The mindful teacher

Educator and journalist Meena Srinivasan, has written a wonderful new book called, Teach, Breathe, Learn (Parallax  Press, 2014) . Meena began her career in journalism, eventually switching over to education. Now she works for the Oakland Unified School district for their  SEL (social and emotional learning) and Leadership development initiative. I've had the good fortune to sit in on several of Meena's workshops through the Mindfulness in Education conferences. Meena is a compassionate and skillful leader, and it is very clear that her mindfulness practice and teaching come from deep within. Teach, Breathe, Learn is a comprehensive guide for teachers or anyone who works in an educational setting. It is organized in the style of a formal curriculum manual, including lesson plans and student handouts. Although Meena has a wealth of experience to share, she writes with a humility and honesty which I appreciate. Personal stories are woven throughout the more formal les...

Listening to Sam Harris is like drinking a strong cup of black coffee. Or splashing your face with ice water. Or it's  like cleaning your glasses after looking through smudged lenses for two weeks. Pick your metaphor.  Whether you agree with him or not , the man gets your attention, and is one of the most articulate thinkers of our generation.   I have read and listened to  his talks for several years, in his role as a philosopher and religious critic, but only recently have I  become aware of his interest in spirituality  and meditation. In his latest book, Waking Up , he outlines the possibility of a secular, scientific approach to mindfulness and spirituality. And as usual for Harris , it makes for fascinating reading.  But  this book isn't for the faint of heart, and I would recommend beginners in meditation to start elsewhere (Say,  with the work of Jon Kabat -Zinn or Mark Williams), or with a live teacher. He gets into some detailed and...

True Williams (1839-1897) [Public domain] Once in a while every teacher has a day  when things just  spiral  out of control. Maybe it's one class... maybe it seems like the whole day is crazy. W e have a cold or don't feel one-hundred percent; maybe  we had little sleep the night before. Students are suddenly pulled out for a photo session. Nothing seems to go according to plan.  This happened to me recently.  A class that was challenging- but manageable- suddenly seemed to slip from my fingers. Several students were transferred to my class on the same day, in the middle of a lesson . A teacher's worst nightmare. Things felt out of control. I felt out of control. Emotions were flaring in me that, thankfully, are rare  these days.  When this happens, we often move into "fix-it" mode.  Move some seats; call home; check with the counselors; change the lesson plan; fill out forms for the office; yell; assert yourself; give stern l...

enso by Tim Iverson Perfectionism is one of the  hazards  of teaching. Most  teachers I know work extremely hard, holding themselves to high standards, as well as their students. At times, this is a good thing, while at  other times, it can become too much. The website Health.com ranks teaching as one of the 10 professions with high rates of depression. Expectations keep rising across the board, with many teachers struggling with heavy loads.  And unfortunately, mindfulness can  feed into this process.... " I should be mindful all the time."  "I need to always be happy and kind." "I should be more present" "I'm not doing this right."  With a personal mindfulness practice, we create the intention to be more kind and aware. Who could argue with that? But when mindfulness becomes  a strain, an ideal or another  "should",  it becomes an additional means of self-criticism and pressure. And that's not what mindfulness...

This is a guest post from Vickie Woehrle I know that there are many stressful professions in the world today, but I have to think that teaching ranks at least in the top 10.  I have been in teaching for 18 years and I realized a few years ago that if I was going to have longevity in this career, I needed to develop some strategies to manage the stress.  Thankfully my colleague introduced me to the concept of mindfulness. For me it started as a kid-focused initiative. There is no doubt that this practice is beneficial for our students, and I encourage everyone to incorporate it into their classroom repertoire.  It has the ability to have a profound effect on classroom culture, with the hope that it will also work its magic in the lives of students outside of the school day.   I would use mindfulness on a daily basis with my homeroom students.  I found my students bought into the guided imagery practice the most.  Mindfulness takes practice and patience,...

Years ago I picked up the classic book, “ The Elements of Style ”, by William Strunk Jr., and E. B.  White.  This  short manual has guided English majors for decades. Originally self-published by William Strunk Jr., an English professor at Cornell, it was combined with style hints by E. B.  White in 1957, and  it evolved into its now classic form. I fell in love with  its clarity and brevity, and its wisdom has guided my writing  for the past 30 years. But I always sensed that  The Elements of Style was much more than a guide to writing, that in a way, it was a guide to wise thinking and living. And my mindfulness practice has given me a whole new lens with which to view this iconic work. Here are just a few of the tips from this book, which could also be suggestions for a mindful approach to life.  On page 70, White says,  " Place yourself in the background.” Isn’t this the core of most wisdom teachings, to recognize that we are not t...