Mindfulness in the Classroom

Elizabeth Marotti AATYPICAL

TYPICALDAY
DAY
Elementary Education, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, Oregon Students
Studentsarrive
arrivebetween
between7:40am
7:40amand
and7:45am.
7:45am.

Yoga
Yogabegins
beginsaround
around7:45am.
7:45am.

During
Duringyoga,
yoga,soft
softinstrumental
instrumentalmusic
musicisisplaying.
playing.
RATIONALE
RATIONALE
Children Students
Studentsare
areled
ledthrough
throughaaseries
seriesof
ofposes
posesand
and
Childrenwith
withbehavioral
behavioraland
andemotional
emotionalissues
issuesare
areoften
often encouraged
misunderstood
misunderstoodand andnot
notgiven
giventhe
theright
righttools
toolstotosucceed.
succeed.After
After encouragedtotofocus
focuson
onbalance
balanceand
andbreathing
breathingfor
for
diving approximately
approximately55minutes.
minutes.
divinginto
intomuch
muchresearch
researchononthe
thetopic,
topic,IIfound
foundthat
thatthe
the
implementation
implementationof ofmindfulness
mindfulnesspractices
practicesnotnotonly
onlybenefits
benefits
students Students
Studentsengage
engageininaa33toto55minute
minutemindfulness
mindfulness
studentswith
withbehavioral
behavioralandandemotional
emotionalneed,need,butbutall
allstudents
students exercise.
and
andteachers
teachersasaswell.
well.IIbelieve
believethat
thatififwe
wecan
canhelp
helpchildren
childreninin exercise.
our
ourschools
schoolslearn
learntotonavigate
navigatetheir
theiremotions
emotionsand andteach
teachthem
them
healthy The
Theremaining
remainingtime
timeisisspent
spentininopen
opendiscussion,
discussion,
healthyways
waystotomanage
managestress,
stress,wewewill
willhelp
helpthem
themthrive
thrive giving
socially,
socially,emotionally,
emotionally,andandacademically. givingstudents
studentstime
timetotoshare
shareanything
anythingon
ontheir
their
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION academically. minds.
minds.
Research
Researchsuggests
suggeststhat
thatmindfulness
mindfulnessinterventions
interventionsmay
maybebe
beneficial
beneficialfor
forall
allstudents,
students,especially
especiallythose
thosewho
whohave
have
endured
enduredtrauma
traumaororstress.
stress.
More
Morethan
thanhalf
halfof
ofall
allchildren
childrenhave
haveexperienced
experiencedtrauma.
trauma. DESCRIPTION
DESCRIPTIONOF
OFTHE
THE PROCESS
PROCESS
Traumatic
Traumaticandandstressful
stressfulexperiences
experiencescan
cannegatively
negativelyimpact
impact EVALUATION
aastudent's The local news filmed our group and aired a story EVALUATION
student'sbehavior,
behavior,academic
academicperformance,
performance,and
andsocial-
social- This
emotional Thisproject
projectbegan
beganwith
withaameeting
meetingwith
withaaprincipal
principalfrom
fromaalocal
local about the positive impact this program has had on the
emotionalwellbeing.
wellbeing. elementary While
Whilethetheclasses
classesare
arebrief
briefand
andonly
onlytwo
twodays
daysaaweek,
week,II
elementaryschool.
school. elementary school.
Mindfulness
Mindfulnessand
andyoga
yogapractices
practicescan
canhelp
helptotoincrease
increasethe
the believe
believethey
theyhave
havebeen
beenof ofgreat
greatbenefit
benefittotothe
thestudents
students
physical,
physical,emotional,
emotional,social,
social,and
andmental
mentalwell-being
well-beingof ofyoung
young The
Theprincipal
principaland
andIIarranged
arrangedaaschedule
scheduleandandmeeting
meetingplace
placefor
for involved.
involved.This
Thisclass
classisisnot
notaarequirement
requirementfor forthis
thisgroup
groupofof
students.
students. my
mymindfulness
mindfulnessand
andyoga
yogaclasses
classestototake
takeplace.
place. The news story can be seen by visiting: students
studentsbut
butmany
manyof ofthem
themattend
attendevery
everysession.
session.Based
Basedon onthe
the
Children ://kobi5.com/news/yoga-meditation-prove-successful-in- feedback
feedbackIIhave
havereceived
receivedfrom
fromstudents,
students,teachers,
teachers,andandthe
the
Childrencannot
cannotbe
beexpected
expectedtotothrive
thriveacademically
academicallyififthey
they principal,
are The
The principal and two teachers selected twenty 5 thgraders
principal and two teachers selected twenty 5 th
graderstoto medford-classroom-47904 principal,IIcan
canfairly
fairlyconfidently
confidentlyconclude
concludethat thatthis
thisclass
classhas
has
arenot
notemotionally
emotionallybalanced.
/

balanced. helped
participate
participateininthe
theprogram.
program. helpedstudents
studentsbetter
bettermanage
managetheir
theirstress
stressand
andhelped
helpedthem
themtoto
stay
stayfocused
focusedforforlonger
longerperiods
periodsof oftime
timeininclass.
class.
IIbegan
beganleading
leadingmindfulness
mindfulnessandandyoga
yogameetings
meetings atatthis
this
elementary
elementaryschool
schoolininJanuary.
January.IIplan
plantotocontinue
continuewith
withthisthisproject
project
until
untilthe
theend
endof
ofthe
theschool
schoolyear.
year. The Tibetan singing
bowl is a
IImeet
meetwith
withaagroup
groupof
ofstudents
studentstwo
twodays
daysaaweek
weekfor
forfifteen
fifteen great tool for quieting
The
Theimage
imagebelow
belowshows
showsstudents
studentsininTree
TreePose.
Pose.Tree
Tree minutes
minutesininthe
themorning
morningbefore
beforeclass
classbegins.
begins. the mind.
Pose
Poseimproves
improvesfocus
focusand
andcalms
calmsthethemind.
mind. Have students close
their eyes and ask ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
them to listen to the
AAspecial
specialthank
thankyou
youtotothe
thefollowing:
following:
sound of the bowl as
it rings out.
Liz
LizLandon,
Landon,thetheprincipal
principalatatOak
OakGrove
Grove
Elementary
ElementarySchool
Schoolas aswell
wellasasthetheteachers
teachers
involved
involvedininthe
thedevelopment
developmentof ofthis
this
program.
program.
REFLECTION The
Thestudents
studentswho
whoshowed
showedup uptotoeach
eachofofthe
the
REFLECTION
This
Thisexperience
experiencehas
hasrealized
realizedfor
forme
methe
thepositive
positiveimpact
impact meetings
meetingswith
withananopen
openmind
mindand andananopen
open
mindfulness
mindfulnesspractices
practicescan
canhave
haveononour
ouryouth.
youth.Moving
Movingforward,
forward,II heart.
heart.
The
Theabove
aboveimage
imageshows
showsstudents
studentsengaging
engagingininChilds
ChildsPose.
Pose. will The
willbe
bean
anadvocate
advocatefor
forthe
theimplementation
implementationof ofmindfulness
mindfulnessinin TheSOU
SOUSchool
Schoolof ofEducation
Education
This
Thispose
posehelps
helpstotoreduce
reducestress
stressand
andfatigue.
fatigue. schools.
schools.IIhave
haveplans
planstotointegrate
integratemany
manyof ofthese
thesetechniques
techniquesinto
into
the
thecurriculum
curriculumof ofmy
myfuture
futureclassroom.
classroom.