by California Casualty | Educators |
Students nowadays are becoming increasingly more stressed and anxious. Teaching mindfulness in the classroom can help students learn to cope with emotional and mental stresses. Students who are mindful demonstrate the ability to control their attention, remain calm, and manage stress. Student mindfulness has been shown to have profound benefits for students. Mindfulness allows students to learn by clearing their minds of the things out of their control.
There are several ways teachers can incorporate student mindfulness practices in the classroom.
Breathing
Breathing exercises help to calm body and mind. Try some guided deep breathing with students to help them relax and release their worries.
Music
Help students relax by listening to soothing music or other calming sounds, like ocean waves, nature sounds, or white noise.
Imagery
In guided imagery, words and music can help students use their imaginations to create imaginary scenarios that may promote relaxation and reduce blood pressure and stress.
Meditation
Daily meditation in schools has been linked to a reduction in suspensions and truancy and an increase in academic proficiency. It also helps relax students and promotes a sense of well-being.
Sensory
Tactile items, like Silly Putty, stress balls, and Play-doh can help encourage young imaginations. Make “I Spy” jars by filling them with items that have strong, familiar smells (cinnamon, flowers, cereals, or popcorn) and have students guess the scent. Use tables covered with water, sand, or rice to focus on sense of touch.
Movement
Students are movers. Incorporate movement into your daily routine as part of your mindfulness practice. Yoga is a preferred practice for mindfulness through movement. It is calming, gentle, and flowing.
Resources
MindYeti.com – A mindfulness app for kids
GoNoodle.com – a brain break app that offers mindfulness videos
“Just Breathe” Original Film – a short film by Julie Bayer Salzman & Josh Salzman (Mindful Schools) in which young children describe their experiences with mindfulness
Guided Meditation, Relaxation and Imagery for Children videos from New Horizon channel on YouTube
Guided calming exercises from Stop, Breathe & Think on YouTube.
Relaxing Music by Yellow Brick Cinema channel on YouTube
Yoga for kids by Cosmic Kids Yoga channel on YouTube (for primary and upper elementary).
Yoga videos for a variety of needs, levels, and situations from Yoga With Adriene on YouTube.
Reading Materials
Mindfulness for Teachers: Simple Skills for Peace and Productivity in the Classroom
by Patricia Jennings
The Mindful Child
by Susan Kaiser Greenland
The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind
by Daniel J. Siegel
Visiting Feelings
by Lauren Rubenstein
Have You Filled a Bucket Today?
by Carol McCloud
by California Casualty | Educators |
Our Education Blogger is a public school teacher with over a decade of experience. She’s an active NEA member, and enjoys writing about her experiences in the classroom.
For many teachers, summer is the time to complete projects you’ve been putting off during the school year. Exercise tends to be one of those projects. Summertime is a great opportunity to begin building workout habits. The following can help get you started with a summer exercise routine and transition into a healthy start to the next school year.
Use A Fitness App
I like Map My Run and My Fitness Pal. I can log workouts, track how far I run (along with some other stats), and count calories from food. Couch to 5K is also another free, popular app that helps you progress your way to a 5K in 8 weeks. Check out this list of The 38 Best Health and Fitness Apps from Greatest.com to see if you can find an app that works for you!
Start Small
If exercise isn’t part of your regular routine, start with just 2 or 3 days a week. From there, add on days as you feel more comfortable. You can also up the intensity of your workouts.
Keep A Routine
Find a time and day that works for you and commit to it. You are more likely to stick with something if you make it a part of your routine.
Exercise With A Buddy or Group
If you are able, find a friend or a group of friends with whom you can work out. You can hold one another accountable if you commit to group workouts. When you skip out on a workout, there’s an element of guilt added in, which makes you more likely to stick with it.
Mix It Up
For me, one type of exercise becomes boring. To combat the monotony, I use different types of exercise. Yoga, kickboxing, cardio, dance, etc., are all great ways to mix up the workout routine. You can find videos online for just about any kind of workout!
Set A Goal
What is your fitness goal? Is it to lose weight, build muscle tone, run a marathon? Establish your goal, write it on a sticky note, and place the note in a visible place you will see each day. Use an “I will” statement and have an end date. For example, “I will lose 10 pounds by July 31st.” It is also helpful to decide HOW you will meet your goal. Will you run for 20 minutes 3 times a week? Lift weights every day?
Motivate Yourself
Take selfies. I know. I hate this part. If you take pictures of yourself regularly, you should be able to see the changes in your body as you progress towards your goal. Hopefully, these pictures will motivate you to keep going. Positive self talk is also beneficial. Again, use your sticky notes to write positive affirmations to place in a visible location (“I can do this!” or “I am strong!”). This may be cheesy, but it has a surprisingly positive effect!
Tell Your Family/Partner
Your partner or family is a great source of support and encouragement. Tell them your fitness goals and plan. They can help motivate you and hold you accountable (if you choose).
What summer fitness advice would you give teachers?
by California Casualty | Educators |
If you are lucky enough to have some free time during summer break, take advantage of it. Don’t let the summer days slip by. Make the most of your summer without spending much money!
Sleep In and Take Naps
How often do you really get to do this? According to the American Sleep Association, sleep is a basic, biological need, and if we are deprived of sleep, our bodily systems fail. The average adult needs about 8 hours of total sleep time each day (ASA). So, no need to feel bad about sleeping in that extra hour or taking a quick snooze on the couch during the day. It’s for your health!
Find Free Activities
Make a list of the free festivals, carnivals, fairs, and other summer activities that your city or town has to offer during the summer. When you notice you have a free day, see what’s on the list for that day and have fun!
