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#mindfulAISD (12/12)

Mindfulness in the Austin Independent School District

#mindfulAISD (12/12)Mindfulness in the Austin Independent School District

Week of December 12th

Welcome to the #mindfulAISD newsletter for the week of December 12th. This will serve as a way to highlight the awesome mindfulness work being done across the district as well as offer resources. Have suggestions for material you'd like to see on here? Please email the SEL Mindfulness Specialist: james.butler@austinisd.org

#mindfulAISD HAPPENINGS #mindfulAISD HAPPENINGS

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Science Teachers @ Akins HS

@AkinsAISD today talkin mindfulness and resiliency w/science teachers today #relationshipsmatter #akinsSEL


--Jason Littlefield ‏@JCLittlefield

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Student Mindfulness Leaders @ Sunset Valley ES

Look #AISDSupt our 5th graders @ElSunsetValley leading our morning mindfulness. #MindfulAISD @MindfulClassrms #AISDProud art teacher!


--Kim Moncus ‏@Art_Studio_Lady

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Mindfulness Room @ Rodriguez ES

Just left @RodriguezElem- inspired by #MindfulnessRoom they're creating. All funded by donations! @AISDSupt check it out! @AustinISDSEL


--Mr. Butler ‏@mrbutler629

Want to Showcase Your Mindfulness Work?

Send James Butler an email with a brief story and/or photo (if you have photo releases for your students). Or if you're on Twitter, use the hashtag #mindfulAISD and I'll post a link to your tweet on the newsletter.

RESOURCES RESOURCES

Recommended Mindfulness Apps

List of mindfulness apps and their recommended level (Elementary, Secondary or All)


**The apps are either completely free or have free portions. They have different guided mindfulness sessions. Test them out and see what works best for you and your students.


Breathing Bubbles (Elementary)


Calm (All)


Calm Kids with Mamaphant (Elementary--Early Childhood)


Chakra Chime (All) *just the chime, no sessions


Headspace (Secondary)


Insight Timer (All)


Mindful Life Project (Secondary) *Spanish and English


Settle Your Glitter (Elementary)


Smiling Mind (All)


Stop Breathe Think (Secondary)


Super Stretch Yoga (Elementary)

November Mindfulness Challenge Recap

Check out the impressive numbers from the Mindfulness Challenge follow-up forms I received. During the month of November, participants practiced mindfulness...


Total: 87,002 minutes (1,450 hours)

Average/person (month): 335 minutes (over 5.5 hours)

Average/person (day): ~11 minutes


Odom Elementary had the most staff members complete their mindfulness goals. They will be featured in an upcoming "News from Dr. Cruz" newsletter. Way to go, Odom!


Stephanie Hawkins, 5th grade teacher at Doss Elementary, was randomly selected for the $25 VISA gift card.


Thanks to great feedback, I look forward to making the April Mindfulness Challenge even better with more support.

Previous Newsletters

Links to all the previous newsletters with a highlight or two from each edition.


Week of December 5 (Scientifically proven song for relaxation & Mindfulness Tour recap)

Week of November 28 (#mindfulAISD YouTube Playlist link)

Week of November 14 (GIFs for deep breathing & Breathing script for HS--Palm the Present Moment by Donald Altman from "The Mindfulness Toolbox")

Week of November 7 (AISD e-Wellness spotlight)

Week of October 31 (Mindfulness Challenge update)

Week of October 24 (Progressive Muscle Relaxation script)

Week of October 17 ("Just Breathe" mindfulness video)

Week of October 10 (Stop Breathe Think App/Site & Curious Not Furious article)

Week of October 3 (Pokemon poses & Mindfulness and the Brain article)

Week of September 26 (Replacing Detention w/ Meditation article & Guided Breathing tracks in Spanish & English)

Week of September 19 (Teacher Self-Care & Connecting Mindfulness w/ SEL: Mind Yeti)

Week of September 12 (KEYE News feature & Helping Teens Destress)

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Mindful Classrooms--Week 16

If you're using Mindful Classrooms: The Educator Guide, I recommend using Week 16 this week. It's a very loose recommendation though. Please do what's best for you and your students. If you'd like the free electronic copy of the book, please feel out the Google Form at the bottom of this page.


Photos/stories of Mindful Classrooms being used in class are always welcome and would be great for the newsletter! Email James Butler.

FREE FOR TEACHERS! FREE FOR TEACHERS!

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Calm

FREE Calm.com Lifetime Subscription for Teachers (PreK-12)


If you haven't done this yet, I HIGHLY recommend it. Click on the above link and fill out the quick form for a FREE lifetime subscription. It's a $300 value and they are giving it away for free to teachers!


Calm also has an app for phones.


**There are free sections on calm.com and the app, so feel free to share with your students' families.

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Mind Yeti

Connecting Mindfulness w/ Explicit SEL Lessons


Mindyeti.com is a great resource that connects mindfulness with Second Step lessons. Visit the site and sign up for a FREE account!


There is also an informational page that explains the connection between Mind Yeti and Second Step.


**Parents/guardians can also sign up for a free account. Share with your students' families!
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GoNoodle

GoNoodle For the Body and the Mind


Go to the CATEGORIES tab at the top of the page and look for "calming" and "stretching." They have a bunch of great videos to use for daily mindfulness time and/or mindfulness breaks. GoNoodle can be found in the AISD cloud and then you have access to GoNoodle Plus with ALL of the videos.


**Share gonoodle.com with your students' families so they can sign up for a FREE account to use at home.

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Pokemon Poses (created by AISD 3rd graders)

List of Pokemon Poses created by AISD Students


Mrs. Garcia's 3rd graders at Cunningham created Pokemon Yoga Poses for Market Day last week and they wanted to share their creativity and hard work with y'all. Creating poses and incorporating mindful breathing with the poses is such a great way to make mindfulness fun and easily practiced by all. Nicely done!

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Mindful Life Project

Guided Mindfulness Activities in English & Spanish--Great for Secondary


Mindful Life Project is an incredible organization based out of Richmond, CA. They teach mindfulness, yoga, expressive arts, and hip-hop/performing arts to elementary and middle school students in underserved communities.


They also have a free app titled "Mindful Life Project."

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Stop, Breathe & Think

Stop Breathe & Think is a website and app that provides guided meditations based on how you are feeling at that moment. There are a great number of FREE meditations starting at just a couple minutes long.

Sign Up for Mindfulness Support

If you haven't filled out the #mindfulAISD Google Form (below) and want to highlight your work and/or receive mindfulness support, please check it out. It only takes about 1 minute to complete. Know someone in AISD interested in mindfulness? Send them this newsletter for them to fill out the Google Form.
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Contact

James Butler

SEL Mindfulness Specialist


james.butler@austinisd.org

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