Meditation/Reflection

Students showing their pose for transitioning after recess.

            
          Each class brings with it new and different dynamics. We have noticed that this year's group of learners is high energy. Coming in from recess is a transition that we have been struggling with since September, but we have finally found and implemented a strategy that works for us.

How it All Began

             Having noticed that the transition from outside to inside was not easy for all of our learners, we tried some of the traditional strategies that we have used in the past. Time and time again, we noticed that these strategies would work for a couple of days but then they would collapse.

              Then one day, one of the students shared that he practiced Tai Chi and meditation with his grandparents at home. We took a quick survey to see if this was common practice among our learners. When a number of hands were raised, a light bulb went off. 

Image of Tai Chi practitioners from Wikipedia

              What if we took what was being done in some of our learners homes and tried to bring those strategies into our classroom?  So we tried...

    The Process

                      Here are some of the considerations that we had:

1.   How do we practice 'meditation' or 'reflection' without being connected to a specific faith or practice?

2.    Knowing that some of our learners are members of a faith community where there are special considerations for music,  how can we incorporate sound into the 'meditation' or 'reflection' experience?

               We began with the learners sharing what they thought meditation is and had them model for us what it would look and sound like. We talked about what the benefits might be for our bodies and our minds. Their understanding of the mind's need to calm and rest was astounding!

A learner creating their own pose.

              Then we began to take photos of the learners in their own poses and we would practice each of their poses. We showed them instantly on the iPad and zoomed in on the details. For example: "Look at Lu Lu's fingers... what is she doing? Can you make your fingers look like Lu Lu's?" This gave students an opportunity to create and share their own poses.

             We now come in from recess and place the iPad on the table with our meditation/reflection slideshow. The lights are dimmed, you can hear the sounds of the rainforest and, on really sunny days, our rainbow maker gives us rainbows all around our classroom!!!

              We now have learners who are calm and ready to learn!