I saw how noticing our attention changed behaviors: students became more apt to pick up a discarded candy wrapper, to hand someone the pencil they dropped, or to take in the kickball that the rest of the class had left on the playground. The practice of bringing our attention back made students more able to choose when to be distracted by an interruption, when to finish their writing before getting up to get water, when to pick up their phone and when to resist the impulse, and how to listen to their friends. The more we practiced attention and the more we reflected, the more we noticed. Students became less judgemental and shaming of themselves over undesired behaviors and more able to shift towards positive action. That in turn created a more joyful classroom. Instead of the frustration and self-deprecation we used to experience when we got distracted, we now chuckled to ourselves at how our brains were working and got back to the task at hand more quickly. And of course this daily classroom practice affected me, too. I found space to judge myself less, I found myself less frustrated with my students when they didn’t meet expectations.” Emily Whitecotton