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The book did touch on growth/fixed mindset. It discusses how experiencing trauma, especially the abuse of racism, can result in a fixed mindset. It discussed what Carol S. Dweck calls "entity theory," which is the negative self-concept that individuals develop when faced with discrimination. When faced with racism, some individuals limit their belief in themselves which hurts their learning and achievement and creates a fixed mindset. The book posits that mindfulness practices and compassionate schools can increase protective factors for those who have endured or are enduring ongoing trauma. Mitigating the effects of trauma has the potential to shift a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.

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1) After reading Part I I reflected on my strengths and challenges not only personally but as a parent as well as a teacher.  I think a personal strength is being able to recognize the emotions that I am feeling,  naming them, and then using strategies for positive outcomes. As a Kindergarten teacher I have already facilitated many mindfulness practices into my classroom and I saw a shift in the classroom community.  I will use the information that I read in this chapter to continue to help students to recognize their emotions and how to handle these emotions through mindfulness practices. There sure have been days where I do a better job at school with mindfulness practices than with managing emotions with my own kids!! ;)

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Throughout reading the first part of this book I did start to reflect on my strengths and challenges within the classroom.  I think over the last few years I have incorporated many mindfulness practices that have made such big differences in the behavior and attitude of my students, as well as the general "energy" of my classroom.  I am so proud of that!  One challenge I have and I will continue to work on is recgonizing the "complexity" of students lives. I hope to have a better understand of the stressors that many students face and how mindfulness practices can help them specifically.

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In chapter 3 it talks a lot about triggers and how they occur neurologically. I have a general knowledge of how the brain works, but it was interesting to read how the emotional response is so connected to the physical response. I came out of this reading with the idea that any stressor can trigger an emotional or physical response. However, everyone has different triggers based on their prior experiences. For example, a stressor can trigger the fight/flight/freeze response and this varies depending on the person. This chapter also went into neuroplasticity and how our experiences shape the way our brain reacts to stimuli throughout our whole lives, but even more so for developing children. One strategy to help regulate these responses is deep breathing. This helps calm the nervous system and allows for better self-regulation.

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An important part of my day is in the morning. Each day the students come in and settle in with a bit of morning work.  This gives me time to go around and check in with each student so that I can see where each student is emotionally at the beginning of the day.  This time allows for me to plan quickly how I may help students with their emotional needs for the day.  I feel that this is crucial to start the day off on the right foot.
I also have set up in my classroom different quiet areas that the students are able to access if needed. As the year progresses students learn where their calm down places are and where they are most comfortable.

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The reading this week definitely promoted a growth mindset. It talked about mindfulness being a foundational and essential practice to create caring and compassionate school communities. I think that by offering the reminder that mindfulness to be practiced and prioritized to be effective a growth mindset is implied. Someone may not have a large toolbox of mindfulness strategies, but with practice they can be developed.

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I was interested while reading the first part of this book to find that children who have experienced trauma are more likely to have a fixed mindset when it comes to their intelligence. In order to combat this, we need to both teach the idea of a growth mindset in our classrooms and teach students how to cope with failures. I am hoping that Part II of the book will give me some strategies that I can use in my classroom (or online) in the fall that can help my students to have a growth mindset and to feel safe in school.

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After reading chapter 1 it expressed basic caring and empathy.  I think the trauma that children feel stuck with me the most.  It was interesting to read that so many children bring their strengths the classroom but also their difficult situations.  It reinforced to me that it is extremely important to meet the students where they are.  If I could someone provide a peaceful place for my students where they feel a sense of calm and happiness, I would feel as if I accomplished something.

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I felt like the reading this week talked a lot about growth mindset and self-awareness. I especially liked in chapter 2 the quote that discussed how we as the teachers can use mindfulness to create a caring and compassionate school environment: "Mindfulness is about seeking greater understanding through paying attention on purpose and gaining insight to repond to our students' needs and feelings from moment to moment throughout the day" (pg 22). By having our own self-awareness, we are able to then be the catalyst in our own students' mindsets and help them to build these tools within themselves.

