Teach Primary Issue 18.4

www.teachwire.net | 71 Adam Bushnell is an award-winning author, and former teacher. He has written over 40 books including 100 Ideas for Primary Teachers: Daily Reflections, Modelling Exciting Writing and Descriptosaurus: Story Writing. they don’t usually play with, offering to tidy up PE and breaktime equipment or holding a door open. You can even talk about doing kind things that help the environment, such as turning off the tap when brushing teeth, picking up litter or reusing paper. You could finish this daily reflection by suggesting that the children choose to do something kind on that day. Explain that this will make them feel good and make others feel better too. The topic for a daily reflection doesn’t have to be restricted to kindness, of course. The theme can be as varied as you want it to be. It might be a reflection on gratitude, perseverance, present moment awareness, volunteering, positive routines, problem solving or making positive choices. You could focus on advice to overcome adversity or meditation practices, such as breathing exercises to feel calm, and more. But when is it possible to do this on a daily basis? The setting for the daily reflection could be in an assembly for a whole DAILY REFLECTION IDEAS What can we change? Discuss the things we can’t change in life, such as how tall or short we are. Discuss what we can change, such as becoming better at football, gymnastics or reading. The more we do it the better we get at it! But can we really make changes to the world? Yes! There are lots of things we can do to help people, from donating to food banks to giving charity shops a bag of unwanted clothes or toys. Discuss with the children what small things they can do to change the world. You can make suggestions such as holding a door open, picking up litter or even just smiling more often. The power of positive thinking Discuss some examples of negative thinking such as: I’ll never be able to do this. It’s all his fault. She’s doing so well. I’ll never be as good as her. Explain that we all think like this sometimes and that’s okay, but when you notice yourself having a negative thought, it’s good to see if you can change it into a positive thought: I can’t do this yet. I’m in charge of my own actions. Everyone is different. I can’t compare myself to others because no one else is me. Another way to help children to focus on the positive rather than the negative is to get them to make a list of things that they are grateful for. This could be friends, family, pets, food, toys, games or something simple, like a rainbow. school, with a class, or a small group of children. You might begin the school day with a class discussion of this sort, or perhaps have it before a lesson begins. If there have been particular issues over a breaktime or lunchtime with footballs or friendships, then that can be an excellent opportunity for an impromptu daily reflection. You could reflect at the end of the day to promote mental wellbeing at hometime. The idea is for you to decide when a reflection would be most useful; basically, they are meant to fit into the versatility of primary school life. So, let’s put contemplation into education and live in the now, with daily reflections as part of our standard practice. TP HE A L TH & WE L L BE I NG S P E C I A L @authoradam @authoradam