TWBIM_0355 Let's Rumble
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Inspired by the new picture book, , Mike leads the group back to their roots with a conversation about roughhousing with children. What does it look like and why is it so important?
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TWBIM_0354 Body Boundaries
Teaching With The Body In Mind
The group has a big conversation about the complex topic of children's body autonomy in the school setting. There are so many different contexts in which physical contact takes place. It's hard (impossible?) to find just one "rule" to govern them all. (Here's a link to the book Mike references:
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TWTBIM_0353 I Like Your Sweatshirt
Teaching With The Body In Mind
One of Tom's pet peeves is when grownups greet children with compliments centered on their appearance. Mike sees it as similar to relfexively saying "good job." Ross points out that attempts to build self-esteem could actually wind up undermining self-worth. Joey wonders about the child who plans their outfits and initiates the interactions about clothing. The conversation leads Tom to an insight about the importance of helping children reflect on their strengths and accomplishments.
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TWTBIM_0352 Teaching Helplessness
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Ross worries about children who can't find their autonomy because adults are always helping them do things (like zippers, of course). Tom shares a recent experience of his grandson learning to shuffle while he patiently waited. Mike proposes a model of "learned coorperation" instead of learned helplessness. Joey can't find the term she is looking for, but it's the thing that Ross is talking about.
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TWTBIM_0351 Unintentional Races
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Joey turns to Tom and Mike to help sort out some logistical challenges related to running. Children love to run, but in some conditions it can lead to hyper-competitive racing, pushing, and crashing. Together they brainstorm ideas to help make room for everyone and allow the children to continue to find joy in running.
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TWTBIM_0350 Mike Makes Paper Airplanes
Teaching With The Body In Mind
A recent experience at a children's museum has Mike thinking about the conditions for play. What invites us into a flow state? How is it different for adults than for children? Can we find flow in both work and play? Mike talks about how he gets the ideas flowing when he has writer's block. Tom remembers how fun it was to play with boxes and table when he built sensory apparatus.
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TWTBIM_0349 Tom Gets Help With His Fence
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Tom's grandson came over to help fix his fence last weekend. This got Tom thinking about children doing real work. How can experiences with real work be successful for the child AND the adult? What about when the job has to be done right? Mike remembers working with pie crust scraps as his mom made the real pies. Joey looks for jobs that are helpful even when they're not done perfectly. Intent and approximation are what we need.
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TWTBIM_0348 We'll Get There
Teaching With The Body In Mind
Ross reflects on the value of slowing down as we build relationships at the beginning of the school year. Joey knows the FOMO feeling that can happen as teachers want to try out all their good ideas. Tom suggests that we "live the routine" with flexibility as we figure out what everyone needs. If we charge through everything, we might miss the beautiful moment where a child offers an injured bee a flower blossom.
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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.
info_outlineChildren’s comments from teacher appreciation week make Joey reflect on what really matters to the children in our care. Our bandaids and crackers let children know that they are safe and we will help if they get hurt or sick. Mike recalls children's questions of "why don't we learn anything at this school?" Care is something we don't talk about a lot, but it is the essential foundation for learning.