The Momentum Leader and the Enlightened Shadow
Forming Group Activity that Every Individual Can Join
by Erica Key, Founder and Chief Learning Officer
What is the difference between a group and a mob?
As teachers, when we succeed in cultivating positive group activity, our children join together in a community, make friends, transition to new opportunities, and share ideas.
At the most difficult moments, every teacher can feel like their class is being swallowed by the chaos of a mob: each child is doing their own thing in ways that slow transitions, raise noise levels, disrespect the classroom or detract from the focal point.
Below is a plan to achieve a united, productive, enthusiastic community within which individual children can enter, engage in and transition through new tasks throughout the day.
The plan involves two educator roles: the momentum leader and the enlightened shadow.
Momentum Leader: Captures Whole Group Focus
The Momentum Leader first establishes a compelling class-wide focal point around an object, song, book etc. that sparks natural curiosity and intrigue before explicitly asking children to tune their attention in.
The Momentum Leader employs these strategies:
- Physically gathers early adopters around focal point
- Uses vibrant, familiar, playful language to generate excitement
- Signals the whole class should face the leader and listen for instructions
- Builds peer momentum by enlisting early adopters to model tasks
- Keeps transitions tight by directing children's next moves proactively
Enlightened Shadow: Re-engages Distracted Students
The Enlightened Shadow stays on the outskirts, unobtrusively re-plugging in attracted or distracted children before they meaningfully disrupt group momentum.
These are the Enlightened Shadow’s strategies:
- Notices children losing focus early and intervenes with support
- Whispers personalized redirection cues and physical guides
- Uses peers' on-task behavior to demonstrate desired actions
- Discreetly offers sensory tools to aid self-regulation
- Applies just enough support for re-connection, not prolonged 1-on-1
Working in Tandem for Consistent Momentum
Neither role is the sole responsible party for the group's attention. The Momentum Leader excels at establishing captivating initial group focus while the Enlightened Shadow becomes crucial to gently ensuring reluctant children become active contributors before momentum is lost.
This division of labor allows both to concentrate on their primary purpose, while also fluidly switching roles when appropriate. This synergy, practiced deliberately over time, is what sustains dynamic classroom-wide joint attention where no one is left trailing or waiting behind.
The key is recognizing that the multidimensional work of guiding a collective of children requires more than one set of strategies tailored to distinct purposes working in harmony. Two interconnected attention-centric roles thus unlock attention potential.
This one-page guide demonstrates the five-step process of a group being formed from chaos by a Momentum Leader and an Enlightened Shadow.
