I feel that the word 'Mindfulness' is being pushed at us from every angle. It can seem overwhelming and is another task on a long list. However I feel that I have a slight advantage in that my school has always promoted mindfulness. Over 150 boys meditating in a school hall on Friday mornings chanting positive affirmations is not an unusual sight. We have a fantastic teacher working in our school that has helped us to gain experience in teaching mindfulness. The main thing i would like to say is that it is not a lesson for the children alone, it is also of benefit to the teacher. We would often spend some time listening to a nice song or meditation. The students in my class last year really enjoyed listening to the band Sigur Ros during this quiet time. We also encourage the children to speak about their feelings. One of the first things i usually set up in my classroom is a 'Thought Box'. As a class we design a box which sits at the top of our classroom. and has some slips of paper and pencils beside it. As a class we decided that we didn't just want a box where your wrote any issues you have. instead we decided it could be any thoughts, about art ideas, projects, worries, feelings etc. This meant that if a child was putting something into the box the others wouldn't know if it was a worry or just a note saying 'I would love to do painting next week'. I found that this worked very well and some children wrote down that they felt that they needed to speak to me in private. Other children would write that they were having a 'bad day' and it would allow me to try to do something to cheer them up. Another nice aspect to our meditation lessons is a ladybird massager. A child is chosen and they walk around using the massager on the other children's backs. It allows children that find it difficult to switch off time to move around the room. I cannot explain how much the children love this. I leave the massagers in the class library and the children use them regularly. Today when i was in with a fellow teacher she shared a great lesson based on Mindfulness. She filled a jar with water and told the students that this represented their brain. She then asked them some questions such as 'How do you feel when you wake up?', 'How do you feel when i ask you to take out your maths book?'..... Each time the children named a feeling she added a sprinkle of glitter to the jar. She then swirled the glitter around and explained to the children that that is how many feelings you have in your brain. She then let the water rest and showed the children what happens when you just take a moment to rest. It is a fantastic way to show children the importance of taking some time for yourself. On this note it important for us all to take this time out! I know we can think 'Oh I could get some marking done here' or 'I could sort these files' but we need to stop and take some time out. Last year during DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time i decided i would also read. What better way to promote reading than to let your students see you getting enjoyment from it.
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AuthorI have been teaching for several years and hope to share some of my ideas and experiences with you. Archives
March 2020
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