#mindfulAISD (4/24)
Mindfulness in the Austin Independent School District
Week of April 24th, 2017
MINDFULNESS TIPS FROM AISD
Student LeadershipStudent mindfulness leaders is valuable in Elementary, Middle & High School. Here are 2nd grade student health leaders from Boone Elementary choosing which mindfulness activities to teach their peers. | Teacher Self-CareTeacher Leaders at Padron Elementary have created "Padron Pamper Days" where teachers can visit their self-created mindfulness/self-care room during their planning and/or lunch. Williams & Mills also had Self-Care Days for their teachers last week. Teacher Self-Care is imperative. Keep it up, y'all. | Mindfulness & Athletics AISD Athletic Director, Leal Anderson, is providing some time in June for all HS Athletic Coordinators to learn about mindfulness and how to use it with student-athletes. MS Coordinator mindfulness coming soon too. Thanks, Coach! |
Student Leadership
Student mindfulness leaders is valuable in Elementary, Middle & High School. Here are 2nd grade student health leaders from Boone Elementary choosing which mindfulness activities to teach their peers.
Teacher Self-Care
Teacher Leaders at Padron Elementary have created "Padron Pamper Days" where teachers can visit their self-created mindfulness/self-care room during their planning and/or lunch.
Williams & Mills also had Self-Care Days for their teachers last week. Teacher Self-Care is imperative. Keep it up, y'all.
Mindfulness & Athletics
Want to Showcase Your Mindfulness Work?
NEW THIS WEEK
Self-Care/Mindfulness Ideas for Teachers (UPDATE: Signs in Link Below)
SEL Specialists have hosted Self-Care days for teachers, and some campus leaders have put together resources for self-guided self-care. These have been held in various spaces on campus, including the teachers lounge. I've attached a link for signs if you'd like to do something similar on your campus. Have questions? Please email me, james.butler@austinisd.org or contact your campus SEL Specialist.
*Sign credit: Angela Bailey, SEL Specialist*
Rewiring the Brain TED Talk
Understanding the brain is key to understanding benefits of mindfulness. This video explains different parts of the brain, their purpose, and how we can rewire our brain.
"His approach, taught in a very simple method, creates a bridge between true human potential and the latest scientific theories of neuroplasticity. He explains how thinking in new ways, as well as changing beliefs, can literally rewire one's brain. The premise of his work is founded in his total conviction that every person on this planet has within them, the latent potential of greatness and true unlimited abilities."
*Thanks to Dr. Claude Bonazzo, Research Analyst: AISD Research & Evaluation, for sharing this video.*
Mindful Classrooms--Week 32
Photos/stories of Mindful Classrooms being used in class are always welcome and would be great for the newsletter! Email James Butler.
RESOURCES
Previous Newsletters
Links to all the previous newsletters with a highlight or two from each edition.
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)
Mindful AISD YouTube Playlist The official #mindfulAISD YouTube Playlist. If you/your students would like to make a video for this playlist, please contact James Butler. | Zen Den YouTube Playlist Click here for the "Zen Den" YouTube playlist, so I wanted to share it with y'all. There are 18 videos on the list, ranging from 4-8 minutes in length. | Multilingual MindfulnessClick here for mindfulness activities in Spanish, Arabic, Farsi/Dari, Burmese, Swahili & Kinyarwanda. Huge thank you to the amazing AISD Refugee Family Support Team for the translations. |
Mindful AISD YouTube Playlist
Zen Den YouTube Playlist
Multilingual Mindfulness
Click here for mindfulness activities in Spanish, Arabic, Farsi/Dari, Burmese, Swahili & Kinyarwanda. Huge thank you to the amazing AISD Refugee Family Support Team for the translations.
CalmFREE Calm.com Lifetime Subscription for Teachers (PreK-12) 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. | Mind YetiConnecting 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. | GoNoodleGoNoodle 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. **Share gonoodle.com with your students' families so they can sign up for a FREE account to use at home. |
Calm
FREE Calm.com Lifetime Subscription for Teachers (PreK-12)
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.
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.
GoNoodle
GoNoodle 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.
**Share gonoodle.com with your students' families so they can sign up for a FREE account to use at home.
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. | Mindful Life ProjectGuided 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." | 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. |
De-Escalation Strategies Poster
This 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
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."