Breathing, GIFs, and Laughter: Low-Barrier Strategies for Acknowledging Bodies in Classrooms

Kirsten Dean @kirstend_50362 & Kelsey Hammer @knhammer

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We need to talk about bodies — the all-too-human parts of ourselves and our students that we often try to ignore in educational spaces.

Although we started thinking and writing about this topic before the pandemic, the explosion of virtual learning has only underlined how important it is to be together physically. This struggle has made us dream about what we can do when we are back in traditional teaching spaces and emboldened us to think more deeply about the role of bodies in learning.

We’ll start with our own bodily contexts: we, the authors, are white women with multiple privileges (including class, language, physical ability, etc.) who teach college students in our work as librarians. We represent the demographic majority in our profession, which is historically and continuously plagued by white feminist tendencies to suppress difference and uphold the status quo (Schlesselman-Tarango 2016). We are also representative of our profession’s growing interest in critical theory and anti-racist education, asking how we can become more inclusive and caring teachers.

“We” — that is, both the authors and a majority of teaching librarians — regularly work with students in a role akin to “guest lecturer” or “guest instructor.” More often than not, we walk (or virtually log) into a classroom and have 50 minutes or so to engage with our students. There are many strategies for instructors who regularly interact with a group of learners to create flexible and transgressive classrooms. It is more challenging, though not impossible, for guests to quickly develop trust and community. Arguably, this challenge is amplified in virtual environments: there is less opportunity for individualized eye contact and smiles, or for casual pockets of conversation before class or during individual work time.

bell hooks’ “engaged pedagogy” encourages teachers to focus on “well-being” (1994, p. 15). But we (even pre-pandemic, and certainly after) do not feel well. We have heard the same from our students. How can we expect deep learning and critical engagement under these emotional and material circumstances? As guest lecturers, we have limited control over learning environments and course policies. Even with these constraints, what can we do to help promote wellness for ourselves and our students in a world that can feel increasingly isolating?

As one of the authors was investigating how we represent ourselves in digital spaces and the other was reading about Black feminist epistemologies, we noticed an overlapping theme: too many of us are ignoring bodies in our teaching. We came to this conclusion before being forced to hastily move our classes online; the message sounds even louder now that we are deprived of physical contact and functionally disembodied. Whether online or off, the authors’ experience has been that most pedagogical practices in higher education attempt to isolate our intellectual lives from social, personal, and physical realities. Bodies are often erased in educational spaces, considered too gross or medical or sexual or different to be “appropriate” and “professional.”

Even as many educators follow Freire (1970) and no longer conceptualize their work as depositing knowledge into brains, they still focus on shaping those brains and neglecting the rest. hooks observed that “many of us have accepted the notion that there is a split between the body and the mind. Believing this, individuals enter the classroom to teach as though only the mind is present, and not the body” (p. 191), and twenty-six years later this still rings true. Our entrenched educational practices reveal a type of “body-blindness,” akin to “color-blindness,” that reinforces systematic oppressions. After all, “Oppression is not simply understood in the mind — it is felt in the body in myriad ways” (Collins, 200, p. 274). It cannot be kept at an intellectual distance; it is physical, material, emotional, and affects our teaching and learning.

We don’t claim to understand the mess that is a relational/material/emotional/intellectual “body.” But we’re convinced that one vital way to help all of our students find wellness is to intentionally see them, in all of their messy human-ness, and to be honest about our own messiness so that they might see us, too.

The issues we’re interested in addressing, from dualistic thinking to institutional white supremacy, require broad systematic, ideological, and introspective work. In this moment, the authors are seeking the small starting points — simple, low-threshold ways to acknowledge and value bodies in classrooms, in all of their variety. We have begun to compile wellness practices that we have seen in our work and in that of others, hoping to incite conversation with our colleagues about how educators in a “guest teacher” role can affirm humanity in our classrooms.

Our hope is that through the process of reading these strategies, one or two may resonate with you — whether you directly implement an activity or find inspiration in an idea. We all come to the classroom with different identities, strengths, and experiences, and we acknowledge that there is risk in trying new things. The goal of ideation is to start thinking outside the box in order to be more caring and engaging in our work. There may be some suggestions that make you say “no way!” but we hope that at least one makes you say “cool — okay!”

