Mindfulness
Ooooooh mindfulness how I have resisted teaching you for SO long! I have heard about it for years and have had school counsellors come in and teach students about mindfulness and every single time I have dreaded the when the rotation came around and it was my classes turn; what an absolute waste of time. Seriously, this is (well was) my mentality about it. I did not even listen to the lessons that was been given to my students, didn’t note the changes in behaviors, I just took it as extra prep time but stayed in my classroom. Now before you get the pitchforks out and find me in little old Moose Jaw know that my thoughts on teaching mindfulness have evolved into a deeper understanding, and a purpose; who knew that all I needed was a little class on trauma to make me go “Ahhh, now I get it”…
So here it is… what I have learned about mindfulness and how I have began to dabble with it in my room this year; thanks to the living library assignment.
In Craig (2016), chapter 6 Nature’s Second Chance it was explained humans have this amazing gift that the brain’s plasticity can repair itself when children are taught how to be mindful. Teachers can use mindfulness techniques to teach children to detect their internal and external experiences, particularly in, “how they feel, what bodily sensations they are aware of, and what they are thinking about…they learn to distinguish between who they are (the self) and what they are experiencing” (p. 77). When a child can be able to differentiate their self from their feelings this becomes a critical step in them becoming successful in obtaining emotional regulation, ultimately allowing them to think before they act and reducing the impulses. Craig (2016), revealed to me that teaching mindfulness can be easily integrated into my classroom and that it would not take a lot of time like mini check ins, and breath breaks.
Wallace & Lewis (2020), also provided information to me throughout this course specifically related to mindfulness, “mindfulness activities help reduce stress, help with self regulation, increase self-awareness, create stronger bonds in relationships and build a good foundation upon which social skills grow” (p. 170).
So with those Wallace & Lewis (2020) and Craig (2016), recommendations and knew found knowledge in mind I began to implement some strategies into my classroom. I first decided to use Wallace and Lewis’s mindfulness and mediation activities found in chapter 7, this included a quick script and a “quick” art activity afterwards. I had a few bumps throughout my experience but saw some great strides with my students at the same time. The first bump was the length of time it took for students to find a comfortable position whether it was at their desk, laying on a yoga mat on the ground, sitting on the floor etc. I found the script to be quite quick and lacked the real ability to let kids calm their minds (so I would add in a many more breaths or improvise by adding extra detail; I did this from my own personal experience with meditation and with what Nathalie has done in out class), once the meditation was over I asked kids to go straight to their desks and begin their artwork. Now, some art was unbelievably fast and well others took up to 15 minutes or more. I engaged with this practice every day for multiple weeks but did not see a change in its quickness. However I did see with most students a readiness for the day that was not there before, a stillness, a brain that was ready to focus. Something else that was new to me was I had this idea in my head that, mindfulness was a great strategy for everyone, especially my student(s) who have experienced(ing) trauma, that this would be a great “fix all” strategy… girl I was wrong! Using mindfulness strategies actually did the exact opposite to my one student and sent him into a trauma reactive state. I thought maybe over time this would change but unfortunately it did not so for the pure sake of the child I have stopped using mindfulness in the same way I was using it and have branched into other areas or will engaged with it when he is not in the room.
Where will I go next with mindfulness? Well I am not done yet. I may not be using meditation right at the moment (I plan to in the future if we get to the right place this year but most definitely I would like to try again each year going forward). Instead I am working on the Big Life Journals that you will find in the teacher resources section, using the MindUp Curriculum, teaching and using the practice of restorative justice (which I will blog about later), and taking opportunities to practice mindfulness myself. I will also now be much more open, responsive, and attentive the next time the Wellness Coach comes into the classroom to teach about healthy minds so I can continue to grow in this area.
Wallace, K. O., & Lewis, P. J. (2020). Trauma Informed Teaching through Play Art Narrative. BRILL.
Craig, S. (2016). Trauma Sensitive Schools Learning Communities Transforming Children’s Lives, K-5. Teachers College Press.