Exercise
Use your summer days to get back into an exercise routine. Use your break to fine tune your routine so you can transition easily into the following school year. The best part about summer is that there are a variety of activities you can do: swimming, biking, canoeing, kayaking, skating, jogging, hiking . . . well, you get the idea.
Have a Staycation
It’s time to explore your own town or city. Take a stroll through a local hiking or nature area. Visit a local museum, zoo, or aquarium. Eat out at a new-to-you restaurant. Or simply lounge at the pool soaking up the sun.
Get Outside
There are many benefits to spending time outdoors. As the Harvard Health Letter titled “A Prescription for Better Health: Go Alfresco” says, spending time outdoors will raise your vitamin D levels, cause you to get more exercise, make you happier, improve your concentration, and might make you heal faster.
Spend Time with Friends
Carve out time each week to have lunch with a friend, or a group of friends. Maintaining meaningful relationships is important to your well-being. The Mayo Clinic says there are many health benefits to having friends including boosting one’s happiness, reducing stress, improving self-confidence, reduced significant health problems, and longer life spans.
Get Ahead on Professional Development
If you have “extra” time during your summer break, think about squeezing in some professional development so you won’t have to work on it during the school year. Don’t have the monetary resources to take coursework? No need to worry, I have created a list of 6 Free Professional Development Resources for Educators.
Organize
Take a few hours each week to do that “spring cleaning” you never got around to. Focus on one room or area at a time. Purge, clean, and organize. You’ll feel like you can tackle the upcoming school year with ease if you have a clean and organized home.
How do you make the most of your summer break?
by California Casualty | Educators |
Hannah Davis is an educator and NEA Member. She works every day to inspire and educate her middle school science students. When she faced serious personal challenges, she turned it into a learning opportunity for her class. Watch the video above and learn how the support she received from students and her fellow educators became a defining moment in her career.
What’s Your #Moment?
Are you an educator, firefighter, nurse, or peace officer with an inspiring story? Share it on social media with #ThisIsMyMoment and tag us, and we’ll help spread the word!
by California Casualty | Educators |
I enjoy teaching out of our math textbooks and using the nifty manipulatives, cross-curricular centers, leveled readers, and other integrated activities which come with our math series. However, sometimes, it’s nice to shake things up a bit and jump on the computers or tablets for a little online math fun. My favorite websites are those that my students and I can use without any preparation or hassle, and they must be FREE. You can start using any of these 7 math websites in your classroom immediately!
ProdigyGame – Free, self-paced math games for grades 1-8 with free account membership. There is even a free app for computers and tablets!
SheppardSoftware – Free kids math games. Topics include addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, money, algebra, and place value.
CoolMath4Kids – Free math games for kids and teacher. Lessons, games, quizzes, and brain teasers for grades K-6.
KhanAcademy – Educator-created videos, lectures, and practice for math concepts at all grade levels.
MrNussbaum – Games, workshops, practice modules, skill and drill, and printables.
LearnZillion – Instructional videos, lessons, and practice. Teachers can assign lessons without needing student accounts. Common core standards Kindergarten through 8th grade.
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives – A digital library featuring manipulatives and activities for all grade levels.
by California Casualty | Educators |
Formative assessment is meant to monitor student learning and provide teachers information to help guide instruction during a lesson or unit. It can help teachers target areas of weakness, identify strengths, and differentiate. Using appropriate formative assessment strategies can help improve instruction and student achievement. It doesn’t have to be time consuming. These no-prep formative assessment methods can save you time while informing your instruction.
Four Corners: Students will choose a corner based on their level of expertise of a given subject. Once students are in their chosen corners, allow them to discuss their progress with others. Questions may be prompted by the teacher. Corner One will pair with Corner Three and Corner Two will pair with Corner Four for peer scaffolding.
So What? Journal: Identify the main idea of the lesson. Why is it important? State 2–3 reasons these concepts are important.
Misconception Check: Present students with common or predictable misconceptions about a particular concept or process. Ask students to agree or disagree and explain why. Can also be presented in the form of a multiple-choice or true-false quiz.
Inside-Outside Circle: Students will form one inner and outer circle. The inside and outside circles face each other. Within each pair, students will quiz each other with questions they have written. The outside circle moves to create new pairs. Repeat.
Triangular Prism: Have students provide feedback about their learning by displaying a card with the color that corresponds to their level of understanding (red, yellow, green).
Decisions, Decisions: Give students a question, prompt, or problem to solve. Provide time to respond independently. Then have students move to a side of the room that corresponds to their response. Each side will share out their reasoning. Allow students to change sides after the discussion.
Sketch: Visually represent new knowledge. Challenge students to use a drawing rather than words to show understanding of a concept. This is the perfect exercise for those kids who have difficulty speaking out in class.
Whip Around: Pose a question or a task and have students individually respond on a scrap piece of paper, listing at least 3 thoughts/responses/statements. When finished responding, all students will stand. Then randomly call on a student to share one of his/her ideas. Have students check off any items that are said by another student (or themselves) and sit down when all of their items have been shared with the group. Allows general understanding or gaps to be revealed among the whole group.
Letter: Explain the concept or lesson in a letter to a friend (also a great way to practice letter writing).
Cubing: Display 6 questions from the lesson. Have students in groups of 4. Give each group one die. Each student will roll the die and answer the question with the corresponding number. If a number is rolled more than once, the student may elaborate on the previous response or roll again. Responses may be written or shared orally.
3-2-1: Have students write a response to teacher generated questions. Teacher questions may vary according to the particular concept/ process: 3 things you found out 2 interesting things 1 question you still have OR 3 key words 2 new ideas 1 thought to think about.
Quickwrite: Without stopping, write what most confuses you. Visit with students individually or have a class discussion to help clarify confusions.
What no-prep formative assessment strategies do you use in your classroom?
