Do you use mindfulness in the the classroom? It has completely transformed my classroom management style. I have students who are more self aware and are able to self regulate emotions. Mindfulness is an invaluable tool in the classroom.
So, what is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is being aware of what is happening around us and what is happening inside us. In addition, it is observing our experiences and how we feel about those experiences. It’s paying attention to our senses.
So what’s the point?
Being mindful allows us to notice our feelings, which can also help us to manage them! If you are feeling worried or upset, you can practice mindful exercises to notice your feelings and refocus on positive feelings. Many people think mindfulness is just sitting cross-legged with your eyes closed and “meditating.” While meditating is certainly a practice for mindfulness, but there is much more to it! There are so many age appropriate mindful activities and exercises that our students can do.
How I Practice Mindfulness in the Classroom
1. Mindful Minutes
I love using mindful minutes with my students when I can tell they need a minute to refocus. After implementing mindful minutes, I’ve even had students tell me before, “Miss Curley… I think we need a mindful minute.” I use 1 minute YouTube Videos (I’ll link below, so you can check them out!) that show calming nature scenes. When I first started doing this with my first graders, I would tell students that I was looking for a “Mindful Master,” who was sitting still with their back straight, showing focus, staying quiet, and really taking advantage of the minute to refocus and/or calm down. They LOVED this, and watching them all try their best to be mindful was pretty adorable. That 60 seconds of your time will make the next 60 minutes so much more focused and valuable.
2. Mindfulness Interactive Notebook
I use an interactive notebook with my students to teach them mindfulness strategies, breathing exercises, traits of mindfulness, growth mindset, and more. We typically do a page or two a week as we talk about the importance and benefits of mindfulness. You can try one of these pages for free! Just click the photo below!
3. Calm Down Corner
I am a huge advocate for having a calm down corner, or safe space, for students to go in the classroom if they need to regulate emotions. I have a whole blog post on how and why I use a Calm Down Corner that you can check out here.
4. Make strategies readily available for students.
I teach so many mindful strategies and breathing techniques, so I want students to be able to reference these when they need them. In my class, we use a Mindfulness Lap Book (I keep it in my calm down corner) that students can use to get a reminder of some of the strategies we have practices. I also have Calm Down Strategy Bookmarks and Banners available in my TpT store.
5. Mindful Movement Breaks
Pay attention to your students’ needs. Sometimes, they need a silent mindful minute to quietly refocus at their desks. Other times, that just isn’t enough. Sometimes they need to get up and move. I use a lot of Yoga poses in my classroom in these situations. I have a slideshow of 26 Yoga poses with images and descriptions… We practice 2-3 poses and then get back to work with more focus. You can subscribe to my blog to get all 26 slides for FREE! Just complete the Subscribe to Our Mailing List box to the right!
6. Use Apps
Here are some of my favorite Apps for practicing Mindfulness in the classroom.
Calm (Free for teachers and students!)
Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame Street
7 Practice what you preach.
My first 2 years of teaching, I did not practice mindfulness myself. I barely knew what it was. But after becoming overwhelmed with the everyday stress of teaching, I started turning to mindfulness as a way to manage my stress. With practice, I began using mindfulness throughout the day in my classroom. I was better able to regulate emotions. I could stay calm when students were out of control. Instead of feeling hurt or angry when a student said hateful words, I could practice empathy. All of that led to better relationships with my students. I say it all the time… mindfulness can TRANSFORM your classroom. It can transform your students, and it can transform you. Try it… I dare you!
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