I'm choosing to highlight this conversation that I had with a staff member because of this unique name put to a topic that is not entirely new. Providing students with some academic choice, especially around project based learning, is something that I have tried to do in my classroom for years. My understanding of this idea of negotiated curriculum is giving students say in where this mindfulness planning goes. At first I was explaining how I was going to provide the list of techniques for students to draw from for mindfulness times. I was asked about how I could include students' current wonderings and knowledge? How could they help drive what is taught based on what they know and express the need for?
This use of current student knowledge can be a connection to the diverse experiences that students bring to class from their families. What do families already do that could be used in class? What conversations and language do families have already in place that could be connected to the learning in class? How can family needs be connected to the planning for this work?
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Thursday, June 29, 2017
MGI 2017 Reflection Day 4
Day Four at the Institute
To quote the good ol' Grateful Dead, "Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right!" After the Team Meeting I found myself feeling like I had learned from talking and sharing with my partner. I realize I am quick to take on something, only to find myself at some point later falling short of my vision that I started with. Out of fear? Lack of commitment? Because I took on something else interesting? I stop before taking the new task to a higher level. How does that relate to this project this year? Last year I fell short of being able to present my project in January. Sure there were lots of factors...but how can I do things differently this year? With the project and with my personal life? No answers at this point. Is that realization enough as a starting point?
Another "getting shown the light" time happened soon after that "a ha" this morning. I started talking with a teacher who works in the same SU. We spent a good deal of time processing the year and talking about what went down in our respective schools, celebrations and challenges. Eventually the conversation turned to our project ideas, and when I mentioned mindfulness she lit up! She said she has been intentionally doing that for several years in her classroom. I began asking lots of questions and summarize here:
- Yoga For Classrooms - This card deck has a large number and variety of mindfulness meets yoga activities. She swears by it!
- How does she build this intentional practice in? Morning Meeting. After recess. I see it happening after our snack and movement break.
- Sounds like we had a similar year with the dispositions of our students. What to do with the disengaged? They can desk rest or do another quiet mindful task
- Mindfulness in her classroom can be doodling, drawing, writing. That was refreshing and helps me understand the importance I realized yesterday that I need to let the students design this curriculum with me!
- Are other students distracting you? Ignore them and remind the others that is why we are practicing this! To be able to focus amidst the distractions!
- Books for resources! - Taming Your Dragons and other anxiety and stress reduction books for children
1:15 Workshop
I decided I needed some hands on time in the Maker Space so I went to Lucie's workshop. I had to take my foot out of my mouth first after yesterday when I shared out that I hated Maker Space stuff. That was surely me showing off my discomfort with the idea of working with such tools. It also was evidence of my fear in that I have no idea how to incorporate something like this into my classroom. Luckily at my school we have a whole room with a teacher dedicated to this kind of enrichment. But I realize after this session that Maker Materials, like technology or science, needs to be integrated and not a stand alone event. Well, this is not in the near future for me perhaps, but I see the need to meet the variety of learners in my classroom. Students with a variety of interests and means of expression of their knowledge should have this access. Students come from a diversity of backgrounds and learn in countless ways, so giving them access to makes sense, it's now a question of where to start. Lucie advocated strongly for having the "Makey Makey" kits if you had to start someplace!
Afternoon Work Session
I found yet another sweet nook to work in. It was quiet for most of the time...I feel I made good progress on my Research Plan. I decided to leave the reading and rationale part for now and really hash out a calendar of implementation. I feel very different from previous years in that I feel I have so many ideas of lessons and tools to implement for this plan. I didn't want to put all of it in September for fear of overload. I made a conscious decision to use some newer resources and instruction earlier, and then include the resources that I have used in the past later in the semester. I decided to do that because if I force myself to do the instruction that is new to me first, I feel that I will be more accountable to my plan.
