Sometimes, the Best Plan is No Plan

I did not have time to preview the pre-planned lesson I was supposed to do with my homeroom this morning. Truth be told, when we are actually in school, that happens quite a bit. I like to think, though, that after 27 years in the classroom I can pick up almost any lesson and do it justice, if not improve it, as I go along. Forgive me; such a belief is a small vanity, especially for someone who just spent 3 hours preparing her own lesson for tomorrow. 

But I digress. This morning the lesson was the second in a series of mindfulness activities that our district has planned for students to help them cope with the stress of the last months. I appreciate the effort, and I've been doing quite a bit of mindfulness practice myself, so I approached this experience with an open heart. The students were being introduced to an activity called STOP, and the anticipatory set was to tell them that STOP was an acronym and have them guess what the letters stood for. 

Not knowing the answer myself came in handy as we puzzled out what the letters might possibly mean. 

"Is the S for 'Speak'?" a student asked.

"Maybe," I shrugged. "I really don't know."

"Maybe the P is for 'Problem'," someone else suggested.

"Possibly," I agreed, "but by the end of the slogan, the problem should be gone, right?"

And so it went, as we guessed and guessed and nothing seemed quite right, and I couldn't even lead them in the direction of the answer.

"Oh my gosh!" one student finally said, "Can we PLEASE watch the video to find out?"

Seeing that my class was fully engaged and ready to learn, I nodded and pressed play. 

Now, that's good teaching!

P.S. It was

Stop

Take 3-5 breaths

Observe your feelings, acknowledge them, and

Proceed.

(Cool guidance! But when it comes to acronyms? I think that's kind of stretching it!)