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Physical Movement

In discussing our physical bodies, one logical starting point is to actively tap into the ways we move and interact. This can include strategic movement, breathing, and even play. Unfortunately, most of our students are used to sitting still for long periods of time. Some active learning strategies incorporate moving around the classroom or table, but can we do more? Stretching, dancing, playing, walking — even just giving students a quick moment to catch their breath and relax.

One of the best ways we can show students that we see and respect their physical forms and our own is to actively use our bodies in the classroom, but accessibility is paramount. As part of your lesson planning, be sure to ask the course instructor specific questions like, “Would someone need accommodation to fully participate in [x] activity?” Seek ideas with flexibility and choice and be kind and attentive in your requests.

The goal is to recognize how our bodies influence our ability to learn and to embrace the different ways in which they do so. For example, you might dislike athletic activities, but that may be the best way for some of your students to learn. It’s important to check in with the course instructor to get a general sense of how their class learns best. If you can find this information, consider tailoring these possibilities for a specific group:

• Invite students to stretch or to dance during quick breaks
• Invite students to take bathroom and water breaks during work time
• Have students do a breathing exercise before class begins or share a moment of reflective silence
• Paper snowball fight
• Create activities where students can roam, such as debates, round robins, or a walking poll (e.g, “if you think ‘x’ move to this side of the room, if you think ‘y’ move to this side)
• Build questions like polls or trivia facts into other types of games, e.g. board games, ball toss, carnival games, trivia games, etc.
• Have students create physical performances of concepts (invite options such as interpretive dance, pantomime, etc.)

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Nature

Introducing nature can literally help create a different air in your classroom. There is something grounding to interacting with nature, like running out to recess as a kid, the feeling you get when you meet a dog on the street, or finding a flower. There is something refreshing about nature and attention to our natural wellness. Nature can have great benefits for student’s attention, health, and happiness as well as your own.

In our experience, classroom spaces can often have no windows, no plants, no markers of the world outside. None of this necessarily prevents learning or connection, but introducing nature into the space or lessons can help create comfort and connection. Some subject matter already lends itself to natural objects and discussions, but if you are like us and don’t normally have the opportunity to talk or share about nature, let’s consider some examples:

• Bring a plant with you to your teaching room
• Use animal GIFs or pictures of your campus therapy dogs (Both for a joyful moment and as a reminder of campus wellness services)
• Allow students to walk or work outside for a determined period of time
• Round robin activity with a station for looking out the window. Have students list out what they see or what makes them happy about the outside world
• Bring natural elements or materials into the classroom as tactile and memorable learning objects: wooden blocks, stones, fruit, a lizard.
• Have students talk about their favorite animal, tree, natural object, etc. as an ice breaker

GIFs

One of the topics that brought us to the idea of embodiment in general was GIFs. In the digital world it can be difficult to showcase one’s own emotions or body, but GIFs offer us faces, bodies, and emotions that can represent our material selves in digital spaces (Tolins & Samermit, 2016). Sometimes they even express emotions that words cannot. As GIF culture has exploded, GIFs have become a ready part of our digital lexicon, much like emojis, and often appear in lesson slides and conference presentations.

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When chosen well, GIFs have the potential to create rapid personal connections between the presenter and the audience. Perhaps you and a student share a love of the same TV show, musical artist, or meme trend. Perhaps the emotion your GIF conveys about the lesson (for example, frustration about evaluating sources) is something that resonates and supports what they are feeling themselves.

However, when used poorly, GIFs can be a distraction from the speaker and the content they are trying to convey. When choosing GIFs, your choice is not neutral: at best, your audience may miss a pop culture reference; at worst, your choice could appropriate Black culture and perpetuate white supremacy. So how do you choose well? The first step is to read more about issues like digital blackface to better understand GIF culture. When it comes to choosing a specific GIF, don’t choose the first one that makes you react. Pick a few GIFs, rewatch them each a couple of times, and decide which matches your purpose. Consider researching the GIF’s origin or asking for a colleague’s reaction. When using GIFs in your slides, stick to one per slide and don’t overload your presentation. Also remember that if a GIF is behind you it will outshine you so don’t play GIFs while sharing important information. Use GIFs to draw back attention, create laughter and ease, or introduce or wrap up ideas. In short, choose GIFs with care and intentionality.

