Mindfulness Newsletter
January 2019--#mindfulAISD
Mindfulness Resources Featured in This Newsletter...
- Mindfulness for Staff -- Compilation of Resources
- Professional Learning -- Spring HCP Courses
- For Families -- Including Families in School Mindfulness
- Equity -- Mindfulness For The People
- Books of the Month -- 3 New Books
- Technology -- Video Recommendations (besides our YouTube videos obviously) :)
- Athletics -- Nick Foles Interview: "Staying In The Moment"
- SEL Newsletter & Blog -- Equity & SEL
- Mindful Happenings in AISD -- Highlights
Please feel free to email me suggestions for what to include in future newsletters.
Reminder: For more regular mindfulness updates, please follow me on Twitter, @mrbutler629. I post regularly, providing tips and highlighting mindfulness happening across the district. Also, feel free to use #mindfulAISD when posting about mindfulness.
Mindfulness For Staff -- Compilation of Resources
Mindfulness in schools starts with the adults. Here's some goodness for y'all. :)
This meme cracks me up, but it's also a bit too real. Teaching is stressful y'all, and that's why it's so important to take care of yourself. I've put together a compilation of mindfulness related self-care resources and plan on adding to it with more and more resources and free/discounted mindful stuff that I can get for y'all. :)
I'll include this link every month in addition to the monthly features from now on.
Mindfulness Professional Learning through HCP
Check out the Spring 2019 Mindfulness In Schools Sessions! Space is limited due to sub funding, so sign up soon. Click on the links to go directly to HCP to sign up.
Tuesday, March 26th Mindfulness 101 AND 201 8:30am-3:30pm @ Blanton Museum
Thursday, March 28th Culturally Responsive Mindfulness 8:30am-3:30pm @ Amala Foundation
Thursday, April 25th Mindfulness 301 8:30am-3:30pm @ Blanton Museum
Tuesday, April 30th Librarian Mindful Maker Spaces 1pm-4pm @ Blanton Museum
Tentative Sessions...Not in HCP yet, but if there's enough funding for subs they'll be in the system by the end of January.
Tuesday, February 26th Mindfulness 101 8am-11am @ Blanton Museum
Tuesday, April 23rd Mindfulness 201 8am-11am @ Blanton Museum
Mindfulness for Families -- Including Families in School Mindfulness
Here are a few ways that Austin ISD schools have included families in their school-wide mindfulness efforts. Please let me know if you have any questions about these ideas...
- Mindfulness presentation/session at Parent Coffee w/ Principal
- SEL Family Night
- Mindfulness table at any Family Event
- Volunteer opportunities to create a Mindfulness Room/Garden
- Mindfulness "homework" where students get opportunities to teach their family about mindfulness (the photo to the right is from Overton's project like this)
As a reminder, you can always find family resources on bit.ly/mindfulfams.
Mindfulness & Equity -- Mindfulness For The People
I'd like to share info about an awesome organization that I admire a lot. The links below are to their Facebook page and website. Check them out. The image to the right is from their FB page.
Mindfulness For The People is a Black-owned social change agency dedicated to bridging racial justice and collective wellbeing through techniques of mindfulness, compassion, and self-compassion.
You can also check out the MFTP site to learn more and sign up for their mailing list.
Mindfulness Books of the Month
Grandfather Gandhi
"Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson tells the story of how his grandfather taught him to turn darkness into light in this uniquely personal and vibrantly illustrated tale that carries a message of peace."
A Handful of Quiet: Happiness in Four Pebbles
"A Handful of Quiet is a concrete activity that parents and educators can introduce to children in school settings, in their local communities or at home, in a way that is meaningful and inviting. Any adult wishing to plant seeds of peace, relaxation, and awareness in children will find this unique meditation guide helpful. Children can also enjoy doing pebble meditation on their own."
101 Mindful Ways to Build Resilience
"The 101 mindfulness 'tools' in this book will give you newfound hope, optimism, and strength. These simple, yet powerful mindfulness practices that you can apply in just a minute to two -- whether you're facing something extremely annoying or seemingly insurmountable."
Mindful Technology -- Recommended Videos
How Mindfulness Empowers Us -- 3-minute animated video about the Native American parable, Two Wolves, and how mindfulness connects to the message of inner conflict and which wolf to feed.
All It Takes Is 10 Mindful Minutes -- 10-minute extremely popular TED Talk about mindfulness.
Breathing Love Into Communities -- 18-minute video about the amazing work done by the Holistic Life Foundation in Baltimore. The kids in the video are amazing.
Why Mindfulness Is A Superpower -- 3-minute mindfulness video that I share at almost all mindfulness PDs. It does such a great job of explaining mindfulness and breaking down some myths about mindfulness.
Mindfulness & Athletics -- Postgame Interview w/ Nick Foles: "Stay In The Moment"
Full disclosure: I realize this is Cowboys country, but Nick Foles is from the Austin area so I thought that might make this a little easier. :) And best of luck to the Cowboys in the playoffs!
SEL Newsletter & Blog--Focus on Equity
Mindful Happenings in Austin ISD
Mindful AISD in American School Board Journal
American School Board Journal included a bit about our mindfulness work in AISD in a feature titled, "Mind Body Connection" in their December edition where they focus on mental health.
Mindful Moments on Weekly Newscasts at Gullett
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Mindful Classrooms: The Educator Guide
Those of you who are using Mindful Classrooms: The Educator Guide, I recommend Weeks 18-21 for January. As a friendly reminder, the book will be published by Free Spirit Publishing soon and I won't be able to give away free copies anymore soon. AISD staff, sign up for a free electronic copy of the book while you can in the support form at the bottom of this newsletter.
#mindfulAISD archives
Mindfulness Newsletter Archives (One link to access all newsletters from 16-17 & 17-18)
Inner Explorer
So much gratitude to LG for the $20,000 grant to provide Inner Explorer community licenses to 20 AISD campuses through the 2018-2019 school year!! Inner Explorer is a web-based mindfulness program that's very easy to use for all ages. Elementary content is in Spanish as well. They even have a community component where families can have an account along with the school. For more info and sample practices, click here.
Stop Breathe Think--Free Lifetime Subscription
Calm--Free Lifetime Subscription
FREE Calm.com Lifetime Subscription for Teachers (PreK-12). Fill out the form at the link above for a FREE subscription to their site & app.
#mindfulAISD YouTube Playlist
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.
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."
Videos Explaining Mindfulness
Sign Up for Mindfulness Support
Contact
SEL Mindfulness Specialist
2014 Austin ISD Teacher of the Year
Twitter: @mrbutler629