This is the first year that I've decided my classroom is "the boardgame room" - in previous years, I supervised a computer lab or made sure kids didn't fall off the playground (my classroom is an old preschool room so we have a tiny playground right outside) - and the change it has wrought in the community is pretty pronounced. I used to kind of loathe choice time because it felt like kids would just release all this pent up recess energy and the whole atmosphere was SHENANIGANS from start to finish, but boardgames provide such a nice structure for having fun together.
Yesterday we celebrated having a nice observation from my principal by playing a game with Locusts for the first time, which was predictably hilarious: one of my students lost an arm and put one of her own arms inside her shirt in solidarity. This is the same student who asks me every morning for a painting update for the classroom mechs (we voted on the colors as a class through run-off voting, and we've been using standees in the meantime), and one of a few who is asking for rules for heat, critical hits, pilot injuries, etc.
