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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. Here's what he says: 

"Last year, I had a number of kids who had a hard time focusing during Brain Breaks. They  liked to look around the room and try to catch the attention of others or to embarrass those who were participating. To prevent them from distracting others, eventually I required that students who don't wish to participate put their heads down on their desks. 

What I noticed is that several of the students did actually participate from a head's-down position. For example, if the recording asked them to make a fist, I often saw them doing it. 

My theory is that by allowing them to look as if they were opting out, it actually gave them an opportunity to participate without drawing attention to themselves.  

Who knows how much the distractors  participated, but at least the rest of us could enjoy the break without feeling like someone was staring and laughing.




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