Welcome to the #mindfulAISD newsletter for the week of May 22nd. 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

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.

Thanks to those of you who have completed the survey already. If you haven't, here's a reminder. :)

I've created a simple 10 question (multiple choice & short answer) Google Form to gather feedback about mindfulness in AISD this school year. I want to be able to provide the best support possible next year so I'd love your input.

I know that teachers/staff get overwhelmed with surveys, so I was able to get the Alamo Drafthouse to donate 10 pairs of movie passes to raffle off for those who complete the survey. The deadline for completing the survey is Friday, May 26th 4pm. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this.

The subtitle of the article: "Cognitive biases may be partly to blame for prejudice, and research suggests that mindfulness can help us correct them."

I can personally say that mindfulness has helped make me less biased, which then helped me become a better teacher for all of my students. I recommend taking a few minutes to read the article.

During the month of April, AISD staff participating in the Mindfulness Challenge practiced mindfulness for 34,088 minutes, which is over 568 hours! Way to go, y'all!

Congrats to the following people whose names were drawn for the Self-Care Package Raffle:

• Inez Gibbs, 3rd Grade ESL Teacher at Mills
  
• Leal Anderson, AISD Athletic Director

Congrats to the following school who had the most participants and most staff members meet their mindfulness goal:

• Gullett Elementary

It's the last week of Mindful Classrooms! If you're using Mindful Classrooms: The Educator Guide, I recommend using Week 36 this week. I'll reach out to get feedback from those who used this book throughout the year.

Next year, I will have a Mindful Classrooms training on HCP for those interested.

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

Week of May 15 (Donors Choose Project for Mindfulness Trail & 3rd Graders Share About Mindfulness)

Week of May 8 (Calm Before Testing Resources & Just Breathe teacher painting)

Week of May 1 (Teacher Appreciation Deals & Self-Compassion exercises from Dr. Neff)

Week of April 24 (Teacher Self-Care Stations & Rewiring the Brain TED Talk)

Week of April 17 (MindYeti Update & Mindfulness in Middle School PE)

Week of April 10 (8 Principles of Teaching Mindfulness to Teens & Rainbow Walk)

Week of April 3 (Teachers Getting Mindfulness Training & One Minute Practice CE Video)

Week of March 27 (Calm Before Testing Resources)

Week of March 20 (April Mindfulness Challenge & Mindfulness Online Course)

Week of March 6 (Free Mindfulness Program--Smiling Mind & Multilingual Mindfulness)

Week of February 27 (Teacher Testimonial & 7 Tips for those who say they can't meditate)

Week of February 20 (Multilingual Mindfulness & Zen Den YouTube Videos)

Week of February 13 (Mindful Brain Poster & CE credit video w/ Jon Kabat-Zinn)

Week of February 6 (GoNoodle Mindfulness Document & Mindfulness Research Newsletter)

Week of January 30 (Rodriguez ES Mindfulness Studio & Mindful Coloring pages)

Week of January 23 (3 Simple Remedies for Stressed-Out Mind & Kindfulness article)

Week of January 17 (Science of mindfulness & Breathing Sticks activity)

Week of January 9 (SEL in Austin Family Magazine & Link to De-Escalation Strategies Poster)

Week of January 3 (List of mindfulness sites & mindfulness is good for teachers article)

Week of December 12 (List of mindfulness apps & Mindfulness Challenge recap)

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)

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.

James Butler

SEL Mindfulness Specialist

james.butler@austinisd.org