Maddie your blog post was very informative. When reading this chapter I also thought of Dr. Solar’s class about mindfulness. I am glad that you brought that up in your post because it is a great tool to help our relationships in the classroom. I also loved your point about teaching the students about mindfulness and managing their emotions. This is an important skill that students will continue to use throughout their life. I think one way we can do this, which Hammond mentions is through the S.O.D.A. strategy (68). The S.O.D.A. strategy requires us to first stop and pause. This prevents us from reacting with our emotions. Next, we observe and take a breath. Then we detach our consciousness to more pleasant images. The last step is to awaken. This means we shift our focus off ourselves and onto the other person. One way to implement this into the classroom is to have a poster of the acronym and then each week you go over each part. Another great way is for the teacher to model for the students. For example, students could do a role-play scenario to practice themselves but first, the teacher should model what the process should look like. (Word Count 209)
Hi Maddie, I think it is interesting how you connected this weeks reading with last weeks reading. By doing this, you have helped to create a wider context for how these ideas work, a practical use for last weeks chapter as well as a realized connection to our implicit biases. I also think it was interesting how you connected these ideas to both the teacher and the student, finding a way to show how the knowledge the way the brain works connects to our biases as well as how we can comfort our students. This was really helpful to me in seeing, written out explicitly, a way in which understanding "the lizard brain" and the flight or fight response could be further helpful to me in drawing out the best way to teach students using knowledge of the brain in the classroom. I also think it is very important that you touched on how teachers need to make their students feel wanted, that the student can feel the tangibility of the teacher committing to them. It's not enough that we incorporate these ideas into our lessons and lectures, but that we are actively showing that we are doing it. It really is a thing to think about. It puts the onus on the teacher to be active and intentional in everything they do. A call to action of sorts for teachers to be active in not just their teaching of students and their lessons, but in their care and interaction with the students as well. We cannot just allow ourselves to be passive teachers. (Word Count: 264)
I thought it was very important that you included the mindfulness aspect of a classroom. Many teachers/educators oversee meditation and mindfulness and do not acknowledge the importance of it. Taking the time to focus on mindfulness helps students focus more on what is going on in the classroom as well as with themselves. Stepping back from the lesson to take a breath and relax for a few minutes helps remove any sort of distractions occurring in the room and allows students to get a better sense of their environment. I personally was a student that was stressed and resorted to meditation as a way to calm down and control any anxiety that as caused. Taking a second to breath, reset my mind was very helpful to my success as a student, and I still use this strategy today. I believe a way to introduce meditation and mindfulness is to introduce the S.O.D.A strategy as a way to help the students stop and reevaluate situations( 68). This strategy helps students to Stop, observe, deliberate, and act on situations. Using these skills will help guide students to not only improve academic skills but social skills as well. Being able to not react harshly or aggressive towards another student but better yet reevaluate the situation. You had provided an abundance of useful information in your blog that has helped me better understand this chapter (Word count 230).
Maddie your blog post was very informative. When reading this chapter I also thought of Dr. Solar’s class about mindfulness. I am glad that you brought that up in your post because it is a great tool to help our relationships in the classroom. I also loved your point about teaching the students about mindfulness and managing their emotions. This is an important skill that students will continue to use throughout their life. I think one way we can do this, which Hammond mentions is through the S.O.D.A. strategy (68). The S.O.D.A. strategy requires us to first stop and pause. This prevents us from reacting with our emotions. Next, we observe and take a breath. Then we detach our consciousness to more pleasant images. The last step is to awaken. This means we shift our focus off ourselves and onto the other person. One way to implement this into the classroom is to have a poster of the acronym and then each week you go over each part. Another great way is for the teacher to model for the students. For example, students could do a role-play scenario to practice themselves but first, the teacher should model what the process should look like. (Word Count 209)
ReplyDeleteHi Maddie,
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting how you connected this weeks reading with last weeks reading. By doing this, you have helped to create a wider context for how these ideas work, a practical use for last weeks chapter as well as a realized connection to our implicit biases. I also think it was interesting how you connected these ideas to both the teacher and the student, finding a way to show how the knowledge the way the brain works connects to our biases as well as how we can comfort our students. This was really helpful to me in seeing, written out explicitly, a way in which understanding "the lizard brain" and the flight or fight response could be further helpful to me in drawing out the best way to teach students using knowledge of the brain in the classroom.
I also think it is very important that you touched on how teachers need to make their students feel wanted, that the student can feel the tangibility of the teacher committing to them. It's not enough that we incorporate these ideas into our lessons and lectures, but that we are actively showing that we are doing it. It really is a thing to think about. It puts the onus on the teacher to be active and intentional in everything they do. A call to action of sorts for teachers to be active in not just their teaching of students and their lessons, but in their care and interaction with the students as well. We cannot just allow ourselves to be passive teachers. (Word Count: 264)
Hi Maddie!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was very important that you included the mindfulness aspect of a classroom. Many teachers/educators oversee meditation and mindfulness and do not acknowledge the importance of it. Taking the time to focus on mindfulness helps students focus more on what is going on in the classroom as well as with themselves. Stepping back from the lesson to take a breath and relax for a few minutes helps remove any sort of distractions occurring in the room and allows students to get a better sense of their environment. I personally was a student that was stressed and resorted to meditation as a way to calm down and control any anxiety that as caused. Taking a second to breath, reset my mind was very helpful to my success as a student, and I still use this strategy today.
I believe a way to introduce meditation and mindfulness is to introduce the S.O.D.A strategy as a way to help the students stop and reevaluate situations( 68). This strategy helps students to Stop, observe, deliberate, and act on situations. Using these skills will help guide students to not only improve academic skills but social skills as well. Being able to not react harshly or aggressive towards another student but better yet reevaluate the situation. You had provided an abundance of useful information in your blog that has helped me better understand this chapter (Word count 230).
Danielle Donoghue ^
Delete