Catching Up: Mindfulness, Pedagogy, and Practice

I realized yesterday that it had been about three weeks since I had posted something on my personal blog. I have been busy writing for other educational blogs over the past few weeks and I have entered the swing of the summer term in full force with preparation, discussion, and grading. Also conferences… you know those things that tend to crop up in the summer. They are wonderful things to help foster community but also require time and preparation in order to be successful.

All of this work, all the work that we do as educators, pedagogues, instructors, instructional designers…all takes mindfulness. However, when we get busy, swept up in the list of to dos and the I have to be somewheres we often forget to practice this mindfulness.

This morning as I was answering email I heard a crack that sounded like a tree branch about to fall in the backyard. I ran to the kitchen patio doors to assess the situation because I knew my cat was laying there and I wanted to make sure he was okay. Everything was fine in my yard – I think the tree fell somewhere in the park behind me but the sound travelled making it sound closer than it was. But that tree sound was a bigger metaphor, a call for mindfulness.

Sometimes it takes something to jar us out of our tendency to echo our motions day after day. When we echo those motions for too long that in turn affects our pedagogical practice. We stop taking the time to reflect, we stop engaging or actively seeking resources to bring into class. This is when educational spaces become stale and stagnant.

Mindfulness is something we don’t often take into account but is necessary to success- regardless of what “success” looks like for you.  Being aware makes us more present in those educational spaces (whether we teach in-class, online, flipped mode, blended) and being present is the foundation to any knowledge work.

Sometimes it takes a tree falling for us to remember to be mindful, sometimes it is a comment in class or on a discussion board. It all means the same thing however. Take the time, reflect, look at what works and what isn’t, stretch the boundaries, have those difficult conversations…it is so rewarding!