The principal's Challenge: Day 0 of 30

Rumor has it that it takes 30 days of consistent, focused behavior to create a habit. Our inspirational school leader loves to challenge us with new ideas. Tomorrow “The Principal’s 30 Day Challenge” begins. Our UPK classroom has chosen to be consistent with practicing whole group mindfulness for 3-5 minutes a day. 

It is 10:45am and I grab my phone. After a handful of expectations and several prompts, the kids are ready for their first experience. I click on the Headspace App for Kids and choose “Focus” as our 3 minute mindful practice of the day.  We close our eyes. “Andy” begins to walk us through a visualization journey with different animals of various sizes.  Frogs, monkeys, chickens, elephants and fish make up the experience.

“Mrs. N?”
I peek through one eye and see a pair of brown eyes staring up at me on top of a big beautiful smile. I smile back, send the quiet signal, and gesture to close the eyes.

“Shhh,” I hear from across the room.
“Close your eyes!” another voice mumbles.
“Hey, move into your space,” a whisper calls.

I pause the mindful journey. It has been 23 seconds. Twenty-THREE!!

Do I abandon and start over tomorrow or continue on? I mean, technically the challenge hasn’t started yet...

Nope. Continue on we must. I take a deep breath to refocus, share a few reminders and then we close our eyes again.

I hear rustling. It is coming from every angle. I take a look. Legs are moving, bodies are shifting, booties are scooting, heads are wobbling….only 2 minutes to go. We can make it. We really can! I pause to give a prompt and we start again.

Once the lengthy stretch to the finish line was up, we took a minute to reflect.

“What animals did you picture?” I asked.

And the first answer to be shared is “A pink polar bear!” 

I chuckled and wrapped up Day "0's" session. It can only grow from here...haha! 

With love,
​Christy Lynn

Lessons Learned by Day 2:

1. Don’t close your eyes to model alongside them.  Rather, walk around and quietly prompt them back on task as needed. It's not like they should be seeing me through their closed eyes anyways! ;-)
2. Have the kiddos make a choice to lie down or sit up. Most of my minis choose to lie down, which seems to naturally put them in a more restful state.
3. Guide them into small groups with their feet facing inward, creating a more interconnected space.
4. ​Be patient and trust that the experience is part of the process. Be proud of the beginning, just as much as the journey.  

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HEADSPACE APP