1. Home
2. News

'Calm Classroom' Makes Concentration a Snap

By Elizabeth Duffrin on Friday, July 9, 2010

Address: Perspectives Calumet Middle School, 8131 S May St., Chicago, IL

On a warm June morning, Shianne Gates, a 7th grader in Julia Kidder’s homeroom at Perspectives-Calumet Middle School, sat quietly with her eyes shut. But she wasn’t dozing.

A reassuring voice emanating from Kidder’s laptop directed the class to breathe deeply. “Inhale as I count 1, 2, 3. Exhale as I count 3, 2, 1. Feel the air move in and out through your nose. Notice how you’re feeling . . . ”

The daily morning ritual is part of Calm Classroom, a program piloted this spring at Perspectives Middle in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood using Elev8 funds. The idea is to improve student discipline and concentration by triggering what at least one research study has called the “relaxation response.” Teachers play the CD or read one of a variety of breathing exercises from a script.

Calm Classroom was created by Luster Learning Institute, a non-profit in Highland Park, and is now used at 40 Chicago Public Schools and an additional 65 elsewhere in the state. Kids at Perspectives say it’s working.

“If you come to school and you’re stressed out, it’s a good way to relax and focus on what you’re doing,” said Shianne, eliciting finger snaps from her classmates, a signal of approval at Perspectives.

Her classmate Angel Williams described a similar experience. “When I’ve got something on my mind, and I’m about to explode, Calm Classroom washes it all away,” she said, followed by more approving snaps.

Conflicts from home or the neighborhood can spill over into the school day, notes Elev8 Director Tenisha Jones. Perspectives staff hope that teaching kids strategies for reducing stress will ultimately result in fewer out-of-school suspensions and higher achievement. (A food fight at Perspectives in November 2009 ended up on the evening news after the school officer on duty called for backup and 25 students were arrested.)

After two months, math teacher Julia Kidder already had noticed a difference in the classroom and hallways. “When students get upset, they’re getting a lot better at calming themselves,” she said, adding that the after-effects of the deep breathing exercise seem to last for about an hour. Next year, teachers will do one each class period.

Erin Lauesen, 7th grade English teacher, said she likes the soothing effect that the two-minute exercises have on some of her more active students. “It hardly takes any time, and it’s absolutely worth it.”

Teachers received three hours of Calm Classroom training this spring to learn how to use the exercises in the classroom, with individual students and even on themselves. Over the summer, the entire staff will undergo the same training, including janitors, security guards and lunchroom monitors.

The goal is to help staff reduce their own stress and respond calmly to disruptive students, explained Assistant Principal Sauda Porter. “We’re modeling for them how people interact with each other.”

Dean of Students Elana Waugh said she decided to use Calm Classroom exercises with unruly students sent to the discipline office. She finds the strategy particularly effective with students caught in an altercation. First she takes out a piece of equipment provided by the program – a chime set in a wooden block. She invites one of the culprits to strike it. (“They love that. They try to act like they don’t.”)

Another is directed to read a deep breathing exercise, which everyone must follow. “They say, ‘This is silly.’ But they’re smiling, relaxing.”

Since the first reading is usually done with a lot of attitude, Waugh re-reads it with her best yoga instructor voice. The transformation the exercise brings on is amazing, she said. “I see students go from being irate, to smiling and detaching from whatever experience just occurred.”

Jones said she has even heard students talk about using the exercises to deal with situations at home. “They can bring all of these techniques with them to high school and into the rest of their lives,” she said. “The benefit will never go away.”