Bringing Mindfulness into the Classroom

Foreward

Let me tell you my journey about needing mindfulness, and perhaps you can relate. (If you're looking simply for the book review, scroll down to the next header.)

Last year my career took a turn that I hadn't expected. My husband was offered his dream career, and I had to leave behind my first beloved classroom and face a new home and community without a job that I am desperately passionate about. Thankfully, a phone call came the week before teachers returned to school, and I interviewed and accepted a 6th grade position. The catch, it was a self-contained classroom.

2016-17 Classroom

With Language Arts experience and education, math, science, and social studies intimidated me. Being present with the same students for 6 hours each day intimidated me. 

I didn't back down from the challenge. These students had one year of 6th grade, and I was determined to be the best teacher I could be for them.

I faced a lot of challenges. 

I spent many nights reviewing the next day's math lesson asking myself, "How do I explain this concept?" Eventually, I took the advice of my mentor and rotated science and social studies because I could not manage teaching myself three to four new lessons each night.

Preparing lessons took me hours. Then I had to create time to grade assignments. It is cliche, but many days I felt like I was drowning.

When my students entered the classroom the next morning, a smile would light up my face and I would greet them, "Happy day!"

After three hours, I was often in more need of recess than they were. After lunch, my mind began to drag and my patience would thin. A student would complain about my math challenge that I spent two hours creating, and I would feel defeat.

I could not continue.

Luckily, a friend asked me to practice mindfulness in my classroom. She shared her strategies that she would demonstrate and share with her lower elementary students. I was intrigued.

Mindfulness is the act of paying careful attention to your breath and presence. 

For me, this was the beginning of my classroom focus: "Be present with your students. Don't worry about tonight's grading or tomorrow's lesson. Be present." Eventually I would say the same to myself during the time I set aside for grading: "Be present with this task. Don't let tomorrow overwhelm you. Focus on today."

Mindfulness isn't just for teachers; my friend did share with me her beginning lessons. Teaching our students to be mindful benefits their social and emotional health too.

I researched for mindfulness texts applicable to junior high classrooms and found Teach, Breathe, Learn: Mindfulness in and out of the classroom by Meena Srinivasan. 

Thank goodness for Amazon Prime!

Even though I have returned to an "English-only" classroom of 7th and 8th graders, I am grateful to experience of teaching a self-contained 6th grade class. It helps me relate to my first-time middle schoolers and has helped me develop my own social, emotional help.

BOOK REVIEW

Srinivasan explains that as educators we must help students meet their basic needs and develop their social skills before teaching academics. 

Woo! Wait a minute, put student mental and emotional health before academics?

As teachers, we know this,  but how often can we practice it? With committee reviews, personal SMART goals measured by academic testing, and administrators reviewing lesson plans for academic standards, schools often do not prioritize the mental and emotional health over their education.

Srinivasan presents mindfulness in three parts: Practicing Mindfulness, Sharing Mindfulness, and Mindfulness as a Learned Skill: A curriculum for mindful educators.

Parts I and II: Practicing and Sharing Mindfulness: Immediately upon receiving this book, I began to read. I felt like I needed help. I quickly found out that I couldn't treat my "self-help" book as a quick read novel. I had to read a chapter, put the book down, ponder and practice the skill for an hour, maybe a day or two, and then resume reading. 

I found myself in a better place within a couple of weeks, both in and out of the classroom. I had change my own mindset and was finally spending weekends "with" my husband. I mindfully listened and enjoyed his company rather than worrying about the work I hadn't finished before leaving work on Friday or making my mental Monday To-do List.

This allowed me to return to my classroom each week and each day refreshed and ready to be present with my students.

Part III: Mindfulness Curriculum: This is where I thought the magic answer for negative classroom behaviors and teaching student self-management skills would appear. 

The intensity that this text suggests incorporating mindfulness is intimidating, especially mid-school year. 

Srinivasan presents 8 lessons, which is approximately two weeks of school. The recommendation is to introduce these expectations and strategies at the beginning of the year.

I found myself asking, "How am I supposed to make this 'acceptable' in my classroom when I'm the new teacher and it's not been done here before? And it's halfway through second quarter!" 

A magic answer didn't pop out at me from the text. In teaching, I sometimes wish it would.

I began pulling "mini" lessons from these whole-class lessons to share with my students, such as the Glitter Emotion Bottle and 30 second object focus (Lesson 1). From Lesson 2, we would practice breathing and stretching or mindfully walking. I specifically liked to use these calming exercises before lessons that required thoughtful listening and responses, such as discussing stories or before a math lesson. Lesson 3 shares how to breath mindfully with music, and this was a great tool for when students needed a break from their peers or to step back from frustrating emotions. Our school counselor also shared with me chakra videos to use during this time. (Because I didn't know before: Chakras are the energy centers of our bodies, often depicted as wheels. These can be referred to during yoga and meditation to help ground individuals.)

I typically borrowed strategies from the first three lessons, but I know there are other valuable tools that I need to use from the remainder of Srinivasan's work. I am grateful that the small "practices" have helped shape me and my classroom into a healthy environment for all of us to learn and grow.

Perhaps you only need to make a small ripple of change in your classroom too.