Teachers often use a wind chime to get attention in the classroom. How many teachers use the wind chime to increase attentiveness, that is, to ask students to listen to the sounds and to listen to how long they can hear the sounds....Ah....As they do this activity, a calmness and sense of serenity spreads through the room.
Mindfulness and its role in educating children was the focus of part of our Professional Development morning, the day before Thanksgiving. We invited in Dr. Rita Benn, a speaker from the University of Michigan whose background is in education and psychology,and who facilitates stress reduction and mindfulness for teachers, health care professionals, parents, and children. Dr. Benn shared that mindfulness is increasingly being discussed in educational circles as a tool for increasing child attentiveness and empathy as well as reducing stress.
The teachers discussed the role of prayer and blessings as mindful activities - moments to stop, reflect, breathe, sing, set the intention for the day, be present in the moment - without thinking about work that needs to get accomplished. Saying a blessing before eating is also a way to slow down and be mindful and appreciative of the food that has been given to us. The school's challenge is to use these built-in moments to their fullest, by having students slow down when they recite their blessings, and truly be intentional.
Others shared how having an intentional conversation in the morning with children helps set the tone for a successful day. What do we want to accomplish today? Let's breath together and relax before going forward.
As a follow up, some teachers requested that the school bring in a Yoga teacher to lead mindful exercises to kindergartners and other young children - something we are currently exploring. We are also looking into the MindsUp Curriculum published by Scholastic, Inc. Expect to hear more from the educational world about the role of mindfulness in education children. We are on the cutting edge...
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