AP Corner

Mindfulness

As the clock ticks down toward winter break, one of the things I would like to push all of us on (myself included) is in practicing mindfulness. One of the ways in which mindfulness challenges us is in whether we choose to react or respond to students, parents, and one another.

Although these two words seem closely related, they are in fact, quite different. When we react, we let our emotions take a central role. We are triggered. For example, I hate the sound of water bottles crunching. When a student in my classroom started to crunch their water bottle, I could feel myself react. I would glare at the child, grab the water bottle, and even though I tried use a calm tone of voice, I demanded of the child. Because I always told my students how much I hated that noise, I was certain that this child was doing it just to annoy me, which hurt my feelings and made me feel ineffective, which triggered me, and so on.... until I had completely lost control of the situation. 

On the other hand, if I had taken the time to manage my emotions and respond to the student, the outcome would have been completely different. If I had taken a deep breath, thought about what I can control (my response) and responded the child, I would have had a brief conversation with the student. I would have said, "Hey, I'm not certain you remember, but at the start of the year, I told everyone I hated that sound. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. Could you please stop?" and then walked away. When my emotions aren't involved, my responses are so much more clear and purposeful for students. 

We can't control everything, but what we can control is our own emotional reactions to students. How do we take our emotions out of our responses? Mindfulness. Here are some great tips from an article on mindful practice:

https://www.thindifference.com/2013/03/a-mindful-difference-respond-vs-react/