The Impact of Morning Mindfulness during the Kindergarten Math Lesson

The purpose of this action research project was to determine if morning mindfulness would impact twenty-one kindergarten students\u27 behavior and focus during the math lesson. Combining weekly visits from the school guidance counselor and using calming techniques from the conscious discipline program. This study provides another tool to help teachers build on current skills already used in the classroom. This study took place in a rural Midwest kindergarten center for five weeks and followed A-B-A single-subject design. This design included a baseline, intervention, and removal of the mindfulness intervention. The mindfulness interventions include Go Noodle videos (Think about it and Flow), Mindful Classrooms, and Mindful Kids cards. Quantitative data was collected from the student check-in using a colored pompom representing their feelings of happy, mad, sad, or tired. A percentage calculated the emotions and represented using a bar graph each week. Qualitative data was collected by the researcher and Instructional coach using an off-task record. The data collected was represented by a pie graph for the researcher and Instructional coach to compare the percentage overall for the five-week study. A weekly percentage was also calculated, represented by a bar graph for each off-task behavior by the researcher. The analysis of the student feeling check-in was inconsistent and fluctuated, with happiness being the highest and mad being the lowest for all five weeks. The study of off-task behavior for the researcher and Instructional coach was similar, with self-distraction having the highest percentage and others with the lowest percent. The off-task behavior analysis for the researcher noted inconsistent behavior percentages with the most significant decrease in other behavior such as avoidance. Mindfulness did improve behavior and focus for most students in the class. Students\u27 stamina for math improved with less blurting, laying down, and showing appropriate kindergarten behavior for learning at math time