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Before reading this post, please be sure that you catch up on my previous post where I found the missing piece that I have been looking for! Well, shall I say, it was something that required a higher emphasis in my classroom, deliberately finding new reinforcement strategies.

... MINDFULNESS!

It was quite a rough patch for me in the last few weeks, until I was inspired to reintroduce a new outlook of mindfulness in my classroom. I was talking to my teacher friends for several hours, and with their support and amazing words of wisdom, I planned two simple demonstrations to shed some light on the concerns that I have been observing among my students. These are, none other than, their choice of words and actions when they interact with their friends.

I remembered how excited I was the next morning. I was REALLY, REALLY looking forward to see my students and walk them through these two simple demonstrations! I jumped out of bed slightly earlier than my usual timing, took my shower, put my makeup on, and bought some items that I needed for the demonstrations from 7-11 outlet in front of my condo. And... of course, COFFEE! It was 8:00 am, and the school bell rang. I heard my students running up the stairs, as loud as the giant's footsteps, and the anticipation in me grew stronger.

Parable of a Toothpaste

I gave each of them a small tube of toothpaste with a cup. They were really confused and started thinking that we were about to learn how to brush our teeth the right way. Then, I told them to squeeze all the white paste out into the cup, every single bit of it. They sure had fun doing that, without thinking much of the exact objective of this simple demonstration. After that, I told them to put back all the white paste into the tube again, and they went bonkers! They tried cutting the tube into half and poured it back, but no matter how hard they try, it was never going to look like the original toothpaste that we see on the shelves. Difficult... Impossible... So, what's the point here?

After washing their hands, I gathered them at our meeting area in a big circle. Subsequently, I started my daily presidential speech, LOL! Imagine the toothpaste tube as our mouths, and the white paste as our words. Whatever kind of words that come out from our mouths leave a big impact on the listeners of our words. Whatever that we say, it is just so impossible to take it back, and that's why we need to be very wise with our choice of words. Both kind and unkind words affect the soul and emotions of the listeners. I gave examples of words and phrases that I often hear in my classroom, and to my amazement, all of them were staring at me quietly, with gentle, contemplative eyes. I knew, they were able to relate to some parts of my message (or parable, haha).

Parable of a Balloon

Next, I asked them to say one thing that made them feel sad or upset. As they shared, I blew air into the red balloon that I have in my hand. It grew bigger, bigger and bigger. I also secretly hid a notice board pin behind me and I popped the balloon intentionally! The loud balloon pop was the light-bulb moment for us! I shared that we have our own balloons of emotions and feelings and all of us have different capacity on how much we can take before the balloon eventually popped into anger and/or tears. They were able to recognize authentic connections of what was shared in the parable of a toothpaste with this new parable of a balloon.

"Miss Cally, when we are sad, we will learn how to appreciate being happy." This has totally left me flabbergasted, before three of them started tearing followed by the longest silent three-minute we have ever had in our classroom. We then had our exit ticket, a short reflection time on both the parables or demonstrations before they went for their PE (physical education) lesson. The following were some of the responses I have received:

• "We will never look at toothpaste and balloon the same way ever again!"
• "Now, when I brush my teeth, I am going to remember this parable forever!"
• "Even our teachers and parents have their own balloons..."
• "We can say sorry to our friends after saying unkind words, but we won't know how they really feel. Maybe they will even remember our words for many days, or years!"
• "I cannot imagine a world with no teachers..."
• "Life is so difficult, but I think we just need to be kind with one another."
• "Phew, I cannot believe that I cried. Now I know how my mom feels, when she cries, or scolds me."

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What a great relief to all my headache and heartache! There are still tiny hiccups here and there, but things are getting better day by day. Though the two kids that used to be the bestest friends still have their own ups and downs at school, they are definitely more mindful of their words and actions as compared to previous weeks. Everything happens at its own pace, and it is a rewarding journey or process. In fact, both the parables were a good reminder for me, and I am sure everyone else feels the same too.

“Child, to say the very thing you really mean, the whole of it, nothing more or less or other than what you really mean; that's the whole art and joy of words.”
(quoted by C.S. Lewis)

Thank you for reading my post today! Hope you liked it :)

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