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I think this first section speaks to having a growth mindset. As we go back into the classrooms in whatever form that may be I think it will be imperative to focus on what we have and what we can do. I think clear expectations and safe places to share information will be important this year and in any other year.  On page 23 it talks about the importance of students having a positive role model  "include having a supportive relationship with an adult and a sense of optimism about the future"  I think it is important to work to ensure that they believe in themselves and that the responsibility to achieve lies within them.

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Even though the first two chapters implicitly or indirectly spoke to the importance of having self-awareness and a growth mindset, I think Chapter 3 actually gives more direct evidence that development in these areas is possible.  The section on neuroplasticity says it all - our brains are meant to recover, heal, change, and develop!  We just need to continue to learn how to tap into that and make it happen, and help others (kids!) to do the same.  "Neuroscience has taught us that our brains are malleable at any age" (pg. 51).  I mean, basically, having a growth mindset is accepting neuroscience :)  "While trauma can hinder brain development and functioning, mindfulness practice can help students combat trauma and stress" (pg. 52).
I also had some reflections when reading the part about stress reactions, etc.  I have experienced physiological responses to stress in my life.  When my son was going through a difficult time and I was dealing with it, I was having digestive problems that I realized after the fact must have been due to the stress, as that was really the only different thing going on.  So I have definitely experienced first hand the mind-body connection and it saddens me that little kids experience this, too, without having a good understanding of it.  The physical/physiological manifestations can be frustrating and confusing and uncomfortable, which then adds to the stress!  I was able to identify it and work on managing the stress, but  kids need us to help them mediate things like that.

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Strengths and Challenges (Anne Zaccardi)

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Strengths and Challenges (Anne Zaccardi)

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I think a strength of mine is that I understand the importance of building strong, positive relationships with my kiddos, and I try to spend a good deal of time getting to know them and what they "bring" to school with them. I related to the section about helping students heal and creating compassionate communities, and make efforts to build positive relationships with each student.
I think a challenge of mine is sticking with the mindfulness practices that I have put in place. At the beginning of the year, I am much more likely to build in time for mindfulness practices, and then as academics build and the year gets busy, I find myself thinking "wow, we haven't done ---- in along time" As we focused again on social emotional needs during distance learning, I realized how much more deeply I was able to connect with the students again, even from a distance.

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The first section of this book was very interesting and it provided a great background on the importance of mindfulness and empathy in the school setting.  I found Chapter 3: Our Brain and the Mind-Body Connection most interesting and relative to my practice as a physical therapist.  The connections between triggers (for both students and adults) and the physical responses they produce interests me as I am working with students physical development.  The chronic stressors or "toxic stress" some of our students (and teachers) are facing produces cortisol dominance which "can negatively impact our attention span and how we learn, form memories and even make decisions (page 46)."  I am hopeful that learning how to incorporate mindfulness practices into my own daily routine and into my treatment sessions with my students can decrease this cortisol response and promote improved attention and ability to learn.

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Something I've internalized in my teacher is the idea a classroom should be a safe place. In fact, in order for students to learn, they must first feel safe within a classroom. Stressed kids don't learn. This book reinforced that point for me but also provided a new framework to understand this idea by examining how stress can 'trigger,' students AND teachers - provoking a fight/flight response. I'm sure the book will go into more detail as I read further but the initial suggested strategy appears to be encouraging a moment of reflection and awareness of one's emotional status. Rather than allow oneself to become swept up in the current of a strong fight/flight response, the book urges teachers to find ways of pulling back, and adopting a more reflective mindset when confronted with stress.

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Right from the get go, the book discusses the statistics of, and the effects of trauma on students and adults. It is important to recognize that incorporating mindfulness strategies and practices can significantly decrease the frequency of negative behaviors and anxiety within our students, and even ourselves as teachers! Mindfulness is like a muscle. The more we stretch it, the stronger it grows! This is where the importance of a growth mindset comes into play. When we are open to growth, growth will follow!