Mindfulness Is When “You Don’t Think at All, You Just Do Whatever You Want Without Thinking of the Consequences”: Reframing Mindfulness in a Third-Grade Classroom

Author

Emily ColwellFollow

Campus Location

Abilene Campus

Date of Award

Spring 5-6-2022

Document Type

Manuscript

Department

Teacher Education

Degree Name

Master of Education in Teaching and Learning

First Advisor

Kim Hardin

Second Advisor

Andrew Huddleston

Abstract

This study explored the influences that five minutes of daily mindfulness activities had on third-grade students in a math and science classroom, as well as both student and teacher perceptions of the mindfulness activities. The researcher implemented five minutes of a mindfulness activity daily during a three-week period. Data collection methods included pre-and-post surveys, observations with field notes, student artifacts, and student and teacher interviews. Qualitative data was analyzed using the constant comparative method to look for recurring themes and numerical data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Four major themes emerged including better understanding of what mindfulness is, the role school and home play, provided structure and quiet calmness, and behaviors stayed consistent. While behaviors stayed consistent, students left the intervention with a better understanding of mindfulness and additional calming and refocusing strategies. The mindfulness intervention also showed to have created a calming environment that allowed students to better concentrate.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Colwell, Emily, "Mindfulness Is When “You Don’t Think at All, You Just Do Whatever You Want Without Thinking of the Consequences”: Reframing Mindfulness in a Third-Grade Classroom" (2022). Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning. 55.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/metl/55