When children begin to act up in the classroom, I remind myself of this aspect of Mindfulness. I know that I can get stressed easily when I feel that I am losing control of a situation. In order to prevent impulsive actions in reaction to high stress from students, I think about what is happening and I allow myself to think that this situation will pass. I don’t try to fight what is happening, but I acknowledge what is happening. I respond more calmly and the students notice that as well. Instead of pushing myself to fix the situation as quickly as I can, I let the student be, and the tantrums pass. I have implemented this in the classroom several times, and it has clearly produced positive results.

    In one scenario, a student, who will be referred to as Devon to protect his identity, is a bit of a handful in class. He likes to refuse to do work, yell at other students, disagree to share, and have small fits. In the past, I have aimed to please him to get him to do work, making a few modifications. I have tried moving his clip on the behavioral chart. I have even tried scolding him on some occasions. However, I decided to address what I do not like about his behavior and walk away from him. When I gave him some instructions, he quickly refused to participate. I told him that I expect him to do his work and that I wanted to see him working when I returned again. I then left to check up on other students, knowing that Devon’s attitude would eventually change, if not in this lesson, it would by the end of the day. I was delighted to find that he was working on his assignment when I returned to his table later.

    A similar situation occurred with another student, who will be referred to as Charlie to protect his identity. Charlie is usually a very good student and enthusiastic, but when it comes to writing, he does not want to do any work. He was particularly non-cooperative on this day, and complained about the assignment to me every time I would walk by. The teacher I was working with even made an announcement that if a student did not finish their writing, they would not be able to use the computers or iPad for their technology center. I tried out that method that I used for Devon before, but Charlie still had not done his work. I even noticed that he got another classmate to do his writing for him, which I stopped immediately. It got to the point where Charlie threw a tantrum, falling into a fit of tears and anger, since he would not be able to participate in technology. Despite all of this, I still had high hopes that he would return to participating with the class by the end of the day, since I had in mind that his attitude would eventually change. After sitting out for a while, Charlie eventually calmed down and rejoined the group. Even better, he was the most enthusiastic student in the class conversation about the book they were reading that day.

    Having these positive experiences has really encouraged me to keep implementing this mindset of constant change. It was really effective, and it kept me from stressing and obsessing over dealing with tantrums. It even prevented me from being seen as a “mean” teacher, one who is always saying “no,” to kids or yelling at them. Instead, I was able to give them the time and the choice to return to participating when they felt that they were ready. These experiences were beneficial to the students and probably more so for my stress levels!