I listened to the audiobook of Thich Nhat Hanh's (@thichnhathanh) The Art of Mindful Living this week.
It made me feel much better about many things. I feel more calm, more aware of my breathing, and more aware of the present moment.
I found this quote
particularly poignant, as my cohort is currently preparing for our first practicum placements: "When a cloud is about to rain, it does not panic like us."
Some notes in my Bullet Journal from The Art of Mindful Living
(and a reminder to return library books)
Flowers to remind myself of the Flower Fresh meditation
I have had a few conversations recently that have touched on the topic of mindfulness and wellness. @h_james18 has been blogging about her learning journey on the topic of meditation. In this post she mentions that it's a difficult thing to learn publicly. She talks about "busy brain," which I definitely have (although stopping coffee has helped). She also refers to this TED Talk:
A friend of mine teaches meditation, and I have long been meaning to go to a session. I suppose this is an example of the glorification of busy, so I need to be cognizant of that. I look forward to seeing what my colleagues come up with in researching wellness. From what I heard, at least one person is looking into student wellness, and another is looking into teacher wellness. One of my instructors from last semester is doing research about new teacher burnout. Lifehacks, such as 20 daily habits of highly organized people, typically emphasize simplification to more reductionist/minimalist ways of being. I need to get more sleep. The trouble is, I find that when I am in the flow state (which tends to happen in the evening) I have a hard time slowing
down and going to bed. I have read a lot of articles likethis list of 10 things to do before sleep. (By the way, I love lists about as much as Scaredy Squirrel does.) Maybe these tips from ASAP Science will help me:
I started listening to the Invisibilia podcast series recently. It's about "the invisible forces that spur human behaviour." @RileyPaton suggested it to me. She wrote a blog post about it, too: Fear = Thinking + Time. The first episode, The Secret History of Thoughts, fittingly spurred a lot of thoughts. One of the stories reminded me of the book Out of my Mind, which we heard as a read-aloud in our Literacy class last term. According to the podcast, not all thoughts are to be taken seriously, though. If you're interested in the subject of mindfulness, give it a listen. Right before listening to this episode, I had a conversation about reflection with a friend/colleague of mine. It was the ultimate in metacognition. It was one of those conversations that was both overwhelming and comforting. Is there such a thing as too much reflection? How do you strike a balance between reflection, mindfulness, and self-care?
Yesterday morning I attended a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) workshop arranged by @UVicEdSA. I created this infographic about the workshop, and further details can be found within this post.
The workshop started with this video that explains UDL:
UDL is about facilitating multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression for learners.
The speaker shared these 3 things that specialists from her district would like student-teachers to consider:
Visuals,
Sensory needs (sensory tools, movement, environment), and
Clear, positive communication.
Visuals
These are some of the reasons visuals are important:
Provide consistent cues about students' daily activities and routines,
Reduce anxiety,
Help students with language processing difficulties,
Provide a permanent reminder, and
Build independence.
Many of us visuals every day. As I mentioned in a previous post, I use Google Keep and my Bullet Journal to keep myself organized. These are some classroom visuals that were suggested:
Visual schedule,
Checklists,
Volume meter,
Word wall, and
Time timer.
Some benefits of the time timer include:
Promotes ability to judge how much time is left,
Makes transitions smoother, and
Builds independence.
As with most strategies, it is best used as often as possible, and not just when a student 'needs' it.
We each have a unique "sensory diet" that dictates
what we need to make sure we're calm, alert, and ready to learn. I have
seen some educators tweeting this quote that expresses this:
The importance of movement breaks was emphasized, and we got to share and try out a bunch of strategies. Having movement breaks built in really helped me to keep focused and learning throughout the three-hour workshop! Here are some reasons why movement breaks are important:
They increase alertness and decrease anxiety,
Kids get stressed when they don't move enough,
Movement and sensory experience is necessary to strengthen connections between neurons,
Promote self-regulation, and
Help students stay on task.
Sensory tools:
Keep fingers and feet busy, minds focused, and bodies relaxed,
Work for some students some students and not for others,
Work on some days and not others,
Should be demonstrated and practiced.
Should be discussed as being tools, not toys.
Some examples of sensory tools include:
Fidget tools,
Stress ball,
Velcro strips,
Thinking putty,
Yarn sections,
Tension elastics on chairs,
Juggling balls,
Pencil grips,
Resistance bands, and
Foot rests.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness has become a very trendy topic in education lately. It is about paying attention to the present moment without judgement. The speaker said that it means "paying kind and curious attention to how you're feeling, and then making a kind choice."
Since the speaker wrote My Gratitude Jar, she read it to us, and I was able to buy a copy right after. It is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it! I look forward to learning more about mindfulness, through the other books on this list. Check out the video below for an in-depth look at My Gratitude Jar:
Here are some gentle brain breaks that were suggested:
Take 5,
Hoberman sphere breathing,
Tone bar, and
Mindful eating (have students try paying special attention to their first bite of snack/lunch - how does it feel/taste?).
When doing breathing exercises, instead of saying "deep breaths" try "long, slow breaths". For those interested in learning more about this, Royal Roads University offers an Applied Mindfulness Meditation Certificate program.
Clear, Positive Communication
We were advised to reduce language and increase wait time. On average, we give children 1-2 seconds to respond to instructions. For all learners, it is important to chunk information (break it into smaller pieces) appropriately. Peter Johnson has written two books on empowering language: Choice Words and Opening Minds. Those books contain these phrases that could be used by teachers:
Yet,
We readers like too...,
I bet you're proud of yourself,
Thanks for coming today,
What if...?, and
That's not like you...
I started using "I bet you're proud of yourself" yesterday with my grade 1/2 Science Club students when they were coding on studio.code.org. One student answered: "I am! I didn't know how to code before, and now I am doing it!"
Sam Horn wrote Tongue Fu!, a book about verbal conflict. One take-away from this book is that replacing "but" with "and" allows for constructive feedback to be given without taking away the compliment.
Dianne Gossen's Restitution suggests these phrases:
What's your job now?,
What can I do to help you so you can...?, and
When will you be ready to start?
Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset implores educations to ask "I wonder how he or she will learn this..." rather than "I wonder if he or she will learn this..."
