Breathe, Learn, Rest

I have been practicing yoga for 6 ½ years and I have found it a necessary part of each week. This is

a space in my life where I will always be a learner and engaging in the practice leaves me aligned in many ways.  More than once, when I have been engaged in a practice session, I have mulled over the parallels between yoga and personalized learning. Here are my musings...

Everyone is learning together but everyone has different goals and different needs. Yoga is a series of poses with connected movements. A yoga instructor leads the class through the exercises and guides our practice but everyone has something different in mind as a goal. My first goal when I first started yoga, was to nail a side plank...without my knee down. This was easy for other members of the class but it took me awhile to build strength to do it.  Our goals are based on our needs and those vary from person to person.

Focusing on what others are doing makes you lose your balance.  Learning is really personal and when we focus on where other people are in their path rather than being secure where we are, it throws you off.  Learners who compare themselves to others or are over-concerned with how they appear, risk developing a fixed mindset. When attempting tree or eagle, where you balance on one foot, don't look at anyone else. Find a spot that doesn't move and focus on it intently. As soon as you move your gaze away, your body will follow and you lose your balance.

Supports allow for you to deepen the stretch.  Sometimes, when you can't reach the floor, bringing the floor up to you with a brick can help you get all the benefits of the stretch that you wouldn't get while hovering in the air. I think of this often when we give learners visual strategies to support their learning. A number line is a tool in math that brings the math to the learner and makes it accessible.  I won't always have to use the brick if I keep up with my practice but I will still get all the benefits each time I do use it.

We all find different routes to get to where we need to be. When moving into a half moon, you usually come up from some sort of forward fold. For some reason my body does not work that way. I once fell and sprained my thumb attempting to move into that pose from being inverted. I have learned that I need to come down into half moon from a standing position. It was through lots of practice that I discovered this about myself and now I'm no longer a hazard.  Are we giving learners the opportunities and coaching to help them uncover their own paths?

Breathe into discomfort. How often have we tried something new or challenging and felt the discomfort of not knowing your next step? If we are learning something new, this can cause our brains to shut down and stop working.  Our brains actually stop thinking.  By reconnecting to the physical world around us, through consciously focusing on the breath, we can breathe into the challenge and open our minds back up for thinking.  This understanding is key for supporting learners through productive struggle.

At the end of a strenuous session of practice, rest. Shavasana means corpse pose and that's exactly what you do - lay on your back and breathe. This short period of time allows you to reflect on your practice and appreciate the opportunity you just took to stretch yourself and make yourself strong. This is how we should end learning sessions. By engaging in metacognitive practices, we deepen the learning and support transference.

Finally, end each session with wishing everyone well. The rituals and routines we build into our learners’ days helps them feel safe and cared for. In yoga, you wish everyone Namaste. While there are many interpretations to what this means, my favorite is “I honor the light that is in you as you honor the light that is in me.”  What an incredible way to show you value the people around you.

I hope you have a space in your life where you can be a learner...don't forget to breathe.

New Year - New Connections

One thing I always loved about being an educator was the gift of two New Year’s.  There is the Fall opening; the fresh start that only a new school year offers.  And, then, there is the January New Year that the rest of world enjoys; the chance to reflect, pivot and move forward.  

As our learners spill back into our schools and classrooms, it’s a perfect time to reconnect,

reflect and chart a course for the next span of learning.  

Here are some ways to connect with your learners:

Reconnect your learners to Each Other:

Whenever a community reconvenes, it is important to set aside time to rediscover who we are.  Over the break, we all had a chance to rest and grow.  Our experiences make us slightly different than we were two weeks ago.  Provide opportunities for learners to share their experiences but be careful of sharing about items or experiences that highlight differences in individual’s holidays.  Topics such as “what was the most challenging thing about your break?” or “how did you deal with boredom over break?” allow every learner an entry point.  Whereas “what did you get for Christmas?” or “where did you travel over break?” can have the unfortunate effect of shining the light on glaring differences of individual children’s experiences.

Reconnect your learners to their Purpose for Learning:

What is your purpose for going to school every day?  Do you know what your learner’s would say?  We know that motivation and effort are directly tied the purpose behind what you are doing.  Have you ever coached learners to think about the mission of your learning community’s work or the vision for what they want their classroom to be?  

Engaging in these conversations can be very powerful for helping learners find THEIR purpose for schooling.  You may find that not everyone is working for the same reason!

Reconnect your learners to important Agreements and Procedures:

Often, in the week before any break, teachers mention additional challenges in keeping learners engaged and focused on learning.  The break in the action allows teachers to rest and rejuvenate and learners to catch up on sleep, family connections and probably some TV viewing.  It is important to keep in mind that, by nature, the expectations at home are different than those that that support the learning experience.  A new year provides a perfect opportunity to redevelop classroom norms and even relaunch some workshop routines.  Most importantly, don’t forget to reconnect learners to the mindsets that support learning.  Provide opportunities for learners to explore how flexible thinking, empathy and optimism shape their learning experience and contribute to developing a growth mindset.

Reconnect your learners to LEARNING:

Jump right in!  While it’s important to make time and space for reconnection, these conversations should be embedded into planned learning experiences.  Establish the need for learning by engaging learners in rich learning experiences on Day 1!  Don’t wait for reconnection and relaunching...make it a part of how you do business.  Make inquiry and design thinking span across the learner day and you are establishing a community that is committed to investigating the world around them.

Happy New Year!  Enjoy this time with your learners.  Enter into this time with a sense of wonder as you rediscover who is in your learning community. Happy connecting!