Listening through Circle Time: Workshop Dr Hannah Mortimer Educational Psychologist

Time to play! In this Workshop we will: Think about how we can adapt a regular circle time to focus on ‘Listening’ Have a go at planning a session and practising some activities

How Circle time can help Children’s Self-esteem and self-confidence Learning to recognise, name and describe feelings Learning to understand others’ feelings Learning to manage one’s own feelings Learning to talk about feelings and be a good listener Learning to set goals and solve problems

What happens in circle time? Awareness – knowing who I am – and that I can be listened to Mastery – knowing what I can do – listening and communicating Social interaction – knowing how I function in the world of others Adapted from Ballard (1982)

The power of the circle Sharing – listening and being listened to We all matter – and can all be listened to Eye contact Relating individually and listening to each child in a large group Being able to see how each child responds Giving the children models of success

Starting out Getting into the circle Establishing rules Warming up Signing on The filling in the sandwich Signing off

Getting into the circle Share with your neighbour your best ‘tricks of the trade’ for getting the children into a circle ready for circle time

Establishing rules Teach turn-taking Teach looking skills Teach listening skills In circle time we take turns, watch each other and listen to each other We respect and value what each one has to say

Tricks of the trade The talking bear Sentence completion Supporting younger children or those with additional needs: e.g. musical interaction Relationship play Puppets and persona dolls Props, photos and shared ‘talking points’

A musical circle time: a possible structure Warm up and greeting song Action rhymes Looking and listening game Talk time Band time Marching Goodbye song

Your turn Within this structure, plan one activity that will allow you to tune into and ‘listen’ to a child/group of children, based on everything we have covered today And one to teach listening skills

And to finish Be ready to share your activities with Hannah so that she can build them into a final Musical Listening Circle Any problems with this (or need for back-up) – please let Hannah know Have fun!