Below are two complied sources from myself and my peer. We have used this research and literature to guide our thinking, as well as our understanding of the benefits of mindfulness in the classroom. Through reading these sources, we have been able to address specific areas of mindfulness and seek to understand where they best fit in the school day and how they benefit the lives of young children.
The beginning section of this article outlines the growing importance for children to have access to mindful practices within the classroom. The authors begin by outlining a specific example of a classroom who adopted these strategies and saw improvements within the classroom in roughly two weeks- which means that students practiced the skill approximately ten times and there were already significant changes in the classroom culture. Through these practices, researchers are saying that the learned process of self-regulation is essential in navigating childhood and into adulthood. Children must have these skills to help combat some of the intense stressors that are thrown at children.
Briefly, the article addresses the growing tech world that today’s children are greeted with. For instance, researchers observed that the influx of screen time may be a driving reason for children’s sensory overload throughout the school day. To combat this, ideas are brought up about using technology in different ways- such as mindfulness videos, or guided breathing exercises.
The use of mindfulness within the classroom is a relatively new concept for many, and there is little to no formal research surrounding the topic. However, through the examination of adults who have been used in research for the same ideas, there has been increased emotional wellbeing, and it is assumed that these outcomes would be replicated in young children’s lives. Second to this, the article was very intentional about highlighting the diversity that is seen within all classrooms. Resources are given to educators to help consider how to make these practices effective for all children. In fact, the researchers provide a plethora of guided resources that educators could look to when beginning to implement these practices into their classroom.
The second half of the article is used as testimony for the practices of mindfulness in the classroom. Readers are met with three real-life examples of mindfulness- all of which are examples at different age levels to help educators get a sense of what is considered best practice for students at different ages. The reports given from the perspective of teachers and students is very moving and showcases the effectiveness both for teacher and child.
The closing section of the article reminds educators and other readers that this is a new field of research for many. The idea here was to dip our feet into the waters of mindfulness and give some real-life examples of what this may look like in practice. There are considerations about school funding or even lack of time, so the researchers provided even more resources for readers that outline how mindfulness can happen during transitions, or any time that you have 1-4 minutes of spare time.
Renae Otto, a middle school teacher, seeks to answer the question “how does Classcraft, a positive behavioral intervention strategy, increase student motivation in the classroom?” by creating a professional development plan and professional development presentation to integrate the Classcraft technology and pedagogy into a positive behavioral intervention system (PBIS) classroom. Incorporating research into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as well as the exploration of Social Emotional Learning after encountering a student who was seeking negative attention that caused other students to seek the same, causing them to need a plan within the classroom to manage this behavior. Otto explored a classroom application called Classcraft that utilizes gamification based rewards such as badges and avatar customization into lessons that require social cognitive motivation by designing cooperative groups to progress towards the rewards.
Looking at their sixth grade class, the author reviews the way technology plays into students' lives and the generations' characteristics in order to implement ways to motivate and engage them in the classroom. Otto indicates that “Teachers can help motivate by creating a student-centered classroom where students have choices.” (p.19) which is a component of Gamification theory whereby the option of control over choice helps foster intrinsic motivators for students. “Extrinsic motivation involves wanting to earn a reward or incentive for effort” (p.22) and requires rewards be positive and vary in order to stop the loss of interest in obtaining those rewards. The author explores how these two motivators work within a PBIS framework to improve educational outcomes for all students by creating higher order thinking skills that bring students beyond simple engagement into cognitive engagement, that is to reflect on and analyze what they are doing versus simply doing. This is done by creating and fostering a “caring classroom community, checking in with students frequently and providing feedback, offering students choice in their learning so they feel some control, allowing students the opportunity to work in a collaborative, supportive environment, giving students appropriate challenges, and celebrating success.”(p.24) and the gamification strategies in the Classcraft platform provide the opportunities for this and to better engage this generation of students by providing frequent feedback and being flexible with expectations, breaking lessons up into smaller segments, capitalizing on the digital world, and empowering students to create in order to show their learning. This is all done while providing data on each student allowing for more personalized learning and allowing students to keep working on a lesson or skill until mastery, even if the rest of the class has moved on, in order to achieve their reward as students earn experience points to level up at the pace they require.
I agree that a learning platform that is designed around gamification strategies can help to foster collaboration by creating both a personal and group goal for students, thus utilizing intrinsic and extrinsic motivators in a social cognitive dynamic. I love the concept of turning a classroom into a role-playing game in order to support positive behavior all while personalizing content when needed to students in order for them to master the proficiency they are seeking. By offering choice in what they do in a lesson or how they “level up” their avatar students who may otherwise seek negative behavior rewards that can throw a class off course, are now more likely to be invested in earning a positive reward and supporting their peers through their own learning experience.