Take a look at the Research Plan
To quote the good ol' Grateful Dead, "Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right!" After the Team Meeting I found myself feeling like I had learned from talking and sharing with my partner. I realize I am quick to take on something, only to find myself at some point later falling short of my vision that I started with. Out of fear? Lack of commitment? Because I took on something else interesting? I stop before taking the new task to a higher level. How does that relate to this project this year? Last year I fell short of being able to present my project in January. Sure there were lots of factors...but how can I do things differently this year? With the project and with my personal life? No answers at this point. Is that realization enough as a starting point?
Another "getting shown the light" time happened soon after that "a ha" this morning. I started talking with a teacher who works in the same SU. We spent a good deal of time processing the year and talking about what went down in our respective schools, celebrations and challenges. Eventually the conversation turned to our project ideas, and when I mentioned mindfulness she lit up! She said she has been intentionally doing that for several years in her classroom. I began asking lots of questions and summarize here:
- Yoga For Classrooms - This card deck has a large number and variety of mindfulness meets yoga activities. She swears by it!
- How does she build this intentional practice in? Morning Meeting. After recess. I see it happening after our snack and movement break.
- Sounds like we had a similar year with the dispositions of our students. What to do with the disengaged? They can desk rest or do another quiet mindful task
- Mindfulness in her classroom can be doodling, drawing, writing. That was refreshing and helps me understand the importance I realized yesterday that I need to let the students design this curriculum with me!
- Are other students distracting you? Ignore them and remind the others that is why we are practicing this! To be able to focus amidst the distractions!
- Books for resources! - Taming Your Dragons and other anxiety and stress reduction books for children
1:15 Workshop
I decided I needed some hands on time in the Maker Space so I went to Lucie's workshop. I had to take my foot out of my mouth first after yesterday when I shared out that I hated Maker Space stuff. That was surely me showing off my discomfort with the idea of working with such tools. It also was evidence of my fear in that I have no idea how to incorporate something like this into my classroom. Luckily at my school we have a whole room with a teacher dedicated to this kind of enrichment. But I realize after this session that Maker Materials, like technology or science, needs to be integrated and not a stand alone event. Well, this is not in the near future for me perhaps, but I see the need to meet the variety of learners in my classroom. Students with a variety of interests and means of expression of their knowledge should have this access. Students come from a diversity of backgrounds and learn in countless ways, so giving them access to makes sense, it's now a question of where to start. Lucie advocated strongly for having the "Makey Makey" kits if you had to start someplace!
Afternoon Work Session
I found yet another sweet nook to work in. It was quiet for most of the time...I feel I made good progress on my Research Plan. I decided to leave the reading and rationale part for now and really hash out a calendar of implementation. I feel very different from previous years in that I feel I have so many ideas of lessons and tools to implement for this plan. I didn't want to put all of it in September for fear of overload. I made a conscious decision to use some newer resources and instruction earlier, and then include the resources that I have used in the past later in the semester. I decided to do that because if I force myself to do the instruction that is new to me first, I feel that I will be more accountable to my plan.
Take a look at the Research Plan
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
MGI 2017 Day 3
Starting to feel the pressure a bit of getting some serious reading done. Looking forward to more student consults as yesterday really gave me some ideas about implementation of mindfulness in the classroom. Here we go...
Morning Work Session
I'm glad to have bookmarked articles from a module that I wanted to read. I feel that they supported my thinking about why I wanted to go in this direction with my research. It feels more comfortable to have dabbled in this previous years, and encouraging to think that I am going to be more intentional about it this Fall. I have written several paragraphs of the rationale and need to move into the Mindfulness module soon...student conferring is first.
Student Conferring
Kind of a different session... I think I went in looking for some specific answers from the students and I didn't get it. I am thinking that was information enough in the end! I was hoping to hear what those students had been taught about mindfulness and what tools they had to use when the need arose. One student talked about guided sessions, while the others didn't have much to add. That leads me to think that perhaps they hadn't been taught. More justification for my plan...?
I found it interesting that the students did have something to add about what they wanted. Breathing times, music being played by the teacher, listening to music of their own choice, a break table with relaxing options.
