high-energy activities. They had a little slogan to “STAR” their
behavior that they knew meant Stop, Think, Apply mindfulness,
and then Respond. But it was their sheer enjoyment of what they
were doing that delighted me most and best demonstrates the
benefit of the mindful school. Happy kids learn more, retain
more, and are more willing to share knowledge. Overall the stu-
dents did an outstanding job learning the music and dance mate-
rial, remembering concepts, and demonstrating improvement
in skills as measured by their performances, which were excel-
lent. All performance standards were met, and exceeded, with
exuberance. The primary benefit for the students, in the end,
was their success.
A good example of the benefits of the mindful school for stu-
dents and teachers happened while I was assisting the 6th grade
teacher during a language arts lesson. I walked in to find the class
and teacher in mid-discussion on the floor, in a circle. Some-
thing very serious had happened—someone had been shoved
pretty hard. The teacher guided the students in sharing one by
one how the incident made them feel, steering them away from
names and specifics. They passed a plush Scooby-Doo [stuffed
animal] and waited quietly while everyone shared; some students
spoke at length, some just a sentence, but all were heard. The
teacher then drew their attention to the mindful behaviors that
applied to the incident and asked the students to select one and
explain how they would have applied this behavior to the situa-
tion. The students then shared their ideas. As it turned out, the
consequences for the participants in the situation were grave, but
the focus was on the collective construction of alternative behav-
iors for similar situations in the future. Blame was diffused, and
understanding provided learning for all. I was amazed by this
process, and especially that 6th graders were capable of it. I
learned that the students practiced this circle thinking tool regu-
larly, and had since the 1st grade.
The Mindful Culture of Waikiki Elementary School 349