Chanting in class

My students come in from their P.E. lesson and they are NOT in a mood to learn! Sweating and over excited, they beg me not to make them sit on their chairs and open their books. You know what? If I were in their place, I would have felt the same. Why force them to learn when their brains are not ready? Instead I thought I would teach them a new skill. How to calm down, relax and think of themselves as souls without bodies.. Most grown ups try and learn this skill. I have heard of people travelling thousands of miles just to learn the art of meditatation! I know how to. I do it every day at home and those ...erm 15 minutes of bliss are priceless! So this is how it looks like in my classroom. The kids come in and lie down,arms and legs spreadeagled, giggling, until I start spraying them with scented water. They close their eyes and I chant Om (I also use words from other cultures)while breathing deeply. The amazing thing is, the kids often look forward to this.At times when we have had a hard day, or there is some conflict in class, the students ask permission to chant so that they can sort their problems with a calmer mind. Isn't this a great skill to equip the kids with? We need to add this to the list of our Learner Profiles, or Attitudes!

I love chanting too. The rhythmic nature of chants have a calming and hypnotic effect on me. When I lived in Nepal, I would often visit the the Golden Temple in Patan and experinece the hypnotic sound of Bhuddist monk chanting.

I often use this web site in my class.

http://www.d-kidz.com/dkidz_chant.html

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