MANAGING ANOTHER SCHOOL DAY
Emma Archibald wanted something quick, easy and free to help manage the transitions and demands of a normal school day. This is what she came up with.
Tuesday morning, 9 o’clock
Picture this. Thirty children have just come in from a noisy playground. Coats are still on. Two children are arguing over a pencil case. One is staring at the ceiling. You have fifteen minutes before the literacy lesson needs to start and, right now, the room feels impossible.
What you need is a sign to these students that they need to transition from what they have just experienced to what they are about to do.
A teacher reaches over to her desktop and presses ‘play’. Within seconds, the room has started to change. Children are at their desks, tracing a slow-moving pattern on screen with their fingers, their breathing slows to match their actions. The arguing fades. The child, who moments ago was staring at the ceiling is now fully engaged.
The lesson can begin.
More than a nice idea
The music playing is from a free YouTube channel called Classroom Grooves that we have built up around a simple idea: that the right sound or visual, at the right moment, can transform the energy of a classroom by providing the right cue. Our channel brings together content for the specific pressure points of the school day – focus music for independent work, finger-tracing brain break videos, mindfulness videos, sensory videos, transition tracks and much more.
Music has always had the power to move us, and in the classroom, that same power becomes a teaching tool. I know that this is not a new idea, but what we have done is to integrate easy access to music if and when it is needed across a school day. We were encouraged by the research, which consistently shows that the right music at the right time helps children regulate emotion, sustain attention and shift between mental states more effectively. It can help children feel calm and build a classroom in which they feel able to ask questions, make mistakes and try again. It doesn’t just make the classroom feel better – it helps make learning possible.
Many pupils, particularly those with SEND, find transitions, emotional regulation, concentration and movement challenging. Teachers and parents often need simple resources they can use immediately, without any fuss (and preferably cost-free!). Classroom Grooves brings these resources together in one easy place, avoiding the need to search across different platforms.
Moving to the next level
What began as a casual experiment then became something more organised. We started collaborating with Mellissa Walker, a marketing and creative professional, combining our educational, creative and marketing expertise to bring a collection of videos together in a YouTube channel.
As far as we were concerned, the resource had to be free and easy to use. So, there is no app to download, no account to create, no training to complete. You search for it on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@classroomgrooves and begin using the resources we have curated.
And somewhat to our surprise, the resulting Classroom Grooves YouTube channel now has over 10,000 subscribers worldwide, with particularly strong and growing use across South and Southeast Asia.
Just press play
For international teachers working across cultures, languages and learning needs, this matters even more. Music is universal in a way that words are not. A calming track lands the same way whether a child speaks English, Tagalog, Swahili, or Urdu. It does not require comprehension. It does not disadvantage the child still finding their feet in a new language. It meets every child where they are and it brings the whole room together without anyone having to say a word.
And in our experience – it works! At a time when class sizes are growing and children are arriving with more complex needs, we have found the resource to be incredibly useful! Our channel now has 53 videos for a variety of requirements during the day. They include finger-tracing brain breaks, calming and breathing activities, timers, transition and tidy-up songs, sensory activities, confidence-building videos and much more.
If our aim was to create an enjoyable, practical tool that supported all learners in our own classes, others seem to like it too. Ruth Nantongo, a Primary Teacher in London uses the channel ‘several times a week during independent work, transitions and regulation activities. It makes a noticeable difference to engagement and focus’ while for Shazia Siddique, a TA in Dubai, ‘Classroom Grooves has become part of our daily routine. It helps create a positive atmosphere and my pupils respond really well to it.’
Like us, Ruth and Shazia, ‘just press play’ when they need a little music or a quick transitional activity!
Emma Archibald is an experienced teacher, Assistant SENCo and founder of Classroom Grooves. With experience across the UK, USA and UAE, she is passionate about inclusive education, pupil wellbeing and practical classroom support.
FREE RESOURCE – Visit Classroom Grooves at www.youtube.com/@classroomgrooves for focus music, finger-tracing brain breaks, mindfulness and sensory videos. Free. No sign-up. Ready to use tomorrow.
FEATURE IMAGE: by monkeybusinessimages on iStock
Support Image:Â Â by Rawpixel on iStock
