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So, I have been meaning to talk about this and a teacher posted in a Facebook Group this morning reminding me how many teachers might benefit from this tip.
One year I realized about 1:45 in the afternoon, right after my students returned from specials and they were antsy and I was focused on my math lesson I would get extremely frustrated.
So I set my alarm to a calming song, Taylor Swift’s Breathless and when I went to shut it off I would see the words:
Giraffe • Eagle • Bear
Giraffe Heart
A giraffe has the biggest heart. And I would picture the heart between his big ears at the top of his tall neck and remember how much I love my students.
Soaring Eagle
Then I would picture an eagle and I would imagine I was soaring around the ceiling and looking at my students wondering who needed what?
Bear Hug
Finally I would imagine me giving my students a bear hug or whatever it was it seemed they needed at the moment.
I probably did all of this in the time it took me to switch off the alarm, but the music calmed me and made our afternoons flow better.
I know I came up with this tip right about when we read the book Gorilla Thumps and Bear Hugs I will do a full blog post on how we used this book down the line.
We had just read the book Gorilla Thumps and Bear Hugs.
Do you have a tip that helps you stay calm during the long school day?
I made these posters for my classroom we would practice before testing and I felt it really had a positive impact on a lot of students.
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