Kindness has no on/off switch

I have been asked several times in the past few weeks, mostly on Twitter, "How do you get your students to be kind to each other?"

I think this is a question bigger than the...How do I get them...

Kindness, like most anything, is a mindset.  It comes from the culture that we exist within.  If we exist in a culture of violence or selfishness, the results are going to be pretty obvious.  We will see students that our violent or self-centered. It is the culture that teaches the students while setting the expectations of actions and thoughts.

To create a culture of kindness, it doesn't start with a teacher or school telling students to be kind.  This never works.  It especially never works when the teacher or school engage in a "Do as I say, not as I do" mentality.

We have to live kindness and gratitude to create the culture that will eventually lead to the mindsets and habits of kindness.  It must be genuine.  It must be authentic.  It must exist within every corner of the school and honestly in the hearts of all of the staff at that school...not just the teachers.

Kindness is not something that we expect to be temporary.  It must be anchored in the foundations of who we are as people.  Kindness does not have an on/off switch.

To speak to the original question...How do I get my students to be kind to each other?  It all starts when I am kind to them.  And I am kind to others.  And I am kind to all of the staff.  And I am kind when I am not at school.  It is real.  It is organic.

Be mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

Reflection is a place of learning

So...I got back from a 3-day conference today.  As I reflected on what I got out of the conference, I realized that the answer was a more grounded me.

Sure I learned many ideas for the classroom.  I was given deep thinking and fodder for hours of thought on trauma in our students.  But...every session forced me to look in the mirror at my own teaching and more so...at me.

I enjoy these types of conferences for many reasons.  I get to see old friends, and new ones.  I get to network.  I get to present new ideas.  I get to learn various new tricks for the classroom.  But this one, for some reason...probably because where I am in life, with life, with the ways of the world and the universe, has hit me in a place that I have not found as of yet.

It is somewhere deep.  It has caused me tp consider things like my future in education, my retirement, and my writing.  I guess, it has caused me to reflect on my identity as these things all relate to who I was, am, and will be.

Reflection is such a place of learning.  It is a lot like a practice such as mindfulness and meditation.  It takes you places and with practice, out of the blue, it takes your soul somewhere new.

I am not sure where this place is just yet.

I am here and I am not sure how I feel about it.

I am not feeling positive or negative about it.

I am simply aware of it.

And because I get to be me, regardless of where I am...I will appreciate it with those that I love.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

Trauma Informed

I sat in a session today about people with trauma in their lives and the impact that it has on them.  Trauma mostly defined as emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.  I is amazing to hear how much research is being done on this.

What I realized today is...

That student that seems to make the same mistake over and over- could come from an abusive home and his emotional brain has no space to worry about what we see as important for him right now.

That student that we help and makes great strides and just as he is about to be a success, creates a failure out of everything- could have endured emotional abuse beyond our wildest imagination and only knows feeling like a failure.  He is not ready or not used to success.

That student that is starved for negative attention in class- could be so neglected at home that they hunger for any type of attention.  They learn very quickly that negative attention is easier to get and that they can control when they get it...without even doing it intentionally.

We have so many students that hide a world of pain, a world of trauma that we will never know.  They are doing their best, they are just being human.

Sure, it frustrates us because they are off task.  It is irritating when they are giving little effort or self-sabotaging...but us pushing does not help.  We can't talk them into not being an abused person the same way we can't talk a person with a broken leg to ski down a hill in the snow.  We are asking and expecting the impossible.

Become Trauma Informed!

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

The essential SEL

I am at a literacy conference in Illinois and I was at a session where some administrators were talking about their school.

There was a very smart girl that was great at sports and one of the top students academically.  She got into too many fights and was sent to a residential school at age 11.

There was a 12 year old girl who loved poetry and was amazing at painting with oils.  She developed an eating disorder and is now in a long term care facility.

There was a bot who loved music.  He studied music and musical equipment.  We was loved by all of his peers.  This 15 year old ran away and has not been seen for over two months.

