Recently, I have been contemplating ways to offer my students a chance to have a short mental break. A chance for them to reconnect, reset and reground.
As we know, the beginning of a drama class can be a little chaotic with students entering a very different space from the usual chair and table classroom set-up. They often have to find a spot for their bags, remove their shoes and retrieve their books/ devices for the class. Additionally, students do not all arrive at the class at the exact same time. Usually, there is a couple of minutes to wait until they have all arrived.
My questions were “What should the students who arrive first do”? and “How may the learning begin as soon as the students arrive?”.
Wishing to avoid a non-focussed atmosphere where students who arrive quickly are left waiting for the rest of the class to arrive, I began to brainstorm some ideas for a class pre-starter. We often begin drama class with an energizer, something to liven up the students ahead of their practical work. I thought about what may happen if we tried out the opposite. What if we created a calm sanctuary for students to enter? A space where they practise their mindfulness for a few minutes.
This sounded interesting to me, but I wanted to ensure that it was not only a “mindful moment” but a chance to start learning as soon as the student enters the room.
The mindful moment needed to achieve a few things in a short amount of time. Firstly it needed to act as a logistical way to get students in and prepared for class, it then needed to offer a moment of calm for the students and, finally, to reinforce or strengthen an area of their learning. Whoah, that is a lot to pack into 4 minutes!
I have started experimenting with this idea as of September 2022 and it is evolving, but I will describe the process so far below. The students have received the routine really well so far. I will continue to post about these “Mindful Moments” over the next few months.
The Process
Firstly students arrive at the classroom or studio and wait outside until I open the door and greet them. Before I open the door I put on some mindful music. Once the door opens, the mindful moment starter begins and runs for four minutes. Students enter throughout these four minutes and engage with the starter.
Step 1: Enter the space in silence (to create the calm atmosphere needed)
Step 2: Take our planner, pen and device/ exercise book
Step 3: Place bag and shoes in the designated area
Step 4: Check the board where there will be a simple instruction as to where to place the planner, pen and device/ exercise book. This will either be to place them in a special area of the room ready to fetch when needed or to bring them to use right away.
Step 5: Check the shape on the board (it is a circle at the moment). As a class, try to negotiate creating an accurate circle shape with everyone sitting down. Do this without speaking to create a sense of calm awareness.
Step 6: Begin the class with the register and the lesson “starts” seamlessly
Below is the image I place on the board. As this is a new idea, I am building the routine based on creating an accurate circle. As the weeks progress I aim to change the shape that the students create (it may even become a still image if they get really good). I also aim to put a question for students to reflect on whilst they are sat in the shape. It will relate to the learning that follows.
This is a new routine for my classes and it will evolve and grow over time. It has been successful this week with students seeming to enjoy the calm challenge. It will take a few weeks to get the routine embedded and I am looking forward to seeing where we can take it to.
(p.s. on the image the icons of the device and planner are placed outside of the circle. This means that students should place their planner and device in the designated areas (see pic below). If the device (or exercise book) icon was inside the circle, the students know to bring it to the circle with them – useful if they need it as soon as the lesson begins).
I would love to hear your thoughts on this and if anyone tries it out, let me know how it goes.
It is not limited to the drama classroom. How may you find your mindful moment within your subject?
This is the slide that is on the board at the start of the class. After students are in a routine with the circle, I change the shape to maintain the element of challenge.
The white line at the edge of the studio is a place for students to place planners, devices and pencil cases.
