Skip to content
Menu
EQ4Peace Worldwide, Inc.
  • Home
    • Leading Us into a World at Peace
    • WELCOME!
    • Volunteer to Help bring Peace to the World
    • EQ4Peace Outreach Events & Publications
    • Why is Emotional Intelligence Important?
  • EQ-911
    • MoodBooster Corner
    • MoodBoosters!
    • Community
    • Community Idea of the Week!
    • Gratitude Corner
    • Gratitude
    • EQ4Peace Merchandise
  • Articles & Blogs
    • EQ4Peace Authors
    • Our Personal SEL Stories
    • The Lighter Side of EQ
  • About
    • “The Storm Within”: Suicide Prevention Film Project
    • Contact Us
    • Join EQ4Peace
    • FAQ
    • Newsletter Sign-up
    • EQ4Peace Vision, Purpose & Mission (part 1 of 2)
    • EQ4Peace Vision, Purpose & Mission (part 2 of 2)
EQ4Peace Worldwide, Inc.

Does Your Classroom Feel Like a Zoo?

Posted on March 29, 2022

 

I love animals. We can learn so much from them. Their different natures and skills sets give us examples scampering, argumentation, playing, singing, industry, laziness, cunning.

Years ago my favorite supervisor gave me the job of presenting inclusion and diversity in the classroom. So naturally, I thought teachers need to adapt to the different natures of their students. Now that’s like training dogs. Different breeds have different temperaments. There is the tiny anxious, aggressive chihuahua, the long distance running German shorthair pointers, the mischievous Jack Russell. The words come out “Your students are like different breeds of dogs…..”

My boss blanched. She called me over. You can’t tell the teachers their students are like dogs. You just can’t, even though the metaphor makes sense. Students are not dogs. Well, OK. I did a vanilla presentation where the students were not described as different breeds of dogs.

But the idea of animals representing student behavior never went away. As part of teaching my students about self-regulation, I introduced states of energy in nature as a tool for classroom management. The sloth represented dull, sleepy, disengaged behavior, a tiger symbolized being active and passionate, and the swan demonstrated focused attention. It was intuitive for the kids to “get” why each animal portrayed the corresponding behavior.

Last Friday, in a workshop for teachers at the National Education Association conference, I explained the concept of the Gunas. Then I passed out a kit with a description of nine different energy/awareness levels, photos of nine corresponding animals, and then asked the teachers to match each animal to a description. We had a ball, and the activity worked beautifully.

I am eager to find out how these teachers will use the ancient teaching of the gunas to manage their classrooms rise and fall of activity.  So if your classroom feels like a zoo, check out these symbols and learn more about the Gunas.

37 articles

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Categories

  • Community (8)
  • Education (44)
  • EQ (60)
  • EQ4Business (5)
  • EQ4Home (3)
  • EQ4Peace (56)
  • EQ4School (5)
  • EQ4Work (1)
  • Events (12)
  • Gratitude (6)
  • LWA (9)
  • MoodBoosters (10)
  • Nepal (5)
  • News (9)
  • Peace-building (5)
  • Positive Mental Health (32)
  • SEL (16)
  • Social Issues (20)
  • Uncategorized (7)
  • WWA (8)

Recent Posts

  • EQ4Peace History & Accomplishments
  • Sharing A Hug
  • Experiences with Dr. Dean
  • A Study of Anger Cognition in Nepal
  • EQ4Peace Outreach Events & Publications
  • Definition of Peace
  • Does Your Classroom Feel Like a Zoo?
  • Pathways2Peace Symposium – April 5, 2022
  • The EQ4Peace Story
  • My Personal Beliefs about Peace, by Bill Overton, EdD
  • Guidelines for Conflict Resolution
  • EQ4Peace Club Guidelines
  • EQ4Peace Ambassador Workshop – Emotional Regulation – Bangladesh
  • EQ4Peace Strategic Overview
  • EQ4Peace Clubs in Sierra Leone, W. Africa

Categories

  • Community (8)
  • Education (44)
  • EQ (60)
  • EQ4Business (5)
  • EQ4Home (3)
  • EQ4Peace (56)
  • EQ4School (5)
  • EQ4Work (1)
  • Events (12)
  • Gratitude (6)
  • LWA (9)
  • MoodBoosters (10)
  • Nepal (5)
  • News (9)
  • Peace-building (5)
  • Positive Mental Health (32)
  • SEL (16)
  • Social Issues (20)
  • Uncategorized (7)
  • WWA (8)

Quick contact




    ©2022 EQ4Peace Worldwide, Inc. | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes.com