Smore logo
remove_red_eye 324

#mindfulAISD (1/17)

Mindfulness in the Austin Independent School District

#mindfulAISD (1/17)Mindfulness in the Austin Independent School District

Week of January 17th, 2017

Welcome to the #mindfulAISD newsletter for the week of January 17th. 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

zoom_out_map

Student Health Leaders @ Boone ES

My Student Health Leaders are leading the class in our mindfulness activities. @BooneBears #aisdproud #mindfulAISD


--Kareen Littlefeather ‏@KLittlefeather

zoom_out_map

Rainy Day Indoor Exercise @ Pillow ES

Raining outside? @PillowPanthers 5th graders do indoor yoga instead to start the day! #AISDProud #PillowProud #WholeChild #mindfulAISD


--Brian Hill ‏@BrianPaulHill

zoom_out_map

Mindfulness & MOY @ Webb MS

The 6th grade team at Webb Early College Prep will be providing mindful moments to all their students before taking the MOY. Eddie Bonet-Diaz sent an email to the staff about the idea and encouraging others to do the same. He even provided some quick & easy suggestions.


*Why Mindfulness & Testing? "Research has found that mindfulness increases density of gray matter in brain regions linked to learning, memory, emotion regulation, and empathy." (Greater Good Science Center)

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

Mindfulness: What, Why & How from Science Perspective

The Greater Good Science Center has many resources on mindfulness. The link below provides research and videos on the What, Why & How of mindfulness. Check it out and share with your students, colleagues and/or administration.
Mindfulness Definition

Mindfulness Definition

launch greatergood.berkeley.edu

"Breathing Sticks"--Creative Mindfulness Activity

A brief article from Mindful Schools with directions on how to create the "breathing sticks" using pipe cleaners and beads. The article states that they were used in elementary classrooms and with middle schoolers in an after school program.


Try this out in your peace area, mindfulness moments, creativity center, etc.

"Breathing Sticks" Game for Elementary Students - Mindful Schools

"Breathing Sticks" Game for Elementary Students - Mindful Schools

Overcome the challenge of helping young students to focus by making these fun "breathing sticks." They love this game.

launch mindfulschools.org

Previous Newsletters

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


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)

zoom_out_map

Mindful Classrooms--Week 19

If you're using Mindful Classrooms: The Educator Guide, I recommend using Week 19 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!

zoom_out_map

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.

zoom_out_map

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!
zoom_out_map

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.

zoom_out_map

De-Escalation Strategies Poster

This document consists of 10 de-escalation stretching poses and 6 de-escalation breathing exercises. They feature students from Becker Elementary. They are being used in their classrooms and in their Mindfulness Room. If you'd like to personalize this document and add photos of students from your class/school, please email me and I'll send you the Word document to edit.


This can be an addition to your classroom, Peace Area, hallways, Mindfulness Room, etc.

zoom_out_map

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."

zoom_out_map

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.
open_in_new
zoom_out_map

Contact

James Butler

SEL Mindfulness Specialist


james.butler@austinisd.org

Loading indicator

close

Created with

Communicate quickly and effectively with interactive newsletters.

Smore empowers educators to connect with their community, streamline school communications,
and increase engagement.

Create a newsletter