Top Tips For Teaching Yoga In Schools - Tip #34: Review, Re-teach, Ramp Up
Hi there,
Welcome back to the blog! It’s been a minute since I sat down to write, and I’ve gotten way off of my Sunday blog schedule as I try to enjoy these last few days of summer break before heading back to school.
Speaking of back to school…this fall is the perfect time to get your foot in the door and offer your program and services to schools and school leaders. I know this can be hard, which is why I’m offering my 6-week online course, Land Your Dream Job Teaching Yoga In Schools, again this fall!
This course is for you if you’re looking to bring yoga and mindfulness into schools in any capacity, whether it be full-time, or before school, after school, or during the day as an outside provider. We’ll cover everything from owning your why, to creating a scope and sequence, to interview tips and tricks, and so much more.
I love offering this course so much, and would love to have you join me this fall!
In the meantime, please enjoy this week’s tip as you prepare to return to the classroom this fall.
Tip #34: Review, Re-teach, Ramp-Up
It is officially back-to-school time, and in the spirit of back to school offerings, I want to offer you this quick teaching tip: review, re-teach, and ramp-up. I was on a call with one of my mentorship clients a while ago, and she asked: “Should I re-teach the content I taught last year with these same students? Will they get bored because they already know it and are now a year older?”
My response?
Of course you should re-teach it, and no, they won’t get bored if you ramp-up the activity!
Absolutely re-teach content, especially if it’s something like the basics of a sun salute, or a concept like mindful listening.
Why?
Summertime schedules often make it hard for students to prioritize or keep up with skills learned during the school year. So, you should always review big topics at the start of the school year to ensure all students have baseline knowledge before moving on.
Re-teach the content if you need to, and focus on the key aspects you want your students to use with you this year. You don’t need to spend forever re-teaching, but re-teaching provides you with an opportunity to clarify the concept for your students and fill in any holes or gaps that might be missing from last year.
And finally, ramp-up. If you explored mindful listening with a group of second graders last year, and you have them as third graders this year, you should 100% review and re-teach mindful listening. But, you should also ramp-up the practice. As third graders, your students now have a year of practice under their belt. You want them to keep practicing mindful listening, but you want to do so in a way that ramps-up the challenge and invites them to hone the skill. So, for example, maybe you take your mindful listening practice outside this year. Maybe you ask them to mindfully listen in conversation, instead of just listening to sounds they notice around them.
Just like we don’t build muscle-mass from going to the gym and lifting weights once, we don’t build yoga and mindfulness practices by learning them only once, so build in lots of time to review, re-teach, and ramp-up key concepts in your classes this year!
Tip Takeaway: Review and re-teach the important content you covered last year. Then, ramp-up the activity by changing the intensity and expectation. Add challenge by changing location, asking kids to teach the skill to someone else, or reflect on what they’ve learned. There are lots of ways to review, re-teach, and ramp-up basic skills, so don’t be afraid to offer your students more opportunities for practice!