Welcome to Nap Club. The first rule of Nap Club is: you do not talk about Nap Club. Actually, that’s not true. While it would be a useful journalistic analogy if Nap Clubs – literally a club where teenagers can nap while at school – resembled the fictitious Fight Club of novel and film fame, you can talk about Nap Club; indeed, it is very much encouraged. Because, in the few US high schools where it has been rolled out, the benefits have been significant.
The idea of letting students nap may, at first, seem an odd one: usually, falling asleep in school hours gets you a sanction. But the evidence around the importance of sleep for learning and behaviour has persuaded some schools to take a different tack.
Dr. Linda Summers, a school nurse in New Mexico, looked into the effects of sleep for disruptive or distressed students. They ended up in the nurse’s office where they were told to lie down and relax, so they could get back into the right frame of mind for learning. They often fell asleep and, upon waking, were in a much better place mentally and could rejoin the class with no further trouble.
So, problem solved? Not really. Summers couldn’t have her office crowded with students all trying to nap, and space was simply not set up to help young people get some shut-eye. Also, Summers’ reading showed the optimum time for effective naps was 20 minutes and the students would sometimes sleep for too long.
Summers found the solution by chance: she spotted an advertisement for what sounded like the perfect “power nap” experience – a sleep pod. These futuristic-looking cocoons are popular with Silicon Valley companies that want to facilitate optimising sleep for staff. Summers saw no reason why they could not work for students, too.
Denne historien er fra October 11, 2019-utgaven av TES.
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Denne historien er fra October 11, 2019-utgaven av TES.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Try not to get hung up on linguistic convention, chic@s
Languages are like water – they take the easiest route. And, like gender, they are fluid. That is why, as world languages evolve to reflect cultural change, a revolution is under way in the use of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ terms, writes Heather Martin
Three simple psychology tips for better behaviour
When a pupil is acting up, their motivations are often hidden from view. It’s possible that teachers themselves are partially at fault for setting the wrong tone in their interaction with others, writes Lekha Sharma, who suggests ways to remodel a school culture
This research could be music to your ears…
Schools should resist putting additional time and resources into yet more English and maths lessons and instead give children’s learning a research-evidenced boost by encouraging them to join a band or an orchestra, says Martin Leigh
Minority (school) report
Predictive technology – powered by increasingly complex algorithms – is finding its way into schools, promising to pre-empt misbehaviour, violence or mental health issues before they happen. But does it work, and is its use ethical, asks Simon Creasey
Giving school a spin again
In a bid to improve parental engagement, one Edinburgh school is putting parents in their children’s shoes to experience a typical modern school day – and the results are breathtaking, finds Emma Seith
Averting Pupils' Social Stigma By ‘Poverty Proofing'
Do your school policies unintentionally ‘out’ children from disadvantaged backgrounds? One charity says such occurrences are all too common and have proposed ‘poverty proofing’ as the solution. Lucy Edkins investigates
A Plant-Based Diet Of Learning
Aware of the mental health benefits of green-fingered working, Nigel Cox helped to set up an outreach course at his college to support people recovering from substance abuse and other personal challenges
Social And Emotional Skills In The Early Years
Children who are able to focus their attention, manage their behaviour and interact positively with others from a young age experience better learning outcomes later in life, finds Irena Barker
How Centralised Detentions Get Pupils' Attention
By adopting a consistent whole-school approach to rewards and sanctions, we achieved a marked improvement in attitudes to learning – and reduced teachers’ workload, says Calvin Robinson
Homework Truths
With some studies claiming that homework has little or no impact on pupil achievement, schools have been tempted to cut back on it or ban it altogether. But we shouldn’t write homework off, warn two gurus of UK education research. Steve Higgins and Lee Elliot Major argue that the evidence on homework has been misrepresented – and out-of-school study can, in fact, have a major impact on learning outcomes
