TWTBIM_0329 Reading and Responding to Energy
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Release Date: 04/15/2025
TWTBIM_0347 It All Goes Better With Action
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Joey's gathering ideas for building relationships with children in a way that doesn't rely exclusively on language. The list gets started: sharing their perspective, connecting children with other children, taking the "temperature" during greetings, playing near them, narrating not interrogating, and making faces. Tom points out how barriers can actually invite interraction and Joey brainstorms a box door that she wants to prototype.
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TWTBIM_0346 Dance to the Beat of the Drum
Teaching With The Body In Mind
All the talk of danicng in the last episode has Mike thinking about drumming. He suggests the metaphor of teacher as drummer, setting the foundation for the group. (We can't resist a good metaphor!) When things are flowing nicely, the drummer can even drop out and the group keeps playing along.
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TWTBIM_0345 Correspondence
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Refreshed from a summer break, the group is ready to dive into deep thinking with Tom. He's brought some light reading to decipher. What does it mean to correspond with children versus interact? Ross's school dance analogy is just the thing to help everyone understand.
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ENCORE EPISODE: Creating the Conditions
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Tom's parking cars at the State Fair, Joey and Ross are busy setting up classrooms, and Mike is prepping for another possible podcast (more later). Enjoy this encore eposide in the meantime! What happens if you create the conditions where children know they can try things vs. run a classroom where children are allowed to do things? It's a subtle difference that can lead to a stance of curiosity and appreciation. It can be as simple as the set up for how children access paint or having towels easily available for messy play. (Originally aired September 2022)
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TWTBIM_0344 Effort and Attention
Teaching With The Body In Mind
A recent experience with new glasses has Joey thinking about executive function and how effort drains attention. Adults often forget the effort involved in tasks that seem like they should be automatic such as walking down a hallway in a line, sitting in a group for storytime, washing hands or unzipping a backpack. If we watch for signs of effort, perhaps we can lighten the load for children instead of burdening them with sequences of difficult tasks. It might make everyone's day more pleasant.
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TWTBIM_00343 Exploring Boundaries
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Tom has some questions about boundaries and rules. For children, the edges of boundaries are the interesting part. Boundaries are more "stretchy" and can be more dynamic than rules.
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TWTBIM_0342 Table Centric
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Early childhood classrooms are often "table-centric." What experiences might children miss when activities are confined to tables? Are table-centric spaces also teacher-centric?
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TWTBIM_0341 The Need to Fall
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Ross values falling as an important skill. When children fall, they are learning about balance. Tom sees it as way to calibrate the vestibular system. Joey feels the creep of worrying about falling as an adult biasing her feelings about falling. Mike, your thoughts?
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TWTBIM_0340 Spaces Determine Behavior
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Soccer domes say,"Run!" Cozy nooks inspire children to crawl in. Open shelves invite pretend bedtime games. Our spaces are not passive entities. They have unique characteristics that determine behavior. As Tom, Joey and Ross discuss what happens in different types of spaces, they speculate about Mike's position on runways.
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TWTBIM_0339 Objects Can Bring Us Together
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Joey reflects on social interactions related to desired objects. Conflicts that arise over "things" are not always a problem. When objects promote social interaction, it's a good thing.
info_outlineHow do we read children’s energy? How do we respond in ways that don't interrupt the flow of child led play? Tom recalls joining in to rough and tumble play to help children regulate. Mike's first instinct is also to join in and help "course correct" if needed. Ross acknowledges the influence of the adult's energy level and the context of prior experiences. Mike brings up Anji Play as an example of an approach that looks very hands off, but actually has a lot of adult intentionality.