can go around in the group and they can share why they would rather do that and they can justify their reasons.
Speaker 1:You know, we don't want them to just be like I would rather be a ghost period. We want them to be like I would rather be a ghost because it's an easy costume to put together. It can be spooky. I want to make a scary face on the, on the ghost, whatever it. You know we want to hear their responses and then then they can share out a few, you know, with the class and you can actually get some like pros and cons of either side and how they feel. So that can just be a really like, and then they've gotten up in their mood, and then you let them go back to their seats. So so it's. You know, that's one way of adding some movement to that activity and I do have a Halloween, would you rather? So you can grab that too.
Speaker 1:A costume theme, character analysis or descriptive writing piece is another really powerful way of using, using, you know, the holiday to kind of capture them. And I do have a little reader called the, the hollow or the what is it called? The costume contest. It's really fun, and that's in my shop too. I'm not trying to give you all these resources, it's just things that I'm thinking of, that I've done or used or created for teachers, and so I'm just like, oh, this might help. It's the vibe, not the sugar, that makes it memorable. So if you are looking for something like that, then you can grab whatever you need. You don't have to dread October. You just need a plan and permission. To simplify, let it be fun, let it be focused, let it be yours next time. Until next time, sweet dreams and sleep tight.