Screen-Free Activities from Wellness Wednesday | 健康星期三的无数字设备活动

Wellness Wednesday

Last month, we observed Mindful March whose goal was to encourage people to live in the present, especially in the ever fast-paced world we live in. At the Yew Chung International School of Beijing the by-product of this goal was the successful “Wellness Wednesday” programme, an initiative launched by for our Secondary School teachers. Its purpose was to encourage students to disconnect from digital devices and go back to basics with tasks now considered antiquated by some.

According to Susan Botcharova, Y7-9 Learning Community Curriculum Coordinator, the Wellness Wednesday “was prompted by our recognition that students were beginning to become tired from the long days of online learning”. This lassitude was not only applicable to students but to their teachers as well. “As adults, were sometimes struggling to cope with the day, we knew we needed to give our students meaningful activities to do which would get them away from their computers and tablets, get them physically active, stimulate their minds and just change the routine for a day.” said Miss Botcharova.

This led the Secondary school academic team to come together and brainstorm activities for students to do for the day, and after multiple meetings, different departments including the Maths, English and Art department amongst others came up with a list for students to choose from. Below are some of the activities students participated in:

Wellness 

In the Student Wellbeing Department, students were instructed to build a fortress. The purpose was to design an activity that would help to reflect on feeling safe and creating a space as a sense of belonging and safety.  Students were asked to use objects and creatively name their personal fortress. 

The Rock n Roll Fort by Martin Serrano Arguello, Year 8

Drop Everything and Read 

Reading is one of the most personal, most enjoyable ways to spend time.  With our busy school days, many students seldom have time to simply sit with a book and lose themselves in a great story or learn about something they are really interested in or enjoy the beauty of poetry.  On Wellness Wednesday we wanted students to have the time – and freedom – to select a book which would bring them enjoyment and to simply read.  There are many other benefits to reading for pleasure, of course, but for this purpose, it is simply about relaxation and the time to get into a book.

Art/Music/Drama 

Personal creativity is the focus from the Performing Arts department. Students can have up to four options to choose from to spend an hour immersed in the arts: 

Music/art: create their instrument with found objects around the home

Dance/movement: choose a piece of music and create a dance

Zentangle (meditative art while listening to instrumental music of their choice)

Music: use your own instrument to practice a new song or write an original song

Community-Focused Activity 

The humanities department hosted the community activity and chose to focus on the importance of the Family.  The options included;

-Options 1. Take time to really listen to your family and engage in deep conversation, we often get lost in daily life to really take time to listen to those closest to us. A few questions were given to help start conversations. 

-Option 2. Get out those board games, and release your competitive side with your family. Chess, Card games, Monopoly, whatever you have to hand. have fun and remember to play fair.

Although it may be difficult to imagine life with no devices, it is important every once in a while to get in touch with each other, no devises in sight.

To read the full article and about more activities to do offline, click the “Read More” button below.

上个月，我们经历了正念三月，它的目标是鼓励人们活在当下，尤其是在我们生活的这个快节奏的世界里。在北京耀中国际学校，这一目标带来的意外收获是一个成功的“健康星期三”计划，这是一个由我们的中学教师发起的倡议。它的目的是鼓励学生远离数字设备，返璞归真，回到一些现在被一些人认为过时的活动中来。

7-9年级学习社区课程主管Susan Botcharova表示，“健康星期三”是由于我们认识到，学生们在长时间的在线学习后开始感到疲倦”。这种疲倦不仅在学生中蔓延，也发展到了他们老师的身上。“作为成年人，我们有时很难应付这一天，我们知道我们需要给我们的学生做有意义的活动，让他们远离电脑和平板电脑，让他们活跃起来，刺激他们的思维，改变一天的常规。” Botcharova老师说。

这使得中学学术团队聚在一起，为学生们一天的活动进行头脑风暴，经过多次会议，包括数学、英语和艺术在内的不同部门为学生们列出了一个可供选择的清单。以下是一些可供学生参加的活动:

健康

在学生福祉部，学生们被要求建造一座堡垒。目的是设计一个有助于提升安全感的活动，创造一个作为归属感和安全感的空间。学生们被要求使用物品来建造堡垒，并创造性地为他们的个人堡垒命名。

放下一切，开始阅读

阅读是最个人化、最有趣的消磨时间方式之一。在我们繁忙的学校生活中，许多学生很少有时间坐下来看看书，或是沉浸在一个伟大的故事中，或是学习一些他们真正感兴趣的东西，或是享受诗歌的美丽。在健康星期三，我们希望学生有时间和自由来选择一本书，给他们带来快乐和简单的阅读。当然，以消遣为目的的阅读还有很多其他的好处，但就消遣这个目的而言，阅读只是为了放松和享受沉浸在图本中的时光。

艺术/音乐/戏剧

个人创造力是表演艺术部的重点。学生们最多有四种选择，可以花一个小时沉浸在艺术中:

音乐/艺术:用家里可用的物品创造他们的乐器

舞蹈/动作:选择一段音乐，创作一段舞蹈

禅绕画：一种伴随器乐演奏的冥想艺术

音乐:用自己的乐器来练习一首新歌或创作一首原创歌曲

社区主导型活动

人文部主办了这次社区活动，并选择关注家庭的重要性。选项包括;

-          选项1。花时间倾听你的家人，进行深入的交谈，我们经常迷失在在日常生活中，却没有时间倾听我们最亲近的人。我们给出了一些问题来帮助开始对话。

-          选项2。拿出那些棋盘游戏，和你的家人一起释放你们的竞争性。国际象棋，纸牌游戏，大富翁，无论你手上有什么。玩得开心，记住要公平。

虽然很难想象没有电子设备的生活，但重要的是在每隔一段时间彼此见面的时候不受任何电子设备的干扰。

如欲阅读全文，请点击下方的“阅读原文”，了解更多线下活动。