Short Conversation with Pete
We planned time for a quick chat. Hadn't shared my plan with him yet. I shared the evolution of my plan from mindfulness and resiliency towards my current plan of intentional mindfulness. I have been thinking of doing lots of direct instruction of techniques hoping that it would help them create a menu of options for use as needed. He came at me with the idea of starting the "unit" by asking the students to generate questions that would ultimately lead THEM to designing their own set of tools. I made this visual:
Lunch
No, this is not about the food. The usual "Where do I sit" feeling hits right after I filled my plate. I headed to a familiar face from the Team and got to meet another person. That seems to be the theme here and what keeps me coming back. The unexpected conversations you have that help add clarity. This time it was not just for me, but for helping others find clarity. We got on the mindfulness theme and I shared my idea, and it was so interesting to hear what the others had to say. I am thinking of mindfulness for my age group as a way to bring the energy down. That is still engagement, right? One of the other people was taking the stance that mindfulness was to CREATE energy. To help students look deeper at themselves. In the end...that's kind of the same thing?
1:15 Workshop - Using Digital Media with Pete
mediatools.vt.weebly.com
Path of creation - give many roles
What are you trying to say...
Storyboard...
Media...
Music...
Creation...
Edit...
I tend to gravitate towards video workshops. I have done a bit in my classes. I have done more using digital tools for students to create screencast videos that explain learning. How will I include video making next year? Can I branch away from familiar tools and go towards full video? Could they be creating video about their mindfulness tools and practice?
Project Status
I'm feeling in a good place about my project. I have a concise question to research and I'm believing that there is a concrete space for it next year in my curriculum. My teammates are on board, and we have made time in our day for this explicit instruction. I have been wading through the brain research readings, adding them to my rationale. I need to get moving towards the mindfulness work, using both the module and the presentation that was shared with me today (Thanks Life). Here's a link to the project plan
Take a look if you wish...
Morning Work Session
I'm glad to have bookmarked articles from a module that I wanted to read. I feel that they supported my thinking about why I wanted to go in this direction with my research. It feels more comfortable to have dabbled in this previous years, and encouraging to think that I am going to be more intentional about it this Fall. I have written several paragraphs of the rationale and need to move into the Mindfulness module soon...student conferring is first.
Student Conferring
Kind of a different session... I think I went in looking for some specific answers from the students and I didn't get it. I am thinking that was information enough in the end! I was hoping to hear what those students had been taught about mindfulness and what tools they had to use when the need arose. One student talked about guided sessions, while the others didn't have much to add. That leads me to think that perhaps they hadn't been taught. More justification for my plan...?
I found it interesting that the students did have something to add about what they wanted. Breathing times, music being played by the teacher, listening to music of their own choice, a break table with relaxing options.
Short Conversation with Pete
We planned time for a quick chat. Hadn't shared my plan with him yet. I shared the evolution of my plan from mindfulness and resiliency towards my current plan of intentional mindfulness. I have been thinking of doing lots of direct instruction of techniques hoping that it would help them create a menu of options for use as needed. He came at me with the idea of starting the "unit" by asking the students to generate questions that would ultimately lead THEM to designing their own set of tools. I made this visual:
Lunch
No, this is not about the food. The usual "Where do I sit" feeling hits right after I filled my plate. I headed to a familiar face from the Team and got to meet another person. That seems to be the theme here and what keeps me coming back. The unexpected conversations you have that help add clarity. This time it was not just for me, but for helping others find clarity. We got on the mindfulness theme and I shared my idea, and it was so interesting to hear what the others had to say. I am thinking of mindfulness for my age group as a way to bring the energy down. That is still engagement, right? One of the other people was taking the stance that mindfulness was to CREATE energy. To help students look deeper at themselves. In the end...that's kind of the same thing?
1:15 Workshop - Using Digital Media with Pete
mediatools.vt.weebly.com
Path of creation - give many roles
What are you trying to say...
Storyboard...
Media...
Music...
Creation...
