Ode to the Tibetan Singing Bowl

Teaching could very well be defined as the art of using things for purposes other than they were intended.  Such a definition describes my use of the Tibetan singing bowl.

A Tibetan Who?

From my layman’s knowledge of the purpose of a Tibetan singing bowl, I can say that they are used by monks in Tibet for meditation.  Singing bowls are more of a musical instrument than a bowl, and I wouldn’t recommend using it as a bowl, either.  They are made perfectly round and tuned so that they give a pleasant ringing sound when lightly struck with a rounded stick.  The key to making them sing, rather than ring, is to run the rounded stick along the rim of the bowl, always applying pressure directly toward the centre of the bowl.  The meditation activity is to concentrate long enough to keep the bowl singing for as long as possible.  The bowl usually sits in the palm of your hand, and you can stop it from ringing or singing instantaneously by curling your fingers around it.

 

I used to sing to get my students’ attention, but now I let a bowl do it for me!

I use my Tibetan Singing Bowl to get the class’s attention.  If I need them to be quiet so that I can tell them something, or if we’re doing an Inside-Outside Circle activity, then I simply ring the bowl to get their attention or signal them to move on to the next person.  If I’m having trouble getting the students attention, and they continue to talk even after I’ve signaled them to listen, then I just make the bowl sing until everyone’s quiet.

Where can I get one?

I got mine at the CNE one year and paid $35.00 for it.  However, I’ve also seen them at Green Earth and on Amazon.  I would recommend that you listen to the bowl before you buy it.  You wouldn’t want to order one online and then discover that it’s too big or that you hate the sound it makes.

What’s nice about it?

It saves your voice

The main reason that I started using a Tibetan singing bowl is because with all the other talking that a teacher has to do in a day, I was really straining my voice.  If you’re speaking loudly to get students’ attention, that’s even worse.  If teachers are always using their voices to yell overtop of a classroom full of chatting students, then what will be the long-term effects on their voices?  As a new teacher, I’m interested in finding practices that I’m not going to regret having taken up at the end of my career.

It saves time:

How much time do teachers waste in a day, or in a year, getting students’ attention?  It would probably add up to some ridiculous sum, like seven instructional days.  The Tibetan singing bowl offers a clear and consistent way of getting the students’ attention, and consequently saves time and frustration (after all, you are technically meditating).

It’s not an unpleasant sound:

The sound that a Tibetan singing bowl makes is rather pleasant.

It’s not a whistle:

If someone were to use a whistle to get my attention outside of a Physical Education class, I would not be thrilled.  The connotation is that I’m an unruly dog.

It’s not a bell:

Bells to get students’ attention have reached the point of tired cliché.

It’s an endless source of fascination:

When I used the singing bowl on one of my practicums, I found that students were endlessly fascinated by it and that having a chance to hold and try the singing bowl could be an effective reward for good behaviour.

It’s not easy to use:

It takes a bit of practice to make a Tibetan singing bowl sing.  In other words, if your students pick it up and try to use it, they’ll be able to ring it, but they won’t be able to produce that sustained ringing sound, especially if their fine motor skills are still developing.  Just be careful not to drop the bowl.  If it gets dented, it won’t work anymore.

You’ll be THAT teacher:

Who doesn’t want to be that quirky teacher that students talk about amongst each other and who will be remembered fondly in the years to come?