A fellow colleague recently shared her copy of Happy Teachers Change the World by Thich Nhat Hanh and Katherine Weare. I am completely drawn in by Thich Nhat Hanh’s “Letter to a Young Teacher.” His letter gets to the heart of why I created this blog which is to establish a community of teachers dedicated to embracing a mindfulness practice of their own do they can create a better classroom environment for their students.

Chapter 2 focuses on the bell of mindfulness. I have a Tibetan singing bowl in my classroom which seems to create the same effect as the Japanese bells called rin gong. However, I had not used it with the entire class at the same time yet. Instead, I have explained the idea of the bell to individual students who have asked me about it or who have requested to ring it. I learned to invite the bell instead of ringing it as Hanh and Weare explain in chapter 2 and I’m glad I have not used it as a means of getting the students attention or in a disciplinary manner, as they advise against it.

In my opinion, the mindfulness activity that has been the most effective both with my classes and with my fellow teachers in my department has been mindful walking. I find that when I am overthinking or ruminating over something I have to get my body moving before I spiral toward and anxiety attack.

The activity I want to do more is the pebble activity. I want to try it with my fellow ELA teachers at my next department meeting. Since I started reading Happy Teachers Change the World, I have learned more about Plum Village and Wake Up Schools. I a trying to connect with other teachers who are currently using these resources in the classroom or have used them in the past.

In chapter 10 there are a few activities I want to try. Namely, the micro-fiction with The House on Mango Street, the weather journal with The Great Gatsby, and the raisin activity with A Raisin in the Sun.

How are you currently incorporating mindfulness into your classroom?