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Ms. Wiedenheft’s Classroom Edit display name

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According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, children must first feel safe and secure for learning to occur. COVID has taken a toll on social emotional health especially within our community. I am working to create a calm place for any student Pre-K through Fifth grade to come when they need to have that need met. The sound of water creates a calming, captivating distraction. The water feature would act as a calming tool. We have extraordinarily hard working teachers supporting students academically. I am working hard to provide the emotional support our students so desperately need so they in turn, are able to access that content. One example of how our space was recently used was when our student "Z" came to school and told us that her Grandmother that was raising her had passed the night before. She was angry. When this student gets angry she punches her classmates for the slightest "unfair" infractions. I immediately brought her into my room where we have light coverings, lamps, and classical music playing at all times. I have often wished that we could have a water as well. She was able to sit in a padded chair with pillows and play with her kinesthetic sand until she was ready to talk. We were able to discuss her feelings, draw a picture of the things she loved about her grandma, and talk through different strategies she could try today when she felt like punching someone. She was able to successfully get back to class. This occurs daily with different students. I will continue to help students work through emotional trauma. Water has a natural calming effect. Even if a student to comes to look at the water feature and it calms them in the process, the water feature has done its job.

About my class

According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, children must first feel safe and secure for learning to occur. COVID has taken a toll on social emotional health especially within our community. I am working to create a calm place for any student Pre-K through Fifth grade to come when they need to have that need met. The sound of water creates a calming, captivating distraction. The water feature would act as a calming tool. We have extraordinarily hard working teachers supporting students academically. I am working hard to provide the emotional support our students so desperately need so they in turn, are able to access that content. One example of how our space was recently used was when our student "Z" came to school and told us that her Grandmother that was raising her had passed the night before. She was angry. When this student gets angry she punches her classmates for the slightest "unfair" infractions. I immediately brought her into my room where we have light coverings, lamps, and classical music playing at all times. I have often wished that we could have a water as well. She was able to sit in a padded chair with pillows and play with her kinesthetic sand until she was ready to talk. We were able to discuss her feelings, draw a picture of the things she loved about her grandma, and talk through different strategies she could try today when she felt like punching someone. She was able to successfully get back to class. This occurs daily with different students. I will continue to help students work through emotional trauma. Water has a natural calming effect. Even if a student to comes to look at the water feature and it calms them in the process, the water feature has done its job.

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