Shout out to Meagan Butler, Secondary Counseling Coordinator, for sharing this resource.
With the final round of STAAR right around the corner, check out this great resource of tips to deal with test anxiety.
Shout out to Aleza Sitarz, SEL Specialist, for creating and sharing this resource.
A new consistent feature in the mindfulness newsletters will be a section dedicated to Mindful Technology. It's no secret that technology is everywhere, and can be quite addicting. This section will feature resources of different types to help us use technology more mindfully.
This month's feature is about an app called Q & U: Questions to Connect. It's available on Apple & Android devices. You can use it in class during circles, community meetings or use it at home with your children and/or partner.
"Q & U is designed for people on-the-go. Everyone has a phone but no one is talking. Q & U will change that! Driving the kids to school? Turn off the car screens and have the kids choose a Q & U question for the entire family to answer. Tucking the kids in bed? Pull up a question to ask. Bed time is the best time to get answers from your kids because they don't really want to go to sleep. Struggling for deeper conversation on a date night with your spouse? Explore dreams, goals, and interests with questions from Q & U."
Shout out to Angela Bailey, SEL Specialist, for sharing this resource.
This month's feature is our folder of resources which includes a letter explaining mindfulness, No Place For Hate coloring book, activities & recommended resources to use at home. Most of the documents are in English, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi/Dari, Burmese & Kinyarwanda.
Shout out to Jacob Anderson, Lanier Athletic Director, for sharing this resource.
Meditation Bar is offering mindfulness for graduating seniors to foster stress resilience for life after high school. Below is a blurb from the flyer explaining the workshops.
"This short, interactive workshop helps teens explore what mindfulness means, introduces a few short practical mindfulness tools, and discusses how the use of these tools can be integrated with their life after high school. Participants will also receive how to instruction, mindfulness materials for further exploration and one free month of classes at the Meditation Bar."
Unfortunately, we don't have money to offer scholarships for the course ($125), but it could make for an awesome graduation gift or perhaps funds/donations are available on your campus.
Shout out to Katie Cameroneil, SEL Specialist, for writing the blog and Victoria Birkeland, SEL Communications Coordinator, for crafting the newsletter.
The 1st Annual Mindfulness Retreat was a success! We had 53 participants get treated to different self-care classes provided by 18 generous volunteer facilitators from the community. Literacy First AmeriCorps members were instrumental in making the event run smoothly. The feedback from participants and facilitators has been overwhelmingly positive and we're using thoughtful suggestions to make future events even better. We're definitely going to have another one next year, and we might even do a Family Mindfulness Retreat as well. Stay tuned!
Mindful Classrooms: The Educator Guide
Letter to Families
Here's a letter about mindfulness you can share with families. It provides a brief description of mindfulness and a message from Dr. Cruz supporting mindfulness in schools.
The letter is available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi/Dari & Burmese.
Elementary Videos Explaining Mindfulness
Secondary Videos Explaining Mindfulness
#mindfulAISD YouTube Playlist
Calm--FREE for educators!
FREE Calm.com Lifetime Subscription for Teachers (PreK-12)
Multilingual Mindfulness
Want mindfulness activities in Spanish, Arabic, Farsi/Dari, Burmese, Swahili & Kinyarwanda? We've got them for you!
Zen Den YouTube Playlist
The "Zen Den" YouTube playlist offers 18 videos, ranging from 4-8 minutes in length.
Mind Yeti: Connecting Mindfulness w/ Explicit SEL Lessons
Mindyeti.com is a great resource that connects mindfulness with Second Step lessons, and it's FREE!
GoNoodle
GoNoodle is for the body and the mind.
Here is a link to a document that lists all the GoNoodle Mindfulness videos sorted by channel and with the length of each video.
De-Escalation Strategies Poster
This poster can be an addition to your classroom, Peace Area, hallways, Mindfulness Room, etc.
Mindful Life Project
Guided Mindfulness Activities in English & Spanish--Great for Secondary.
They also have a free app titled "Mindful Life Project."
