Ms. Feinman's Class at Dora Moore: Relaxation Station

Showing posts with label Relaxation Station. Show all posts

How do I manage 24 students?

Sometimes, managing a classroom of 24 six and seven year old students is a lot like herding cats.

But over the past 10 years, I have learned a few tricks. Some tricks will work on year, and then the next they don't. So I always try to be flexible, patient and understanding. I found this infographic (below) and it has a lot of the practices I use in my classroom. I do not teach the students to meditate. But I do teach them many breathing exercises.

This year, I introduced the Relaxation Station. Students can ask to go- during independent time. Or, if I know a student needs it, I will send them there. In the Relaxation Station, I have Play-doh, squishy balls, stretch bands, fabrics with different textures, etc. This year, it is proving to be very helpful for my students.

The last item on the infographic is Expect. My expectations are held high for every student, and they all know that.

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Introducing the Relaxation Station!

In first grade, students are learning to identify their emotions and how to deal with them. Anger, frustration, anxiety are a few that are very hard for first graders to understand. To help students calm down, I have introduced the Relaxation Station. Students can ask to go there, as long as I am not in the middle of direct instruction. There are many items at the station (play-doh, legos, candles to smell, textured items, stress balls, etc.) The students really just wanted to explore today.

Rules for the Relaxation Station:

You can only use it, when you really need to calm down (not to get out of doing work, or to play).

One person at a time.

A limit of 3 minutes.

You cannot go while I am giving direct instruction or there is testing.

There is an interesting article, "How to Break Free From Life's Irritations". I am not sure this would work in three days for first graders, but it is very interesting.

Talk to your child about times they might need to use the relaxation station.