The Kid Whisperer: How to use a mindfulness center in your classroom

Scott Ervin, Tribune News Service

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I have a corner in my seventh-grade classroom where I send students who cause problems over and over. They have to stay there until I come talk to them, at which point, I find out if they can come back. They have to fill out a reflection paper that requires them to describe their feelings and a strategy they used to calm themselves down. If they fill out everything correctly and they seem calm and ready to return, I let them return. The problem is that many refuse to fill out the form, some shut down and won’t talk to me, and some won’t go at all. In short, it works great for the students who don’t need it in the first place. How do I get it to work with the students who actually need it?

Answer: Everything you are doing here is wron