Do you have a mindful classroom?
Have you paused lately to take a look around and assess the classroom atmosphere? If your class is not peaceful and productive you might be missing the calm you need to elevate learning.
Hey Middle School Teachers Are You Reading??? Are your students running on emotions instead of logic? Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to know you've tamed a wild animal? Middle school human children may not be wild animals but there are times they act more from Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Faint than they do from Calm Centered Logic.
Good News! You can have that dopamine rush because you too are the tamer of something wild and seemingly untamable. It only takes mindfulness!
In 2018 Boston Charter Research Collaborative partnered with the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, MIT, and the program Transforming Education, to explore mindfulness in middle school.
The research was conducted with 6th graders over an 8 week period of time. During the eight weeks the sixth graders practiced mindfulness 4 times a week. At the end of the time the students self-reported findings along with engaging in brain scans.
The students who engaged in a brain scan showed Amygdala reduced responses such as; reduced responses to fearful faces, less sensitive to negative stimuli, less prone to get stressed, and less prone to lose of focus.
Most middle school students run solely by their Amygdala. Mindfulness helps control and reduce that. BAM! You've tamed the untamable!!
Utilizing mindfulness in the classroom helps the students gain control over their emotions and attention. Mindfulness takes your class from chaos to calm.
At the end of 2021 William Meyer, a graduate of Harvard Graduate School of Education and a teacher in New York City wrote an article sharing 7 unexpected ways mindfulness changed his classroom.
1. Expanded how he saw teaching and learning. Mindfulness helped him see students in a different way and notice the depth and compacity of some of his most difficult students.
2. Deepened student learning. As noted in the study with 6th graders, mindfulness helps to lessen stress and reduce lose of focus.
3. Helped him see himself and his class in a new light. He noted he took more time to check in on his own feelings and the feelings of his students. When you start to check in on mood you see the student with more depth and understanding.
4. He noticed a spread through the whole community. This is something that I have seen too. Last week at the end of mindfulness with a second grade class one student shared that he planned to go home and teach his mom Pink Bubble Mindfulness.
5. Democratized the classroom and nurtured a greater sense of community. Your students notice when you practice mindfulness with them. Meyer noted that he invited administration to join too. Invite them and let the class see the community of mindfulness across the school.
6. Checked his ego. The class is your domain. You have rules. You have structure. You have expectations. You also have an ego and it can get out of control and does need to be checked. Use mindfulness to check insecurities to check the ego.
7. Slowed his classroom down. Mindfulness helped him find the space between Action and Reaction.
How does you class look today? When was the last time you checked in? Take a moment today to notice the breathing in the room. Is it fast? If yes, take a break and allow it to slow. Have you checked in on your ego? Do you speak frim without anger?
A great way to get started is to utilize mindfulness during transitions. Inner Explorer has mindfulness for transitions. It also has sound practices. Both are shorter than the longer more in-depth practices. They are useful to teach self calming and reflecting strategies. Share out that you will put on a sound or transition practice. Note that the first minute is to close out current material and transition to new material. After the first minute the students are asked to sit, breathe, and reflect, and ready themselves to move on.
Remember a mindful posture helps students be ready to be present. For younger students we practice Zip Up Breath. You pretend there is a zipper on your belly button and zip up as you breathe in. While you do so you lengthen your back and relax your shoulders. You can also utilize Royal Sitting Breathing. Tell students to sit as a Royal; straight back, relaxed shoulders, head up, and poised.
As you practice mindfulness leaders will emerge. Notice them. Ask them to lead mindfulness. Ask them to notice when the room needs a breathing break. Encourage them to mentor others in mindfulness.
A mindful classroom is a productive classroom.
A mindful classroom is a positive classroom.
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