Term 2 is upon us, which means it’s time to reconnect with your students and re-energise your class. Feeling daunted, uninspired, or uncertain about where to begin? Fear not! We’ve compiled our top resources to assist you in kickstarting Term 2. Whether you’re seeking fresh ideas, practical strategies, or simply some extra support, we’ve got you covered.
Term 2 Resource Bank
Reconnection Activities
- Guess who’s holidays
Have each of your students write down one fun thing they did in the holidays. Read them out one at a time and see if the class can guess who’s holidays it’s from. - Common thread
Break your students up into small groups and have them sit together. They will get 5 minutes to talk amongst themselves and come up with something that they all have in common. - The birthday line
The challenge is for your students to line themselves up in order of their birthday, from January 1 to December 31. The catch is that they need to do it without talking!
Energisers
Energisers are short teacher-led activities that involve the whole class. It’s often good to run an energiser as a lesson starter or brain break. They help to keep students engaged, provide structure to a lesson and reinforce students’ emotional associations within the classroom: class cohesion, connection with the teacher, and overall feeling of safety/belonging.
They can be used to:
- Kick off a lesson with the whole class engaged in something together, or
- Break up a long lesson so students aren’t having to concentrate on tasks for too long.
There are a number of energisers available on our Media Library but some that are perfect to help you kickstart Term 2 include Which One Doesn’t Belong, Estimate and Total.
Instagram accounts
In need of some education inspiration? Check out these
@Edutopia
An account dedicated to sharing what actually works in education; from the latest research to teachers sharing their experience and advice.
@Wingaru_education
Wingaru Education empowers educators to rethink delivering Aboriginal perspectives with engaging resources that you can use in your classroom.
@Mr.j.learning.space
Mr J is an Assistant Principal Curriculum & Instruction who shares tips, resources and conversations with other educators on his podcast Teacher Takeaway Podcast.
@classroomcreations_
Catherine can show you exactly how to make your lessons more beautiful with tips and tricks for your presentations and worksheets.
Websites
If you need some quick activities to run with your class, handy teacher resources or even some inspiration, check out favourite websites.
Podcasts
If your eyes are exhausted, but you still need some inspiration, here are some education podcasts that will spark thoughts, teach you interesting facts and share valuable research you can take straight to your classroom.
 | The Pedagogue-cast Dive into all things weird and wonderful about classroom pedagogy. This is a space for teachers at all stages of their career and lovers of learning. Tune in as hosts Justin Matthys and Stanisław Pstrokoński unpack different concepts and research that impact the way students learn, the way we teach them and the way we can maximise both. Listen here |
 | Education Bookcast Education Bookcast is a podcast where Stanisław Pstrokoński talks about one book or article relating to education per episode. The podcast is for teachers and parents who would like to know more about education, but do not have the time and energy to read stacks of books or chase up references. Listen here |
 | Mr. Barton Maths Podcast Mr Barton Maths Podcast interviews guests from the world of education. They may be fellow teachers, bloggers, thinkers, or people of influence. As well as discussing guest’s particular areas of interest, the show digs deep into their lesson planning process, and asks them to describe lessons that did not go so well and what they learned from the experience. Listen here |
