Mindfulness for teacher stress on MPR

Nice story on Minnesota Public Radio about teachers dealing with their own stress at the beginning of the school year. It features an interview with Lisa Flook of The University of Wisconsin, Madison. U-W Madison has a strong research program exploring the impact of mindfulness and compassion programs in Madison area public schools. Link: http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/09/02/teachers

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Exploration Day: Art from Within

On Friday of this week, our entire school took a break from our normal schedule, and instituted a day of "exploration." Teachers were asked to prepare lessons outside of their normal curriculum, and we offered everything from mask-making to "reading cafe," cooking, "Shrinky Dinks," one-act plays, thoughtful movie watching, and even a trip to the local police station (and much more). Although it was a ...

Working skillfully with the teenage mind

Mindfulness in the classroom sounds like a good idea on paper. Take a break. Let kids breathe. Listen to the bell. Follow your thoughts. Simple, right? Maybe... or maybe not. Anyone who has worked with teenagers knows that even the best lesson plan can go awry, or that a teacher can encounter unexpected resistance from unexpected quarters. Then the teacher is dealing with the resistance of the student, and possibly, their own irritation at the student's "misbehavior." Resisting resistance! Jeremy Squires is a veteran social studies teacher at Highview, and recently shared how he deals with students who don't want to "follow the program" during mindfulness time (also called, "brain break"). Paradoxically, he found, by allowing kids to opt out of the exercise, it gave them permission to participate-while letting them save face in the process. His discovery also reminds us of the self-consciousness that many kids feel at this age. He...

Helping teachers survive in- and out of- the classroom

I sometimes have a fantasy that I will be exiled to a deserted island, and that I can only take with me a handful of books. What would I choose?.... Fun to think about... Of course, with e-readers and smart phones able to hold thousands of titles, that prospect is a bit less problematic... But, if I ever do pare down my books, this one, "The Well-Balanced Teacher", by Mike Anderson, would make the cut. (ASCD books, 2010). I picked it up a few years ago, and liked it so much that I ordered several more copies for our staff. I found myself again trotting it out this past week, reading over the highlighted pages. Although I've been in the classroom 20 years, workshop week is always a challenging time for me emotionally. Rising expectations and digital complexity are simply facts for most teachers today. And, we are so much more sophisticated and informed about so many issues, that our mental plates are nearly always overflowing. (Which reminds me about a teacher I once h...

The mindful teacher

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