It’s a little crazy how frequently classroom management articles have some application to my own life. Recently, I started Googling how to calm students and stumbled upon a bunch of blogs about mindfulness.
Mindfulness: a state of being aware of the present; what is happening right now
Holy cow, do I STINK at being mindful. I spend all my time looking back at something I’ve done or looking forward to something that’s going to happen. And I have no idea how to focus on what’s going on now. So I’m going to use some of these classroom tips today in my office! Here are some of my favorite ways to calm students and encourage them to be mindful.
-
Take mini breaks where students focus on their breathing and the feel of their feet touching the floor.
-
Encourage students to use all their senses when they gather information.
-
Have students stretch. As they do, prompt them to focus on their limbs getting longer and stronger.
-
Model to students how to be patient. Give wait time and encourage them to think about problems.
-
Fill a bottle with oil and tinted water. Shake it up and then have students relax as they watch the mixture settle.
-
Prompt students to close their eyes and focus on the sounds in the classroom.
How would you encourage students to focus on the “now” in your classroom?
I have my students pretend to create a very big balloon. Then we imagine, with our hands above our head, letting that balloon sail up into the sky. It is amazing how even the younger students can benefit from this activity.
To calm children down in my classroom I like to play the song Be A Star (I don’t know the name of the singer.) It talks about children getting very angry, and to stop anger in its track, you STOP take a deep breath and relax. Children ask me to play it again and it calms them down. I’ve even heard them during free play when others are getting angry, they say, “Just stop, take a deep breath and relax.”