Growing Responsive Minds

Toward a more mindful classroom Here are some ways to bring mindfulness into your classroom and your teaching life. I hope you’ll find them helpful and even fun! Set an intention (prime the pump). Most of the time, our curriculum and lesson plans tell us what we’re...

Put yourself first - the mindful breath If you already have some familiarity with mindfulness, you may know that establishing a regular practice is key to implementing mindfulness in your life, inside and outside your work environment. Establish a regular practice. To...

Integrating emotion and sensation  In the previous entry, we noted that the emotional state of the adult in charge becomes the dominant emotion in the room As teachers about to begin a new school year, it’s helpful to be aware of the emotions and the sensations that...

The importance of the adult nervous system in creating classroom equanimity Viennese neurologist Viktor Frankel wrote, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space, is our power to choose our response. In that response lies our growth and our...

In our test-obsessed school culture, there is often a strong bias toward using broad, relatively shallow assessments to quickly judge students’ academic performance and potential. These tests do not consider environmental, emotional, or clinical factors that may have...