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Energy and Attention
Chandi, the kindergarten teacher at Living Wisdom School in Seattle, writes about how she redirects her students’ attention. “One of my favorite ways of changing energy is using my classroom xylophone. I’m not a fan of teachers using a loud voice to call their classes for attention. I think it is jarring to their energy bodies. That is why I use the xylophone. I am also using whispering, with the xylophone now and singing a little song with freezing. I sing a lot and play harmonium with songs and melodies that I make up for transitions.” (You can read more about Chandi’s classroom on her blog, Inside Out.) One of…
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Boss of the Day
Bharati is a master EFL teacher who taught at Living Wisdom in Beaverton for 15 years and now fills as a teacher whenever there is a need. She was recently filling in for Usha, teaching Communication/Language Arts to the 3rdgrade class. Since the class is 3-4-5th grade, the 3rd graders leave the classroom to do work, and they often work in a multipurpose room at the school. On this day, the room had recently been drastically changed. All of the Christmas decorations were up. As is perfectly natural, the students were excited, and instantly were drawn to explore the room. Bharati let the students explore for a few minutes, but…
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Changing Energy
Getting the students’ attention when transitioning activities is one of the most important behavior management tools that a teacher can have. The energy that accompanies that attention-getting will impact the energy of the new activity. When I first started working at LWS in Beaverton, I was struck by the much calmer ways that the teachers got student attention. It was much more going with the flow of the children, working to channel their energy, rather than trying to change it. This gets to the heart of what Education for Life strives to do. In most schools, transition times are rather jarring. Teachers use often use a loud call and response…