Edit...
I tend to gravitate towards video workshops. I have done a bit in my classes. I have done more using digital tools for students to create screencast videos that explain learning. How will I include video making next year? Can I branch away from familiar tools and go towards full video? Could they be creating video about their mindfulness tools and practice?
Project Status
I'm feeling in a good place about my project. I have a concise question to research and I'm believing that there is a concrete space for it next year in my curriculum. My teammates are on board, and we have made time in our day for this explicit instruction. I have been wading through the brain research readings, adding them to my rationale. I need to get moving towards the mindfulness work, using both the module and the presentation that was shared with me today (Thanks Life). Here's a link to the project plan
Take a look if you wish...
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
MGI 17 Day Two
Town Meeting/Team Meeting
As I continue day 2 of thinking about this mindfulness and resiliency idea, I am happy that my existing structure in my classroom includes Morning Meeting. I have a personal love of music, and I have enjoyed the way each morning starts with music. I need to do more music in my classroom. As I ease students into the idea that mindfulness is not meditation (why do kids feel the need to get in the meditation pose?), music seems like a great way to start the process.
Growth Mindset Post from last year - I'm including this so I have the notes on Growth Mindset but I still really want to identify and focus on the word Resiliency. Ok, so now at the end of the day this has changed. I have addressed this at the end of this post!
Student Chat
I met with 3 students, Tulasha, Skylar, and Cameron about how mindfulness and growth mindset happened in their schools. Some highlights:
Resources they mentioned: Second Step, Mind Yeti, Class Dojo - I have used Mind Yeti though my class was more fond of GoNoodle which has a mindfulness channel
Sitting or lying down for mindfulness was most common. Music was used in some of the cases. I joked about how my students seem to have to get in a meditation pose, and only one of them joked about it, the others said their classmates don't do that.
One student talked about the benefit of music during assessments - that seems like a good extension to cue relaxation.
I asked them if they felt that it helped them or if they had even been given surveys or done writing about it. They said they hadn't. That led me to telling them that I was going to have to do that, so what should I ask?
Does it help you stay focused? Relaxed? Sleepy? Calm?
I need to do some survey creation later this week
I asked them if they used Mindfulness strategies when they felt frustrated about work or friends. They said they did not.
I asked them what they knew about Growth Mindset. I got the response that I had been expecting since it is so commonly used in schools. They had the answers about it but not the interest and enthusiasm about it helping them through stuck points.
Sooo...does that support my idea of using resiliency? They didn't even know what it meant!
I think that connecting mindfulness strategies to their social and academic world would be a good next step since it seems they hadn't internalized that.
1:15 Strand Session - What Young Adolescents Need Most
Nancy started with having us recall specific memories from Middle School - all but one of us shared social interactions and social stressors
There is no such thing as a 12 year old...meaning the growth and development is so drastically different and incredibly asynchronous
The importance of building relationships
Article from Session - Listening to the voices of young adolescents
- don't single us out
- get to know how I learn and how I want to present what I know
- not ready to think of others and the greater community yet
- create trust and safety for us
- hands on learning
I feel that my work in Elementary School has me understanding this idea of meeting students where they are and building relationships very well. I take great pride in my ability to build relationships with children and their families and meet their individual needs. I realize there are big differences in where the students are developmentally, but I was struck by how the voices of the students in the article match what I strive to do in my class.
Closing Team Meeting
The Table Talk really helped me narrow my thinking for my Action Research. I was thinking big as I usually do when it comes to these things, and combining two big topics. I was thinking that I would teach mindfulness strategies in an effort to increase the "menu" of tools students could use to refocus. I was then thinking of connecting that to resiliency, in hopes that mindfulness activities could be used to help a student be more resilient. Thanks again, Life, for helping me narrow my focus to one topic that can be researched. I have now changed my question to be how mindfulness can improve student engagement. I hope to connect it to the Growth Mindset work I do, but it won't be included in the research.
