Coming back to college after a 2-week break is not an easy matter, not on students and definitely not on tutors. My gloomy mood even started two days before the returning day. Not because I don’t like the job, on the contrary, I enjoy it, but adjusting from a resting mode, to a full-on work mode from day one is a big change for me.
Returning to work, or to teaching specifically, is not the easiest thing. As a tutor, you need to have all the energy to be able to pass it on to students, so they are also back on board with you in a few hours. I feel students find it even harder to switch, especially as many depend on external elements to motivate them. If a number of students in the classroom are not in the mood, this would transfer to others in the classroom, making the atmosphere gloomy, with more disruptive behaviour, and the more the tutor tries to manage the class and pull students into learning tasks, the more friction is seen, making it really hard for a first-day return after a long break.
In this scenario, the tutor becomes the orchestrator in the space. The way the lesson is planned and designed, and how the space/s are used, is key for this orchestra to work. To help me in this process, I used embodied learning techniques to ease the students’ way back in and let them return to the learning mood. I can say the day was successful and students were fine and on board. This is what I have done…..

Embodied Lessons and Space

I first told the students in the classroom that we will do some fun activity in the morning, different from a normal teaching and learning day. The objective of this starter activity is to ease their way in and help them experience different physical spaces, evaluate them, and see if they are fit for their purpose.
I asked students to follow me to a an outdoor space on campus—a stair next to the sixth form at Newcastle College—where I could have all students gathered in an enclosed area, facing me for further instructions.
The weather wasn’t helping much, and if that space was better protected from natural elements, it would have transformed into an amazing outdoor learning space. Nevertheless, it was a great change from staying in the classroom, and many students enjoyed leaving the classroom. On the way out, two students told me, “We are so glad to be out again.”
To help students connect between where their minds were wandering (break) and their course (interior design), I asked them to discuss in pairs a space they visited during the Easter break, describe it, and explain how they felt in that space. This was all in preparation for the next embodied task, which delved further into connecting physical elements found in the space with the feelings they entice in users.
Note that students are on an interior design course, so this is all part of their practical understanding and evaluation of different spaces, leading to them later designing fit-for- purpose spaces.
After that, I passed a small sheet and asked them to go around campus, choose any space they want—no matter what it is; it can be a corridor, lounge, library, coffee shop, canteen, lift, or toilet—and do the same: describe the space, what they felt, what the physical elements are, and how they would change the design to make it even better fit its purpose.
It is true that I found a few students in the coffee shop queuing to order a coffee or have breakfast . Which is totally fine, it is still a space, and they are experiencing it. I popped in and posed few questions prompting them to focus on their experience of the space – what they see, hear, smell, touch and feel in that space. I exaggerated that a bit, by fooling around, touching finishes, walls, floor, and furniture to get them to really enjoy coming back and be ready.
I gave students a specific time to meet back in the classroom, at which we discussed their findings. Then a small break, but with one clear expectation—they need to be ready after the break, have their files and drawings open for some peer feedback. Although I allowed students to choose their peers for the first task, to help in making this task more serious and task oriented, I chose the partners just to intermix them and get them to see different students’ work.
I think this worked very well. I can say 80% of the students were on board and in a learning mode after that. A few were still not there yet, but I know those usually take time on a normal day and complete work at home most of the time.

What an affirmative Coincidence

It was a great coincidence, but a reinforcing encounter, to see two colleagues leaving the college drained and exhausted at the end of that first day after the break. When I chatted with them, I found out, that they had a tough day with demotivated students who were disruptive in class, giving excuses and arguing for not working. I can understand how tiring and draining this can be if students are not engaged. So definitely, designing more embodied lessons and using different spaces on such days would help in such situations.

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