Putting GIFs in your slides is a place to start, but GIFs can also be an area of creation, curation, and reflection for students. There are many easy and free GIF making tools online and mobile (See GIPHY) which students can use to create, remix, and engage with media. This type of media creation can encourage students to reflect on how bodies and emotions are conveyed in digital spaces and actively participate in creating a digital language that better represents their experiences. Check out some student activity ideas below:

• Make GIFs to learn media skills like timing and framing
• Make GIFs of the lesson or assignment topic
• Discuss cultural contexts of the GIF medium
• Create or curate reaction GIFs to shared readings or ideas
• Work together to tell a story through GIFs
• Use GIFs in your slides to hint at things that make you you

Laughter

When we first started talking about this strategy area, the word we began with was “humor” or being “funny” but it never quite felt right. We realized that we were actually interested in the physical act of laughter. What counts as “funny” is contextual, cultural, and situational. Attempts at humor can even endanger certain teachers and students. But we found ourselves wanting to tap into those moments when you and a class are laughing together. How does this happen? Moments of shared, positive laughter can be fundamental for community building and expressing our emotion physically in a social group in a way that lifts spirits, opens minds, even increases our health.

As an example, when Kelsey teaches poster design, students will sometimes push boundaries on assignment expectations by incorporating silly elements in their creations. For example, a group of students riffed on Kelsey’s example poster about dogs by recreating the poster, but with images of cats. Kelsey could have been upset that they were not addressing their actual poster topic, but instead she and the students shared a laugh. Laughing with them built connection and trust, and they were still learning skills through the process of play. In fact, since they were mirroring the original example, they were clearly listening and comfortable enough in the learning space to make a joke.

You don’t have to be a stand-up to be a teacher, and you shouldn’t have to be. There can also be downsides to being funny, especially when you are a full term teacher who needs to maintain certain types of authority. However, one of the benefits of guest lecturing is that you have more freedom to introduce fun without fear of students challenging your grading decisions. But are there ways we can create space and trust so that laughter can be shared? Admittedly, the practices below are the most difficult to implement and everyone should approach laughter with their own level of comfort.

• Don’t be afraid to let conversations stray if it seems to be creating positive energy
• Use light-hearted polls, questions, or ice breakers that may have no relation to your lesson to allow for fun conversation for your students and self
• If you feel comfortable, share times that you have comically failed with students. If it’s something you can laugh and talk about, it can model for them that we all aren’t perfect and we can learn from our mistakes. It also promotes humility or approachability.
• Allow for some silliness
• Create opportunities for play and conversation
• Use GIFs that show laughter or humor (remember to always be intentional in your GIF choices!)
• Share things you find silly about the world in your examples

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Art

Bringing art into the classroom is not a new concept, but for guest lecturers if it is not your subject area, it may not be something you readily think of. Art can be music, film, graphic design, painting, poetry — the works! Try to define “art” broadly. Like GIFs, using art can be both a way to create connections between instructors and students, as well as an outlet for more active, diverse, and intrinsic learning that goes beyond the subject matter. Like our conversations on nature, art can also be atmospheric for the body and create a sense of belonging and mood. Art can also excite and enlighten our physical sense in a way that can draw attention and engagement from our students to the lesson.

• Play music to set a mood, fill silence, or keep the energy up
• Use film clips to introduce ideas or have students respond to them for reflection
• Ask students to critique or explain art to practice critical thinking and their communication skills (Kuehl & Kuehl, 2020)
• Incorporate works of art in your slides or handouts
• Have students design and create art objects about seemingly non-artistic subjects
• Use works of art as table or station markers
• Have students create art that explains ideas (e.g. concept mapping or dramatic scenes)

If life in quarantine has taught these two authors anything, it’s that bodies matter in education. We hope that our strategies are a starting point to inspire more sharing and would love to hear your ideas. Many of our suggestions are geared towards traditional learning environments. As we continue to explore well-being in physical classrooms, we are also invested in finding ways to value one another in digital spaces. We believe that the best way to come up with answers is through community, and invite you to reach out to us at knhammer@vt.edu and kirstend@vt.edu.

P.S. Thank you to our colleagues and friends for all of their help!

References

Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (Vol. Rev. 10th anniversary ed). New York: Routledge.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge.

Kuehl, R. & Kuehl, D. (2020, February). Energizing persuasive writing through philosophical debate. Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy, Blacksburg, Virginia.

Tolins, J., & Samermit, P. (2016). GIFs as embodied enactments in text-mediated conversation. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 49(2), 75–91. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.vt.edu/10.1080/08351813.2016.1164391

Schlesselman-Tarango, G. (2016). The legacy of Lady Bountiful: White women in the library. Library Trends, 64(4), 667–686. doi: 10.1353/lib.2016.0015.