There was a boy, 16, who loved telling jokes.  He finally got a part in a musical at the town's big production.  Week's before opening night, he hung himself.

This school district is NOT a poor district by any means, in fact it is affluent.  What was the district lacking? 

An educated staff on social emotional learning.

Early awareness training.

Student needs and wellness assessments.

A culture of students that looked out for each other and cared.

There was so much that could have been done, that is being done now.  Too late for the four students mentioned above.

I am so very lucky.  I teach in a building and district that makes sure that all of these pieces that were lacking in the above district are in place.  We are new to the SEL piece, but we are making strides to get there daily.

Be Aware!!!

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

It may be me

I had two students come to me during work time and ask me if I was okay.  They told me that they weren't sure what it was, but I was off some how.  They sat and talked to me for about 5-minutes.  They care. (yes, they were done with their work and not trying to get out of it.)

It has always amazed me how students can read us, their teachers.  They can tell is we are down, happy, afraid, proud, angry, and...lying.  They can read us...always.

Once we make special connections with students, they become so in-tuned to the smallest of actions or variations in the way that we are that...they notice.  Not only do they notice, but they respond.  Most of the time, they are reflective and can articulate that they are noticing the subtle changes in us, thus they are acting differently.  But, there are times that we do not know that we are showing our stress or other emotions and our students are responding without knowing it.

We need to be mindfully aware of why our students are acting strangely...

It could be simply because we, ourselves are acting strangely.

I have found that if my students are having an off-day, I need to take a step back and assess the way that I am feeling as well as what I am projecting to my students.  Very often, I find after reflecting, that offering an honest assessment of what is happening as a dynamic between us, my students seem to feel relieved that all is okay with the world, and start to normalize for me.

We need to look in the mirror before reacting to student/class behaviors.  It may just be us...

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

A wonderful event

Tomorrow night I will be heading to the Illinois Reading Council Conference as I have for over 12 years.  There will be thousands of educators, hundreds of presenters/authors, exhibitors from all of the major players in education, and many pre-service teachers.

This is THE event for educators in Illinois.

I also present at this event.  I have presented almost as many times as I have attended.

An event like this can easily be overwhelming.  There is so much to learn, so much to see, so many old friends that you only get to see once a year.... and so many people that you only get to spend time with via social media.

The best way to enjoy this event or any event like it...

Be in the Moment.

If you are thinking or over thinking and worried, and stressed, and trying to rush to make it to everything possible...the end result is- You miss it all!

By taking moment by moment, you can savor each drop of new ideas or new thinking.  By only being present with those in front of you, you can enjoy the people you came to see and drink in each of their words.  By being mindful of each step that you take, you can breathe and enjoy this journey.

An event like this is meant to slowly taken in, to be tasted and enjoyed.

Here's to a wonderful event.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

Today was Monday

Today was a Monday.  Other than by name...it wore its name proud.

My kids, all grades, all classes were wild today.  They were loud, unsettled, hard to get on task, hard to contain...

But...

NONE were disrespectful.

It is part of the world of teaching that there will be days that the students are simply off of the wall crazy and it is futile to try to exert too much frustration on attempts to cage them.  Sometimes...it is best just to join them.  This is especially true if they are jumping out of their skin and in terrific moods.

So...

I joined in.  I laughed.  I listened.  I joined in the silliness.

Maybe it is just what we all needed.  To break the stress.  To cut through the intensity of the work that we have been doing so far this year.  We made it strong to the first grading period with high expectations.  Sometimes, it is okay to be...to be where the kids need to be.

Will I need to make up for some lost time today?  Yes, so will the students.  I think, though, that we will all reflect on today and recognize the value of the day while we dig in next class and get back to the work.

Students often know what they need.  Sometimes, my students know what I need.  Being aware and being okay with it...is the magic!

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#MIndfulliteracy
@LevineWrites