Top Tips For Teaching Yoga In Schools - Tip #12: Configuration Is Key

Welcome back to the blog!

It feels like spring today, and after a long year of virtual teaching, I’m counting down the days until spring break in just a few short weeks!

Today’s tip focuses on classroom setup, which, believe it or not, is crucially important as you set up your space. So, don’t overlook the small and seemingly meaningless details when setting up your classroom space, because I can tell you, they’re actually meaningful!

Enjoy, and please let me know your thoughts on this blog by leaving a comment.

Tip #12: Configuration Is Key

One of the key struggles I had when I first started teaching yoga in schools, was how to configure my classroom space.

So many kids yoga teachers have approached me lamenting about the struggles they have managing large groups of students in small or large, shared or private spaces. And so often, my follow-up questions to them are: “What type of space are you in? How is it configured?”

The way you configure your classroom is a large, often overlooked, part of teaching yoga in schools. But, making simple changes to the way we configure our teaching spaces can have a profound impact on student behaviors during class. 

If you have students in a circle, consider moving them into organized rows. This cuts down on distracting, silly behavior due to the fact that students aren’t making eye contact with each other. 

Consider whether or not your students can see you when you’re demo-ing in front of the room. A lot of times, students can’t see what you’re doing, and this can lead to silly and challenging behaviors from your students. 

A simple fix? Find something (a stage, sturdy crates, a table, etc…) that will elevate you off the floor so that your students can see you when you teach. 

You’d be surprised how much these simple changes in the space you create have a profound impact on your classroom. 

Tip Takeaway: Reflect on the space you’re in, and any behavior management challenges you’re regularly facing. Then, think about how you have students configured, and whether or not they can see you and / or each other. Finally, reflect on the ways you can change the configuration of mats or desks to better support student learning.