After reading the article in the newspaper about the so-called “calm” room, I am appalled, disgusted and concerned all at the same time.
I myself am a special education teacher and that is certainly not the way that I would ever deal with a student of mine. I’ve recently gone to a workshop that shows how to integrate yoga into the classroom. I am by no means saying that this should be done by everyone, it should be up to the teacher. However, when at the workshop, the presenter made a very important connection. She mentioned an elementary school in Iowa where, once yoga was implemented school wide, they went from an almost 80-100 percent behavior form referral, to (after a year) almost an 50-80 percent decrease in referrals. That is huge.
By giving the students tools that they can use, and by training the teachers to support those coping mechanisms, behavior issues can be greatly reduced. By simply saying “how can I help you use your tools” or reminding the students that they have options other than acting out, a brief five-minute walk, a quiet minute, simply talking with someone, letting the kids know that it’s OK to feel the way that they are, but that there are appropriate ways to express the behavior.
Echoing what was said in the article, isolating a child, no matter the age, only increases their behavior issues. If we isolate students and don’t give them the tools to cope with things, then we have no one to blame but ourselves that students don’t behave in an appropriate manner.
We’re teachers (whether we are or not, all of us “teach”), it’s up to us to show by example as well as give tools to not only the “behavior” students but also to those who are “normal” in comparison. Think to yourself, how did you learn the skills? Someone taught you, now it’s up to you (us) to teach others.
Tara Conway
Northfield