Teacher Calm and the Classroom

Starting with the Self:

My goal was to practice mindfulness at least twice a week for at least 5-10 minutes a day. It was very challenging for me to do this because I get easily distracted. I used the app Calm to help me during this mindfulness along with YouTube videos. One of my takeaways is how hard it was for me to stay focused and not look at my phone.  
I spend a lot of time on the screen whether it is looking at my laptop for homework or my phone. 

One of the ways I was able to stop this during my mindfulness time is by putting my phone in another room and being able to actually focus on my thoughts and mindfulness. 
When I was practicing this mindfulness I noticed a lot about myself. I experienced a lot of anxiety and when I was doing this it brought my anxiety down a lot but I was still experiencing anxiety after. But, I thought to myself when doing this that I could practice mindfulness in other ways. I really enjoy taking bubble baths with candles. I just give myself some time to myself before I go back to my everyday life. When I do take bubble baths it gives me a chance to gather my thoughts and reflect on everything that is going on in my life.

I want to continue to practice more of this mindfulness, but this time really focusing on it, because it was challenging for me to stay focused and I really did not commit to it fully like I wanted because I was constantly thinking about everything I needed to do. 

Teachers Mental Health Inside The Classroom:

Teachers' Mental Health is super important while being inside the classroom is super important. Students can pick up on a teacher's energy. If a teacher is in a bad mood students are more likely to be in one too and if teachers are in a good mood students will be in a good mood as well. "Effective teachers want to succeed and they do so when their students succeed" (Wong, 2018, p. 8).  As a Reading Corp tutor seeing my scholars making progress on their blending words, letter sounds, and readings makes me super happy as an educator because all of their hard work paid off, and seeing the excitement on their faces while achieving this goal makes my job super rewarding. 

A teacher's mental health is connected to creating contexts for learning where students thrive, take risks, and feel seen by watching you as their teacher. When students see us setting an example, and doing positive things they are more than likely to do the same."Teachers who have a positive expectation for themselves, have positive expectations for their students" (Wong, 2018, p. 49). We as educators want to make sure our students are showing positive expectations by being community helpers, being responsible, showing kindness, and coming to class prepared. 

Mental health for teachers is important we have to remember to take care of ourselves before we step into that classroom. We DO NOT want our negative emotions to be taken out on our students. We have to try to be our best selves while we are teaching students because they are looking at us all the time. Sometimes we can also communicate to our students that we are having a rough day. For example one of the teachers I work closely with at Maxfield always communicates with her students when she not feeling well or is not having a great day. She simply just tells them "Your teacher not feeling well, so please be patient" or "Your teacher not having a great day right now, so please be patient" Seeing her communicate with her students shows how important communication is. I also witnessed a teacher take out her full emotion on a student and make the student cry because the teacher was having a mad bad which is not fair to the student. After all, the student did nothing wrong, and the student looked confused about why the teacher was yelling at her. 

That is why as teachers we need to take care of ourselves and our mental health, because our emotions can bring out the best of us or the worst of us as individuals and educators. 

Noticing Classroom Procedures and Norms:

Positive Academic Expectations:

Students should always try their best even if they do not know how to do it they should still try even if it is difficult. When a student is done with their work whether it was right or wrong give them a smiling face on their paper because they tried their very best to complete the assignment. But, also my students should always have a positive attitude with themselves and others around them. I would want my students to participate in class lessons and activities. 

At my school site, we have something called Academic All-Stars where teachers will choose a student who has been showing growth Academically. We also have an award called a Dragon Award and Dragon Dollars. Students earn Dragon Dollars by showing our Maxfield C.A.R.E.S, which stands for Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-control. 

Students can earn these awards by showing kindness, following directions, being a leader, trying their best academically, and being a good friend and community helpers. 

Prosocial Behavior:

Ways that students can show prosocial behaviors are helping others inside our classroom community, showing Maxfield C.A.R.E.S, which stands for Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-control. Prosocial Behavior is important inside the classroom because it brings a sense of belonging, and meaning along with helping build the community inside the classroom which helps build connections. 

The behavior norms and expectations inside the classroom are trying your best, being responsible, raising your hand in class, listening to others, and not talking while others are talking. We set these norms and expectations at the beginning for the schools which helps us build the community and connection inside our classroom.

Behavior Management & Discipline:

Inside the classroom at Maxfield, we have zones that we use with students when we see them get frustrated. We use these zones to see how they are feeling. If a student is really struggling we will use a buddy room, or ask them to go to our relaxation station that is located inside every classroom at Maxfield to allow students to take a break when needed. In the station, there is a chair, along with some fidgets. 

If we notice the student's behavior is becoming more violent we have a space called the "reset room" where we will bring the student to a room where they can not hurt themselves or others and allow them to take a moment and reset before returning to class. We also have a behavior specialist who will take students into her classroom and give them a chance to reset. 

Transitions:

At Maxfield (the site where I'm working), we do a lot of calls and responses the common one we use is "HEY HEY LISTEN UP" (teacher)  and the students will respond with "HEY HEY LISTEN UP" too. When we say this the students know to drop everything they are doing and to stop talking and their eyes should be on the speaker. This is one every classroom teacher uses. We even use it when we have a whole school assembly this is how we get the teacher's and students attention. Another common one we use is "Show 5" or "Macaroni and Cheese" (teacher) and the students will follow with "Everybody Freeze". We also use a 2 2-minute warning and timer to help with the transition as well. Sometimes even having the students put their heads down and calm their bodies is another great way for transitions, especially after recess or gym. Transitions are super important in a student's academics because they are constantly moving from different subjects and activities and moving from lunch to recess and specialist. 

This promotes classroom engagement and calmness inside a classroom environment because it allows the students to get settled in from whatever task they were doing especially when working in partners and groups bringing their focus back to the teacher.

There are many ways for a teacher to signal for their students to gather their student's attention back on them. As an educator, I know that my younger students may have a tough time transitioning from the different classrooms. By doing these signals I can give my students enough time to prepare for what's coming and know that we are transitioning into the next activity.  

Cueing Signals:

"Macaroni and Cheese" "Everybody Freeze"
"Show 5"

"HEY HEY LISTEN UP"

"Hands on Top" "That Means Stop"

"Hocus Pocus" "Everybody Focus"

"1,2,3 Eyes on Me" "1,2,3 Eyes on You"

Caring Routines: 

At Maxfield, we have something called Maxfield C.A.R.E.S, which stands for Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-control. We will apply these throughout the school year. At the end of each month, we have an all-school assembly where a classroom teacher will pick a scholar who's been following CARES and who is also an Academic All-Star.

Ways our scholars can show C.A.R.E.S is by showing they can work with others, being true to themselves, showing responsibility by following teachers' directions and being helpers. Ways our students show they are Academic All-Stars is showing they are putting effort into their learning, trying their very best even if the work can be challenging.