Room 17 had just finished their Makerspace Lab time. We tidied up and gathered on the carpet to talk.  In our planning sessions, we reflected on the students’ use of language during reflection time.  We felt that they needed a broader vocabulary to describe their learning.  So today, our post maker reflection time was going to be about the word debrief.  We wanted the students to talk about their experiences in Makerspace so we could ask the questions that might move us all to developing the kind of vocabulary that could take their learning deeper.   We thought about using the word reflection, which was more familiar to our learners, but in the spirit of increasing our vocabulary we decided to switch it up. So we began:  “Today we want to “debrief” our Makerspace learning”. I paused, waiting for someone to raise their hand and ask what the word debrief meant. Instead of a question, Abdisalam quietly said, “You want us to deep breathe?”

It was one of those moments where, as a teacher, I realized that a shift had just taken place in my own learning.  I realized in that moment what we were asking them to do was so much more than just talking about their learning.  We were asking them to take a risk, go out on a limb, move outside their comfort zone and actually put themselves out there in front of their classmates so we could all hear about their experiences. I smiled and the lesson carried on but a seed had been planted and the connection between debriefing and deep breathing hasn’t left me.

In wondering about this connection I did a little bit of research. Did you know that deep breathing is proven to have “helped to significantly improve right hemispheric cognitive performance, especially in the area of spatial task performance?”  Did you know that deep-breathing exercises have been known to “decrease anxiety and feelings of nervousness? ”

http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/deepbreathing-exercises-mental-performance-2370.html

The connections to our learning in Makerspace are continuing to deepen. Maybe from now on we will deep breathe before we debrief thanks to Abdisalam. I know that during my deep breathing exercises I will continue to be mindful that our students give us everything we need to grow as learners every day!

Renee Sanguin -Inquiry Support Teacher

École Victoria-Albert School

Cluster 2010