Downtime is Act Up Time?

So you’ve heard the old saying, “If you give them an inch, they will take a mile.” This is often used in reference to our classrooms and down time or unstructured time for our students. The problem is that it is during some of that down time that their creativity and personalities really begin to bloom. So, what do we do? Do we just keep everything rigidly structured and ignore the fact that students need downtime for their brains to process all the information they are given? Or do we risk a little chaos to give our students a chance to grow and thrive?

If you have read very many of my previous blogs, you can probably guess what my answer is going to be to the questions above. I believe that everyone needs downtime, a chance to just let our brains reset and regroup. Now, some people may say that that is why we go home and rest, but I ask you, do they? Is home always a safe place to rest and be creative, especially for some of our students? When we give students a safe place to rest their minds, and just be, we are giving them that safe place that they may not find elsewhere.

An example of some downtime that is actually very school appropriate is craft time. When we give our students a chance to create those cute crafts that we love to display, we are giving them some time to let their brains rest. Now, I personally do not like to overly structure this time. I really enjoy asking my students to create a craft that can be displayed in the classroom or hallway on a particular theme, and then turn them loose. I do not always say, “ Please make a paper handprint on green paper with 2 blue eyes and …” I have before, but I find that my students can show so much more creativity, beyond my own, if I just ask them to create something and let them shine.

I am not saying that during this time you let any and all behaviors just happen. What I am saying is that you can create a safe environment in your classroom for students to create, dream, and rest their young minds. Set boundaries, but only those that are needed to keep everyone safe. I believe you will find that this time will become one of your favorite parts of your day or week. Just give it a chance, and see what happens.