Mindfulness is not just another fancy word that we now often use to reflect a state of calmness through colouring and yoga exercises. It involves a simple, undistracted awareness of what is happening in the now, shifting our focus with openness, kindness and inquisitiveness. It is about being aware of what is happening with our emotions as well as the things around us. Some may say that it is to dive deep into self-awareness without tuning out from the "now" moments. Being mindful can be quite a challenge for young kids, and well, sometimes for adults like you and me too.
For the last six weeks, I have been combating with some friendship wars happening in my class, well pretty much because they are already in that pre-teenagehood phase. What made it even more challenging was (and still is) the parents. Nothing new right, adults, we tend to complicate things that what they appear to be. Hours and hours were spent on meeting parents and students that were involved in the situation... meeting my supervisor, counsellor, and head of school... exploring and brainstorming about the situation... writing meeting minutes and incident reports...
We have definitely seen some improvements from the kids and how they interact with one another, but both sides of parents have made it very clear with me that they are never going to talk to one another because of various reasons although I painted the impression that they are still going to be classmates in the next academic year, and they will still cross path when it comes to collaborating for our class and school events. However, they would love to work with me to groom their child's learning development at school, separately. I was like...
... I remembered my heart was just shattered after listening to their strong statements after our parent-teacher conferences weeks ago. I felt like I have not done it right for them, and most importantly, for their kids. These two kids used to be the bestest friends of all previously, but something external (I will not share it here) shifted the dynamics and since then, both families find it difficult to see eye to eye on most things. I will be honest with you, for a couple of days, it was so difficult waking up early in the morning to go to work, and I was beating myself up about the situation internally.
While coffee cups sure did its usual magic as mood boosters at work, I had my AHA moment! I asked myself a lot in this period of reflecting on my teaching practice, and it came down to this ultimate question, "What is the missing piece?". Then, I came across this video on YouTube after my lunch break, one day.
That missing piece was MINDFULNESS!
I guess, I may not have emphasized mindfulness enough in my classroom practice over the many years of teaching. Similar strategies to promote mindfulness have been used and adopted, but I really have not introduced a deeper concept of mindfulness to my students, and how significant it is. Well, it is never too late for me to grow as a better educator! Wanna know what I did next, and have been doing up to this point? Stay tuned for my next post!
