Meditation and readiness to learn

My intention for this was that if my students were to engage in 5-10 minutes of quiet meditation daily, they will be more ready to learn, it would give them an outlet for issues that arise during recess, and give them tools to regulate their own emotions as per the Zones of Regulation. 

To begin, I talked to the classroom associate teacher and another faculty member to find their thoughts on bringing meditation into the classroom. Both were on board.

There are many avenues to practicing meditation in schools. There are read aloud picture books, worksheets, videos, teacher prompts and many more. I narrowed in to using some videos on a credible site, GoNoodle, and printing some teacher prompts to read aloud as guided meditation.

When I asked the students how they felt before and after meditation, they always reported feeling more relaxed and in a space of peace. A few of them would always answer that they felt like they wanted to sleep post mediation. This was very interesting as the students who reported that were often the ones who were hyperactive. These were the students that had more trouble focusing and held their energy more. In discussion with the teachers in the room, they often felt the meditation helped initially. They noticed a change in the student’s behaviour as they were more still and less interruptive with their own off-track thoughts. 

For other teachers to incorporate meditation and mindfulness in their classrooms, I would urge them to go through the same trial and error process I did. The read-aloud guided meditations worked best for my class, but others may not achieve the same level of calm if they are not moving. It will be important for any teacher trying to install meditative practices to remember that not one type of practice will work for every student or every adult. The goal is for students to use these skills in later life, therefore as teachers, we need to expose them to many types of mindfulness practices, and they can find one that works well for them.

We as teachers do need to continually learn and develop over our careers. It is important for teachers to discuss and share knowledge, as it is impossible to keep up on best practices alone while teaching full time. My professional learning in mindfulness has sparked my interest for more. I will keep these activities I used as ‘back pocket’ ideas for supply teaching and reflect back on which ones were better for the ages and make up of different classrooms.