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Emergency Calming Session

My littlest kiddos came in after a rambunctious round of PE outside that had been punctuated by a lot of larger students also outside--who were out of control and interfering with their group.  As a result, my littles were escalated and upset and out of sorts when they came to me.  So my emergency calming protocol kicked in.

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Every class includes our hello song, a movement activity, an instrumental play activity, and a book, capped by a goodbye song.  Today we still included all those components, but changed them up a little.
  • First we dimmed the lights.  I have 3 rows of lights, and I turned off 2.
  • Next, I began fingerpicking on guitar, using the chords for our hello song.
  • Once everyone was seated and settled, we began our hello song intervention, but I shortened our greeting practice, decreasing demands but increasing support in order to improve emotional regulation.
  • We did some gentle movement imitation, using scarves to this relaxing AniMusic video.
  • Then I returned to fingerpicking on the guitar while the students played egg shakers.  They could shake when I played, and then were asked to stop when I stop.  Again, keeping demands low, I didn't stop too often.
  • Finally, we finished by singing a Five Little Ducks book, with students counting on small drums.  The activity was very controlled, and quiet, with gentle, acapella singing.  
  • Our goodbye song used soft chords, strummed only once per change.
The transformation was dramatic and felt so good, both for me, and for the students.  I returned them to their teacher calm and happy, which is a good feeling.
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