This is a blog for teachers in the UK and elsewhere who may be interested in applying ideas of mindfulness to teaching.
I plan to blog every week or so as time allows. I hope that other teachers who I have met in the UK will send me their experiences of mindfulness in the classroom so far.
Week 1:
What we did:
In my Year 4 class in Cambridge we have Friday treat. I give the children £2 to buy something for the class. Some children make cakes, some buy biscuits or sweets. I hadn't given any money this week and had nothing in the cupboard.
We did mindful eating instead. They were a bit shocked when they opened their eyes to see one sultana on the paper towel in front of them. We talked about it: texture, where it came from, colour, that kind of thing.
We touched it carefully, noticing how our mouths were watering with the thought of eating it. We placed it on our tongue and moved it around our mouth before chewing it and swallowing the sweet juices.
Profound experience? Not really but perhaps it helped the children be a bit more mindful of the food they ate that day.
Results:
Hard to say but we had a lovely day after that. I don't know if sultanas and lovely days are related but I like to think so.
Did you try anything mindful this week?
Well done Ed! The raisin time sounds lovely! I managed to keep mindful in my classroom for a few days but already feel I need another retreat! I think one week on, one week off would be a good start. Enjoy the Bank Holiday and well done for setting up the blog. Will try and share something practical next time x
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot NP. I couldn't agree more. Perhaps we could suggest it to Gove. He always seems amenable to teachers suggestions...
ReplyDeleteHope you're well and that teaching's going well.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI've tried to incorporate little words of wisdom to encourage my children to be more mindful, for example, thinking carefully about how they treat others etc.
We've been doing SATS this week, so before each assessment I take the children out to do some of the mindful movement exercises that Will taught us, we say thank you to the sun and thank you to the earth whilst stretching up and down! Then we stand in silence to focus on our breathing for just a few moments, there is a few giggles but for most of them it really helps to focus them before they sit down to their task.
After a particularly energetic PE lesson, I made the class lay down on the grass. I just said a few things like 'think about your back touching the earth and grass and how the ground is supporting them' etc this worked really well in calming them down which proved invaluable as everybody managed to get changed without losing any kit or dressing in someone else's clothes! (Great improvement!)
I feel that I'm being a bit more mindful and somewhat calmer which then has a calming effect on the children rather than getting stressed which results in chaos!