Stepping into a conscious awareness of what is happening in your classroom, and of how your choices impact your comfort and the comfort of your students, makes you a more effective teacher. One tool that you might want to consider as you examine your beliefs and decisions is the tool of light.
Light has two facets. The first is the physical light in your teaching space. Is your classroom too bright, too dim, or just right? Is the lighting artificial, fluorescent, or soft lamplight? You might want to notice or remember what kinds of lighting you find around you as you go through your week. Restaurants, libraries, movie theatres, bathrooms: many kinds of light for many purposes. How do you react to each of these kinds of light?
I find my students to be extremely sensitive to lighting. Often, they prefer to have the overhead fluorescent lights turned off, and to be surrounded by natural light and lamplight. For some students, however, this is not enough light, and they ask to have the overhead lights turned back on.
In addition to exploring physical lighting, you may want to connect with the spirit light inside each one of your students. How does what and how you teach enhance the light that shines within each child, or detract from it? Do you consider the light of Spirit inside your students to be part of what you touch and teach in your classroom?
Recently, I had a substitute and my students told me something very interesting upon my return. They hated how he changed the lighting! Normally, I don’t turn on all the lights in my classroom – the fluorescence is so bright and overwhelming when both switches are flipped. With only half the lights on, things are a little softer and more comfortable. Initially, I did it for myself but it has turned into a critical element of my classroom environment.
That’s a great story!