December Chaos & Planned Rest

 I keep seeing variations of the post on my social media feeds about the pure CHAOS that is teaching between Fall/Winter breaks (some schools still call these Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, even though not all in our communities celebrate these- so it may be cool to consider a more inclusive language shift here!). I appreciate the humor and the VERY CLOSE TIE to reality! December is hard! A lot of us educators, leaders, caregivers, family members, and school personnel are walking around especially dysregulated - and so are our students. 

There are concerts, parties, shows, social gatherings, and more - all packed into a tight 3-week span. Our to-do lists multiply, and if you are also doing preparations for ACCESS testing upon returning, this can feel really overwhelming. What are some small moves that we can do to support ourselves and our students? 

Planned Rest is an intentional move where we dedicate time (5 minutes here, 7 minutes there - or a full 30 minutes - do we have a full 30 minutes to devote to this somewhere?!) to allow ourselves and our students to rest. That's it. How this looks is up to you - but I will tell you in this world of hustle culture, it's a lot. If our students always see their adults (family members, caregivers, teachers, mentors, etc) in a constant state of HUSTLE and GRIND, they are picking up on all those cues that they must also hustle and grind. This is why it's so important that they see us resting, recalibrating, and resetting. They've got to see it in action. 

Find those small pockets of time (or if you can, CREATE those small pockets of time) where we can come together and REST. This can be as small as setting a 2-minute timer of quiet recalibration after reccess, or turning off the lights and listening to a calming sound recording of ocean waves. This doesn't have to be anything big or fancy. 

However, if you want to go big and fancy, there's a lot to do here, too! One thing my students loved doing was a "Spina Spa Day" where I'd bring in towels, blankets, and yoga mats and we'd move all the chairs/desks to the sides of the classroom. We'd lay down, sit down, lean against a wall - whatever felt must comfy to our own individual bodies. We'd find a cozy spot and just let our bodies rest. I'd even cut up cucumbers and offer them to students to either put in their water bottles for a "spa-like" infused water, or they could put them on their eyes (yes, we'd talk about norms for this here!) to help themselves relax. While we rested, we listened to different kid-friendly meditations on YouTube. 

It is important that when you set up moments or experiences like this that students don't see you fluttering around the room cleaning up, setting up for the next activity, etc. This is tempting as can be - because we don't have time. Allow yourself this time to rest as well. If you are worried about Admin coming in to your space and judging you for doing this, create a sign on your door that says WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR RESTING OUR BODIES! WE ARE ALL IN A REST ZONE. PLEASE COME BACK IN 10 MINUTES SO WE CAN ALL RECHARGE! or something similar to that.

Here's some fun resources to support planned rest. 

ANIMAL WEB CAMS from Explore.org - this has a GIANT collection!!  This can also be great for students to quietly learn about different animals and places around the world. My personal favorite - Manatee Web Cams in Florida!  Sea Otter Webcam - this one may feel funnier, sillier, and more energizing.

Noise Variations: Have you heard of these? THEY'RE AMAZING! I've been using these to help me sleep at night- and I really love them! Here's a full collection called RELAXING COLORS OF NOISE. Each noise color has a different purpose (anxiety, sleep, rest, energy, etc.).  Brown Noise with a black screen, white and pink and brown noise with a simple screen, green noise with a black screen.

Meditations for younger students. This collection has a TON of resources from The Mindfulness Teacher.

Healing Soul has a big collection, and I love this one because it has relaxing music with calming scenes of jellyfish! I love the colors and the gentle movements.

This video has a fireplace, rain falling outside, and a cozy chair that looks like the perfect spot for reading a book. I also love this because there's no holiday decor here - so it's not centering one group's holiday! You can hear the fireplace crackling, the rain falling, and soft music.

This video is an outside wintry scene with snow falling and soft jazz. There are white holiday lights on the trees.  

Do you have a favorite resource/tool that you'd like to share? Email me at carlymspina@gmail.com with your recommendation, and I'll add to this list with a credit to you! :)