As I continue day 2 of thinking about this mindfulness and resiliency idea, I am happy that my existing structure in my classroom includes Morning Meeting. I have a personal love of music, and I have enjoyed the way each morning starts with music. I need to do more music in my classroom. As I ease students into the idea that mindfulness is not meditation (why do kids feel the need to get in the meditation pose?), music seems like a great way to start the process.
Growth Mindset Post from last year - I'm including this so I have the notes on Growth Mindset but I still really want to identify and focus on the word Resiliency. Ok, so now at the end of the day this has changed. I have addressed this at the end of this post!
Student Chat
I met with 3 students, Tulasha, Skylar, and Cameron about how mindfulness and growth mindset happened in their schools. Some highlights:
Resources they mentioned: Second Step, Mind Yeti, Class Dojo - I have used Mind Yeti though my class was more fond of GoNoodle which has a mindfulness channel
Sitting or lying down for mindfulness was most common. Music was used in some of the cases. I joked about how my students seem to have to get in a meditation pose, and only one of them joked about it, the others said their classmates don't do that.
One student talked about the benefit of music during assessments - that seems like a good extension to cue relaxation.
I asked them if they felt that it helped them or if they had even been given surveys or done writing about it. They said they hadn't. That led me to telling them that I was going to have to do that, so what should I ask?
Does it help you stay focused? Relaxed? Sleepy? Calm?
I need to do some survey creation later this week
I asked them if they used Mindfulness strategies when they felt frustrated about work or friends. They said they did not.
I asked them what they knew about Growth Mindset. I got the response that I had been expecting since it is so commonly used in schools. They had the answers about it but not the interest and enthusiasm about it helping them through stuck points.
Sooo...does that support my idea of using resiliency? They didn't even know what it meant!
I think that connecting mindfulness strategies to their social and academic world would be a good next step since it seems they hadn't internalized that.
1:15 Strand Session - What Young Adolescents Need Most
Nancy started with having us recall specific memories from Middle School - all but one of us shared social interactions and social stressors
There is no such thing as a 12 year old...meaning the growth and development is so drastically different and incredibly asynchronous
The importance of building relationships
Article from Session - Listening to the voices of young adolescents
- don't single us out
- get to know how I learn and how I want to present what I know
- not ready to think of others and the greater community yet
- create trust and safety for us
- hands on learning
I feel that my work in Elementary School has me understanding this idea of meeting students where they are and building relationships very well. I take great pride in my ability to build relationships with children and their families and meet their individual needs. I realize there are big differences in where the students are developmentally, but I was struck by how the voices of the students in the article match what I strive to do in my class.
Closing Team Meeting
The Table Talk really helped me narrow my thinking for my Action Research. I was thinking big as I usually do when it comes to these things, and combining two big topics. I was thinking that I would teach mindfulness strategies in an effort to increase the "menu" of tools students could use to refocus. I was then thinking of connecting that to resiliency, in hopes that mindfulness activities could be used to help a student be more resilient. Thanks again, Life, for helping me narrow my focus to one topic that can be researched. I have now changed my question to be how mindfulness can improve student engagement. I hope to connect it to the Growth Mindset work I do, but it won't be included in the research.
Monday, June 26, 2017
MGI 17 Day 1
It's nice to be local this year, although it has a different feel than the "college-like" institutes of the previous years where I was staying in the dorms. It will be nice to have my own bed! I look forward to continuing the connections that have evolved over the past few years.
My strand this year is Nature and Needs of the Young Adolescent. I chose this one because of the Vision work we did as a evolving Team this spring. Having come out of a very difficult year with a large number of socially and emotionally needy students, I brought up to my teaching partners that we put in our Vision/Philosophy to explicitly teach movement, mindfulness, and resiliency strategies. So much of the work I did last school year was in managing that aspect of my students, even more than the academic content. I successfully brought intentional movement into the classroom, but bringing students down in preparation for learning proved more difficult. I tried a number of resources, some I learned about at the MGI share out in January, but with a lack of structure, plan and approach. I found that it is easy to get children moving, but how best to get them mentally and physically ready remains a challenge. I had a large number of students who were new to my classroom, which was different for me in a multi-age classroom. The amount of social anxiety was large, and these situations often interrupted learning. As a result of the challenging year I had, I have decided on this strand and want to focus on investigating the effect of intentional teaching of mindfulness and growth mindset on children's ability to move through uncomfortable learning situations, both socially and academically.
