MINDFULNESS Knowing ourselves from the inside out

How do you make mental health a normalised conversation that anyone of any age can have at any time? For us in our class it was about repetition and about the language. As a class, our morning goals very quickly became our norm and pupils were forthcoming in what they wanted to share. We then turned to the language. Certain language unintentionally can contribute toward reinforcing negative connotations, behaviour and stigma. We began to look out sharing our goals while only using positive language. For example a pupil may have originally said:

"I won't distract the people around me."

As a class we decided that was focusing on the negative and came up with a few other ways of saying something of similar meaning:

"I will focus on my own work"

"I will respect my classmates by working to the best of my ability"

"I will sit beside people who I work well with."

These small changes to language within our goal setting  had a profound impact on how the pupils carried themselves throughout the day. The outwardly positive language reshaped dynamics within the classroom for the better. Pupils were beginning to pay attention to the words used throughout the day and were even noticing the words I used in certain situations. It created many class discussions where we spent time to reflect on the words we were using and what  impact that had on our inner dialogue'. 

 

Pupils started to understand the power of pausing for a couple of seconds. Evaluating their thoughts, and thinking,

'Is that hurtful or helpful?'

Why bother with Mental Health in the classroom?

As a beginning teacher in 2019 I moved from Central Otago to Auckland to work with what I considered a 'special population'. Something I couldn't get in abundance living in the South Island of New Zealand. That was working with Māori and Pasifika students. For many reasons, but mainly for my personal interest in mental health. Myself and my area of adolescence have a personal relationship with mental health amongst youth and it is well known to be something that hugely hinders the livelihood of Māori and Pasifika peoples. Namely youth males. My aspirations as a teacher were to give pupils not only the academic skills to progress in life but also social and emotional agency.

Morning Prayer circle

 

Mental health for some people is a loaded word, considered almost taboo because the literacy taught around mental health is quite often unpleasant, perplexing and bleak. However, mental health is multifaceted and under an education lens it is about providing positive experiences that provide a child's sense of self-worth and development. We learn our interactions from parents and adults around us. By the age of six years old friendships and other social relationships with peers and adults become more complex. They take on more meaning at this age, as they become more aware of the world around them and their role in it. Also at age 6, children become more aware of emotions—both their own and those of others. They understand sophisticated concepts, like not hurting someone’s feelings by, saying something scathing about a person directly to them. 

Sharing our daily morning goals

 In 2019 as a new teacher I began looking at the foundations of my class. I wanted to provide positive opportunities for promoting mental and emotional wellbeing which can be sustained and reinforced over time. So where do I begin? Breathing and structure.

Practicing our 5 finger breathing

Our structure begins each morning after morning prayer (we are a Catholic School) where we share one daily goal we wish to achieve each day. Our breathing started off with only two minutes everyday after lunch. Structure came back in with our 'Peaks and Troughs' where pupils would share something that went well and something that didn't go well. That is the extent of beginning my implementation of mental health in the classroom.

Breathing with ourselves planted 

Breathing how we feel most comfortable

6. 26 July Enabling Access

Today's session was all about exploring how to maximise our class/subject sites to maximise Visible teaching and learning.

Some key points around maximising our class sites were:

Visual appeal - shop window!

• User experience 

It was important for us all to see multiple sites and then share our sites while giving feedback. After sharing my site and receiving feedback from the cohort I decided on one main goal for my class site today and broke that down into 3 specific things I would like to achieve on my Class Site today. 

My goal: To clean up my site 

Three Specifics: Check layout/theme is consistent throughout

Check there are not double up slides/content in multiple pages

Bring old content/photos etc up to date.

Have a look at my class site here

My next steps in maximising my site will be to add Effective teaching practice eg NZC, learning progressions, NZQA for my students, parents and myself to have easily accessible during specific units.