Periwinkle, the color, is associated with the words
refreshing, calming, soothing, relaxing, and comforting. A quick Internet search found the flower and its
hue have inspired folks to christen their horses, farms, seaside retreats,
children, commercial products and more - Periwinkle.
One blogger describes her nail polish as "one
of the most beautiful periwinkle polishes I own. It radiates calm."
Allegheny Candles describes blue lace agate as "a lovely stone with
varying bands of periwinkle blue" that "offers a quiet protective
energy" and "has a calming effect on negative emotions and
stress."
I was not surprised to read that Periwinkle was the
Duo-Gard 2013 Color-of-the-Year. A company news release calls the color
"vibrant" with a "glint of the exotic" - the perfect color
for a work environment that needs to be "comfortable yet stimulating
enough to contribute to productivity." Sleep Training Solutions says the color promotes a
"soothing sleeping environment" in a child's bedroom, and Grace Lynne Fleming proclaims the color as a "fresh, clean and spring-worthy bathroom
color."
Periwinkle, the flower, evokes feelings of serenity, tranquility, peacefulness, and confidence. What about periwinkle, the
herb?
Herbalists say periwinkle, the herb, has a positive effect on
brain activity and inspires "feelings of well-being and emotional
stability." Helping Flowers says essence of periwinkle "can help in
situations dominated by chaos and disarray. Nervousness and frenzy are in the
air. Periwinkle can help you to calm down internally and be a calming influence
on others. Breathing and blood pressure can be stabilized and you can keep your
perspective with strong nerves and balance."
Daniel Burton agrees. The Ohlone Center of Herbal Studies in Berkeley, CA, published a paper he wrote that states,
"Flower essences may help deal with emotional factors that may impact
attention and hyperactivity." Periwinkle, in particular, "is one of the prime herbs for children
with ADHD. It has a history of use for dementia caused by insufficient blood
flow to the brain. It also has sedative
effects, making it a versatile herb for hyperactive-type ADHD."
This BLOG entry, however, is not about periwinkle, the herb, or periwinkle, the flower; it is about periwinkle, the color. I included the above information
to give you background information and a reference point: Periwinkle = Calm, inside and out!
If you have been to my office, or noticed the picture of the reception area on my Facebook page, you'll notice the colors are bright and vibrant - greens, yellows, white, and navy. My logo mixes in reds and purples, and the Web site adds orange and teal. I picked those colors deliberately: I want those elements of VCLA to be energizing. I want students and parents to be excited about visiting my office. I want it to feel warm and inviting. Parents have told me my colors choices are spot on.
When you transition to the two classrooms, the colors change and the mood shifts. It is serene and peaceful. The walls in my two classrooms and the walls in my office are the color of periwinkle. Except for two inspirational prints in each classroom, the walls are bare. I made a deliberate decision not to hang educational posters. I want your children to focus on the lessons I am teaching, not the decorations hanging on the walls.
My more quiet approach to the educational environment runs contrary to most classrooms in today's schools. Have you ever walked into a classroom and not known where to look first? The commercially produced posters and mobiles teachers buy from educational brick-and-mortar stores and the teacher-designed products with curly-q fonts, scalloped edges, and whimsical spirals they buy from online sites serve a purpose, but all too often they lure students away from the lesson being taught.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University confirmed this with a study of 24 kindergarten children who were taught six science lessons in a laboratory classroom. The researchers manipulated the visual stimuli and concluded, "Children were more distracted by the visual environment, spent more time off task, and demonstrated smaller learning gains when the walls were highly decorated than when the decorations were removed." Yes, it is a small sampling of 5-year-old children, and, yes, older children may be more inclined to ignore the decorations, but that has not been my experience.
Jan Hoffman wrote about the study in a BLOG for the New York Times. She interviewed Patricia Tarr, an associate professor at the University of Calgary, who argued 10 years ago that too many decorations are "visually damaging for children." She stated then that decorations obscure children's work and pose special challenges to a child with attention deficits. Hoffman quotes Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman, an educational psychologist at the University of Virginia, as saying teachers feel compelled to make their rooms look attractive because parents expect the walls to be decorated.
What is a teacher to do?
Ingrid Boydston, a kindergarten teacher at Bridgeport Elementary School in Santa Clarita, CA., and the California Teacher of the Year in 1999, encourages teachers to post signs on blank walls: "Watch This Space!" Then, Hoffman writes, "The wall displays [will] grow as students produce work."
If you have been to my office, or noticed the picture of the reception area on my Facebook page, you'll notice the colors are bright and vibrant - greens, yellows, white, and navy. My logo mixes in reds and purples, and the Web site adds orange and teal. I picked those colors deliberately: I want those elements of VCLA to be energizing. I want students and parents to be excited about visiting my office. I want it to feel warm and inviting. Parents have told me my colors choices are spot on.
When you transition to the two classrooms, the colors change and the mood shifts. It is serene and peaceful. The walls in my two classrooms and the walls in my office are the color of periwinkle. Except for two inspirational prints in each classroom, the walls are bare. I made a deliberate decision not to hang educational posters. I want your children to focus on the lessons I am teaching, not the decorations hanging on the walls.
My more quiet approach to the educational environment runs contrary to most classrooms in today's schools. Have you ever walked into a classroom and not known where to look first? The commercially produced posters and mobiles teachers buy from educational brick-and-mortar stores and the teacher-designed products with curly-q fonts, scalloped edges, and whimsical spirals they buy from online sites serve a purpose, but all too often they lure students away from the lesson being taught.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University confirmed this with a study of 24 kindergarten children who were taught six science lessons in a laboratory classroom. The researchers manipulated the visual stimuli and concluded, "Children were more distracted by the visual environment, spent more time off task, and demonstrated smaller learning gains when the walls were highly decorated than when the decorations were removed." Yes, it is a small sampling of 5-year-old children, and, yes, older children may be more inclined to ignore the decorations, but that has not been my experience.
Jan Hoffman wrote about the study in a BLOG for the New York Times. She interviewed Patricia Tarr, an associate professor at the University of Calgary, who argued 10 years ago that too many decorations are "visually damaging for children." She stated then that decorations obscure children's work and pose special challenges to a child with attention deficits. Hoffman quotes Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman, an educational psychologist at the University of Virginia, as saying teachers feel compelled to make their rooms look attractive because parents expect the walls to be decorated.
What is a teacher to do?
Ingrid Boydston, a kindergarten teacher at Bridgeport Elementary School in Santa Clarita, CA., and the California Teacher of the Year in 1999, encourages teachers to post signs on blank walls: "Watch This Space!" Then, Hoffman writes, "The wall displays [will] grow as students produce work."
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