I started my thinking here at MGI by visiting the Brain Based Learning module and quickly found these articles:
Brain Science 1 - Tweens' brains are just that, in between with too little control over what they get to do in their lives. Teach them about brain science and give them some control!
Brain Science Article 2 - this was the article linked in the module but it quickly took me to the two others. This is the science. The vocabulary that identifies the regions and what they do.
Brain Science 3 - this article gives a number of interesting strategies for keeping the brains of students ready
I can see making a map of the brain and labeling...
I can see creating flowcharts that show the path of information - where could it go? Where do you want it to go?
I can see pushing the idea that the brain is malleable - like a car we can style it out! What will we make your brain look like?
This is not my first time getting into this concept, and I do look forward tomorrow to doing more reading and starting to hash out a timeline of how to teach this. Then next step is to find out more about how to build flexibility and resiliency.
My strand this year is Nature and Needs of the Young Adolescent. I chose this one because of the Vision work we did as a evolving Team this spring. Having come out of a very difficult year with a large number of socially and emotionally needy students, I brought up to my teaching partners that we put in our Vision/Philosophy to explicitly teach movement, mindfulness, and resiliency strategies. So much of the work I did last school year was in managing that aspect of my students, even more than the academic content. I successfully brought intentional movement into the classroom, but bringing students down in preparation for learning proved more difficult. I tried a number of resources, some I learned about at the MGI share out in January, but with a lack of structure, plan and approach. I found that it is easy to get children moving, but how best to get them mentally and physically ready remains a challenge. I had a large number of students who were new to my classroom, which was different for me in a multi-age classroom. The amount of social anxiety was large, and these situations often interrupted learning. As a result of the challenging year I had, I have decided on this strand and want to focus on investigating the effect of intentional teaching of mindfulness and growth mindset on children's ability to move through uncomfortable learning situations, both socially and academically.
I started my thinking here at MGI by visiting the Brain Based Learning module and quickly found these articles:
Brain Science 1 - Tweens' brains are just that, in between with too little control over what they get to do in their lives. Teach them about brain science and give them some control!
Brain Science Article 2 - this was the article linked in the module but it quickly took me to the two others. This is the science. The vocabulary that identifies the regions and what they do.
Brain Science 3 - this article gives a number of interesting strategies for keeping the brains of students ready
I can see making a map of the brain and labeling...
I can see creating flowcharts that show the path of information - where could it go? Where do you want it to go?
I can see pushing the idea that the brain is malleable - like a car we can style it out! What will we make your brain look like?
This is not my first time getting into this concept, and I do look forward tomorrow to doing more reading and starting to hash out a timeline of how to teach this. Then next step is to find out more about how to build flexibility and resiliency.
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Mindfulness Matters - Winter MGI Conference Session 1
In an attempt to find something that may be immediately useful in my current teaching with my current class, I have passed over the PLP session and ended up here.
Secular Mindfulness - not attached to religion and religious practices?
Mind Full vs Mindful!
Mindful Schools - http://www.mindfulschools.org/
Create Space! Stop and Breathe!
Emotional Traffic Jam!
Calm.com
Students reported they liked the guided mindfulness better than self directed.
Do it a min or so at the end of each class to assist with the transition
Secular Mindfulness - not attached to religion and religious practices?
Mind Full vs Mindful!
Mindful Schools - http://www.mindfulschools.org/
Create Space! Stop and Breathe!
Emotional Traffic Jam!
Calm.com
Students reported they liked the guided mindfulness better than self directed.
Do it a min or so at the end of each class to assist with the transition
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