Temple

Temple.

Our temporal tabernacles—where our brains reside. 

We touch our temples not only to communicate "10-4" and "Roger," not only to focus our thought and energy, not only to pause a beat and take a breath—but also to remind us of the sanctuary that rests upon all our shoulders.

Our brains: electro-chemically puppeteering us based largely on the inputs we feed it. When we protect and nurture it as the holy temple that it is, sparking curiosity and wonderstanding—brilliance can light and warm generations. 

Our brains and bodies are interconnected—engaging our bodies engages more of our minds and helps us develop as more whole human beings. 

Sign language is a powerful tool to help engage brains and bodies while reinforcing communication and understanding throughout the group, empowering kids to agree, disagree and express need for clarity casually and consistently.

All of these tools are powerful gauges to deepen understanding throughout the classroom—engaging and reinforcing everyone's communication and metacognition while also providing data points for the teacher. 

Madeline Noonan demonstrates this beautifully—I love hearing her say "How do you feel about that class?" Jen Saul and Stacy Brewer also have some great thoughts and ideas. I've outlined a quick reference to their collective Silent Signals below.  (Attention Getting Signals deserves—and will have!—its own blog.)

• Agree—hang loose at heart level
• Disagree—hand jive
• Need Clarification—elevator head
• Volume—turning ear
• Complete Sentence—triangle
• Keep Going—roll along
• Thumb Hearts—I have something to say
• Peace sign—I have something to add
• Rise—scoop both hands up
• Stand + Stagger—straight fingers interlace
• Temple Rolloff—We all touch our temples and, starting with the leader, silently give one person direct eye contact and a small salute to signal the quiet, organized transition back to our clusters. 
• Namaste—a recognition of the good in ourselves and each other. 
• All Hands In—quick heel of the hand punctuating; a sign of commitment.

This intro correlates beautifully with our Myth Unit and Treasure Mapping at the beginning of the year—both of which deal with non-verbal communication in the form of storytelling, dance, forging new understanding (with hands) and replacing sound with vision when early myth-makers and explorers needed to communicate silently or in code. And, of course, we too are early myth makers and explorers—our precision, discipline and dedication determine so much for those that follow.