our minute of mindfulness (part II: about our inner dialogue)

 (This is the second half of a post about mindfulness - to read the first half, please click here.)

The students' solution worked! The first five minutes of each class period became known as a time to collect ourselves and do our best thinking and writing. By the time the door opened and late students entered, everyone was already in the flow, so the minor disturbance of neighbors walking past or sitting down didn't interrupt their thought process.

I may have been the most fortunate person in the room, because I got to experience this five times a day.

Still, one problem remained: even though the outside world of the classroom was calm and quiet, most of us have a pretty loud, chaotic chorus of thoughts in our head. How do you quiet THAT down?

Yesterday I asked students on Zoom whether any adult had ever helped them with a strategy for transitioning from one class --> passing period --> the next class. This doesn't seem to be a popular topic, but it's something that we have to do all day long. And this year, we have to do it on our own schedule.

It's not enough to say "clear your mind" or "switch gears" -- we all understand what those phrases are intended to mean, but it's sort of like telling a person to "pay attention." 

HOW DO YOU DO IT? 

Before I started teaching high school courses, I consulted for companies and organizations, helping them create ways to share information that improved their performance. To help the Los Angeles Police Department, I needed a better sense of what police officers needed to know on the job - I have never been a police officer - so I did a "ride along" with a veteran officer.

At one point the officer pulled over and said, "I'm going to talk to this guy." I cringed; the "guy" happened

october 29

For your MOM (Minute of Mindfulness): This morning I was supposed to have a meeting at 8:30. The people kept me waiting until 8:53. I had to email the student I was meeting with at 9:00 just in case I was late. It made me realize that lots of people/things keep us waiting. What if we turn this around? What if, after you sit and feel your feet and hands, a thought comes up -- and you think, "I'll be happy to see you in 60 seconds" and then just feel free to keep breathing? After all, we're in charge of our own minds. I'm going to try it today.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tune is a video: https://youtu.be/QereR0CViMY]
Each of us has to balance our desire for individuality and our desire to belong and fit in.  How do you balance these needs?  How do these needs influence your personal sense of style, your appearance, your budget, and other decisions you make?

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:

1. Journal
2. Mindfulness (*more on this in upcoming blog posts and our Zoom meetings; for now, you can begin by closing your eyes and listening to yourself breathe for 60 seconds)
3. Catch up on anything you feel like catching up on.
4. Be well 

thank you to parents!

Hi All,

Thank you to the parents who joined this evening's hangout Zoom. I enjoyed meeting your families and I'm glad you have a team to support your success! No one has logged on in a few minutes, and it's just after 7:00 P.M., so I'm ending the meeting. If your parents missed it, they can join next Wednesday at 6:30 P.M. or schedule a personal Zoom with me on the course blog.

Enjoy the rest of your evening,

Dr. Preston

say hello to my little ofrenda

One thing I miss about being on campus during this time of year is all of the beautiful ofrendas in the administration hall. So, here is a picture of the one in my home. If you have one, post a picture on your blog and tell us about it!

our minute of mindfulness (part I: about community)

 If you walked by my classroom on campus last year, you may have noticed this sign on the door:

 

Technically, it's against school policy for a teacher to lock students out of the classroom. But I didn't lock the door. I didn't even make the policy.

It's easy to forget these days, but the classroom can be a difficult place to concentrate. People show up late, and on many occasions someone interrupts class by running errands for teachers and administrators, or yelling outside, or setting off a fire alarm. That's apart from all the students around you playing with their phones or trying to get your attention because they forgot to bring their [pencil/ pen/ notebook/ snack/ cosmetic product] to class.

During the first ten minutes of class, students write in their journals (just like you're supposed to be doing each day at home), and these types of interruptions were making it hard to concentrate. I started hearing about it from students who were getting annoyed with their colleagues. As one student put it rather loudly from across the room, "Dr. Preston, writing in my journal is the only thing I like about school -- can you please tell Juan to shut the f**k up?!?"

So we had a conversation. Right around that time, I took my family to see Les Misérables at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles (in case you missed that long link, I posted pictures and descriptions of our experience on a course blog HERE). 

One way you know you're at the Pantages Theater -- or the Hollywood Bowl, or anywhere else where the game is truly bigger than the players -- is that if you don't enter the theater on time, you don't enter the theater. If you're late, you have to wait outside until the next break in the action. Then, the ushers will show you to your seats without disrupting the performance or the audience.

I shared this with the students, and I asked them what they thought of the idea. 

Some didn't like it: "Hey, the people paid for their tickets, they should be able to go in whenever they want!" "Yeah, what if they got caught in traffic? That's not fair!"

Before I could follow up, other students chimed in: "They paid for a performance that started at a certain time. They knew that for months and they paid money for it. They knew all along that's what they were doing that day, so they should've planned ahead so they could get there on time." "They paid to see the show, not for the right to interrupt it and block everyone's view while they waddled down the row to their seat." "You asked about traffic? What, like their own personal traffic? Because everyone else drove the same roads to get there, and they managed to be in their seats when the show started."

You can guess who won that argument/ search for truth. At the end of each class period that day, students voted unanimously to create a new policy for themselves. If someone was late to class, no one would get upset -- life happens -- but that person would respectfully wait outside so that we could center ourselves ...

(to be continued)

october 28

[Minute of Mindfulness/ I'm going to think on this Zen proverb: "You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes a day.  Unless you're too busy; then you should sit for an hour."]

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tune: "Jump" by Van Halen]

You thought you wanted to do this, but now you're not sure.  The small plane doesn't feel like anything you've ever experienced.  There is just a thin sheet of metal between your feet... and nothing.  Just thousands of feet of empty space to the Earth below.  You stand up as the experienced skydiver next to you yells, "You're next!"  Every bump makes your knees weak.  Your stomach feels like it wants to live in your throat.  You're numb, but you move toward the open door.  Suddenly the wind whips at your hand and this is all suddenly too real.

What do you do next?  Will you sit back down or will you take the leap?  Describe your actions in detail.

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Mindfulness (*more on this in upcoming blog posts and our Zoom meetings; for now, you can begin by closing your eyes and listening to yourself breathe for 60 seconds)
3. Catch up on anything you feel like catching up on.
4. Be well

october 27

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Freedom of Choice" by Devo; "Freewill" by Rush]

At yesterday's meeting I listened to teachers discuss freedom.  One teacher asked, "Can freedom be given or does it have to be taken?"

What do you think?  Please support your answer with as many reasons as you can.

AGENDA:

1. Journal
2. Mindfulness (*more on this in upcoming blog posts and our Zoom meetings; for now, you can begin by closing your eyes and listening to yourself breathe for 60 seconds)
3. Catch up on anything you feel like catching up on.
4. Be well