Table of Contents Principals and Practices

Music for Social Emotional Development

Time In

What is 'Time in'?

Time in is a state of full engagement. I am fully here with you. I am available. I give self to be with you.

[include the list on types of 'not listening']

More:

The more a leader can be in a whole brain state, the more they can provide 'time in'.

• There is appropriate eye contact.
• There is appropriate touch
• Our voice has prosody
• Perceive the whole student, thier their face, their eyes their mmovement, their voice the ir rhythm, how they place themselves. Don't listen to just their words, their words may confuse and distract you.
• Time in is created with 'Calm Authority'. With calm authority we can respond to students and other adults problem behavior balance and grace rather than reactiveness.

The quote from the The Little Prince: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye". Is a beautiful poetic expression and it is now solidly backed by current neurology and psychophysiology!  The state of our heart and autonomic nervous system , greatly affects what we are able to perceive and how we are able to respond.  In certain states of stress, we move into much more limited selective perception, and cognition. We literally hear and see and sense differently. Our focus of attention shifts. Under stress, many non dominant function go offline.

Here is a good analogy; Think of a ladder, we see thing from one perspective. As we climb up a ladder, the world looks different because we are seeing it from a different perspective.
A big part of 'time in' is what responses do we give to others based not just on who they are and what they are doing, but on were are we on our ladder.

This video helps to illustrate about what we pay attention to and what we don't.

And what we pay attention to is strongly influenced by our emotional state and by our expectations.

In time of stress, the right frontal lobe of the brain is more active. The right frontal lobe has more connections to the amygdala which is a major hub of 'fight and flight' circuits. In this state much of our focus is on what is wrong, what is out of order, and potentially dangerous and what could go wrong. We barely notice what is right and what could go right.

The activating the left frontal lobe of the brain down regulates the amygdala and allows more resources to be allocated to perceive  high levels of order and of possibility. We move to what can we create.

Time In involves not just a set of behaviors but an emotional state. We bring the widest range of responses when we are accessing our curiosity, appreciation, enthusiasm, and calm centeredness.

[edit needed] The challenge to having 'time in' is large classes especially when there are very disregulated students. Disregulation can snowball and bring out the worst in everyone. To maintain an order the can support quality 'Time In', limits, boundaries and expectations are needed.

Next:

Acknowledge, Savor, Anchor, Spot Weld: Give the Brain time to Change

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