Leadership

This blog only covers three classes as the circus fell on one of my Fridays with the kids. We've had a productive time in leadership this month. We are slowly but surely moving through the MindUp Curriculum (Brain-Focused Strategies for Learning -- and Living). Only a fraction of the suggestions in here appeal to me personally so I pick and choose. The idea of being tuned in to one's mind and body certainly does resonate and it has been interesting exploring these concepts with your children. In order to develop empathy, first steps are understanding oneself. Once a person can notice what is happening with themselves, they are ready to notice what's going on outside of themselves and what effect they have on others. This is a foundation of Social and Emotional Learning.

To this end, we have continued meditative work with breathing and relaxation. Mindful movement has been the focus -- so the kids have done a variety of balancing exercises. See pictures below. Discussions continue about the brain and the mind-body connection. We spent time find pulse points and counting our heart beats, before and after vigorous activity. The children tried to slow their heart rates with slow breathing and intention. Difficult. We also talked about and then experimented with mindful walking wherein the children paid attention to the feeling of the ground beneath their feet and to the simple action of walking and nothing else.

We had a productive conversation about when a touch is a pat and when it is considered hitting. It turns out that some people in the class (Chloe, Sadie and Katha) don't like being pat, or touched to get their attention, even if the touch isn't a rough one. It was great that these three were able to verbalize this need. And the class was respectful in agreeing to find other ways to get them to do something or notice something. We then talked about how this is what being friends means -- knowing each other's likes and dislikes. So the group identified things we all know about each kid, one by one. There was unanimity here, with the child in question also agreeing to the traits his/her classmates keyed in on -- so everyone agreed that Solomon listens really well in class, Riley gets mad easily, Leif is very sensitive and so on. A great exercise.

Walking the tightrope, heel to toe with no gaps in between. It's harder than it looks!

Here you see the children picking a focus point and then learning to shift weight from one foot to another for extended balancing periods, and then adding balancing bean bags on heads into the mix.

We've also started playing some group games. One centers on mindfulness and is so difficult. The goal is to count to 10, one at a time, with no predetermined order. If two children say a number at the same time, you have to start again. This requires supreme concentration and intuitiveness. So far, they've made it to 4. We'll keep trying.

We played musical chairs -- the goal here was how to be a gracious winner and loser, as well as how to play a rowdy game, pay attention to the rules, and not get so carried away that you trample your classmates or forget to be mindful.

We visited Kathleen and the second grade leadership class to watch her puppet show -- a Japanese tale called "Straw Hats for Jizos" about a destitute old man and his wife on New Year's Eve. The old man performs a kind deed that is repaid ten-fold by the sacred Jizo statues who come to life.

The firsts performed their own kind deed and made a beautiful get well poster for Maxine the day after she broke her arm.

In Roxaboxen, Katha's presidency came to a close. She called several town hall meetings, was the brains and impetus behind a group construction project to build a parking lot; her and her VP (Maxine) helped supervise some renovations to the roads that link all of the establishments, adding driveways and exits so off-roading isn't necessary. Some children added shelves in trees to their homes and shops and prided themselves on how "fancy" it made them feel. Overall, the mood in Roxaboxen has definitely shifted and it's seeming like these kids are a family again, sharing the space and working together to make things happen. We'll hold anonymous elections tomorrow for a new president/vice-president.