Thursday, February 9, 2017

Happiness, Mindfulness and Classroom Impact...

When I wrote the post "The Happiness Hypocrite" I challenged the staff and myself. The challenge, to write down 3 things you were grateful for on that particular day and do it for 21 days. The purpose... to create mindfulness. For me I was looking for the good things, the things that reminded me of the little blessings, the humor, and the joy of living. I became mindful of the positive and was less likely to focus on the negative that came my way... and believe me, the negative came. What I noticed is that when the negative came, I was able to move beyond it, not focus on it, and was looking for the positive in each situation. I was experiencing a shift in perspective. My view was changing.

Often as teachers we are faced with challenges. At the beginning of the year we are positive, mindful and resilient in our hopes for our students. Somewhere along the way, about February, we begin to lose our resolve and the wind in our sails. We have a choice, though. We can let ourselves falter or we can stay mindful.

I know that how we think, what we do and how we approach each child, every lesson and every day makes the difference. It takes mindfulness... a shift in perspective. I read an article recently on this very thing. It is titled "A Journey Toward Mindfulness: How to Implement and Sustain This Practice Among Teachers, From Now Until the Last Day of School"
As I read it I saw many things that are already done by us as a campus and as individuals. It even mentioned "Gratitude Practices" which is like the 21 day Gratitude Challenge suggested in "The Happiness Hypocrite" post.

After reading the article, going through the 21 Day Challenge and knowing we could be headed for the mid-year slump, I want to know what can we do together to choose happiness, be mindful and continue to have a strong impact on our students? I plan to continue in my practice of writing down three things of gratitude each day. Please share your ideas on how we can sustain the practice of gratitude and mindfulness.

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