Here’s the second installment.

Mindful Minute

At this year’s Learning and the Brain conference, a great deal of time was spent on the benefits of mindfulness work. Lisa Flook’s research with very young children was compelling, but the part that stuck with me was for the middle and high school classes. We all know that children of those ages are ruled by their social lives. It affects every part of them – their attention, their mood, their behavior, their ability to remember. So much social interaction happens during the between times – hallways, bathrooms, lunchrooms. And much of it is negative. Then they arrive in class and we expect their 100% attention. Not happening.

Here’s the problem. When children are stressed, they aren’t learning. We’re not going to get their hundred percent. And also importantly – they’re not going to get ours. Stress is contagious. When I first started teaching, my mentor told me that if I ever found myself becoming angry at a child, to picture them asleep. It was remarkably effective – it is impossible to be angry at a sleeping child. Their faces are angelic. So the trick is to start each class on an even keel.

Picture yourself teaching, looking out at a sea of sleeping children. You are calm, relaxed, and ready to begin. How can we reach that state? Mindfulness.

For about $10, you can buy a simple chime on Amazon. At the start of class, have all of the children close their eyes, then ring the chime. They close their eyes and focus on the sound. You look out on a sea of faces at peace, as if asleep. When they can no longer hear it, they open their eyes, the turmoil of the hallway put aside. The cortisol levels of both students and teachers drop, and class can begin.

At this point you might choose to practice a mindfulness breath, like square breath. Breath in for a count of 4, hold it for a count of 4, let it out for a count of 4, and hold it for a count of 4. Repeat. Guide them to let any thoughts that enter their minds pass out again without judgment. The practice will stand them in good stead when anxiety sets in during a testing situation, blocking their working memory and preventing them from accessing their knowledge (more details in a post to come…).