Monclova Primary
Weekly Bulletin
EVENTS FOR WEEK OF MARCH 20 - MARCH 24
Monday, March 20
FIRST DAY OF SPRING - OPTIMISM
Tuesday, March 21
4th Grade ELA AIR - 10:00 - 12:00 pm
Wednesday, March 22
Right to Read Week Planning Meeting - Cathy Steinke's Room - 161
4th Grade ELA AIR - 10:00 - 12:00 pm
Wax Museum for the school - 2:30 to 3:00 pm
3rd grade Wax Museum - 6:30 pm (Frederick, Stroshine and Warner)
Thursday, March 23
AWAKE Shirts
Staff Meeting - 7:30 am
Wax Museum for the school - 2:30 to 3:00 pm
3rd grade Wax Museum - 6:30 pm (Blaessing, Rowe, Soli)
Friday, March 24
Grades finalized/IEP and RIMP progress sent home
Spirit Day - Crazy hair/Neon clothes
Announcements
Thank you:
Mrs. Martinez and the Second grade team for another top notch music program! It was a packed house and families were ranting and raving about how much they enjoyed it!
Reminders:
4th Grade AIR testing will begin this week, please be extra quiet during transitions near their hallway, office and conference room. Students will begin testing about 10:00 am.
On Wednesday, March 22 at 9:50 am the statewide tornado drill will take place. You will hear sirens from our local fire department, PLEASE IGNORE THEM. Due to testing we had our March drill earlier in the month, we will not practice the drill on Wednesday.
The 3rd graders will have their Wax Museum set up at 2:30pm on Wednesday, March 22 and Thursday, March 23. Feel free to choose a time to visit with your class. This gives the 3rd graders a time to practice before their evening show. Please talk to your students about being polite, using active listening skills and giving positive feedback to the students.
The revised 17/18 school calendar was adopted at the Board meeting on Monday, March 13. With the changes in dates, below are some dates you will want to put on your calendar as you make summer plans.
Tuesday, August 8 - New Student Orientation - 1:00 to 3:00 pm (need volunteers to help administer STAR)
Thursday, August 10 - Registration Day (need volunteers to help collect fees)
Thursday, August 17 - Teacher Workday AND Open House (5:30 to 7:00 pm)
Friday, August 18 - Professional Development Day
Tuesday, August 22 - First Day for Grades 1 - 4
Thursday, August 24 - First Day for Kindergarten
Mark your calendars! Volunteer Breakfast is Thursday, April 6 from 7:30 to 8:30 am. I ask that you stop in sometime during that time frame, especially if you have volunteers in your room attending. Please begin to think about volunteers you would like to include; invitations will be sent home in a couple weeks.
Dates to Remember:
March 25 - April 2 - Spring Break
April 6 - Volunteer Breakfast
April 11 - 13 - Bookfair
April 12-13 - Muffins for Moms
April 13 - Social Gathering at Shawn's in Waterville
April 14 - No School - Good Friday
Words of Wisdom and Action..............................
I have been very impressed with the mindful implementation. Those teachers that are taking part with the class, having them quiet and focusing are truly having a positive impact on the students. Many of you are using some of the activities at other times of the day to focus your class. The effects are excellent! Here are some additional simple activities to try in your classroom.
7 Fun Ways To Teach Your Kids Mindfulness by Kaia Roman April 2, 2015
I taught a mindfulness class at my daughters’ elementary school this week. Unsurprisingly, the kids taught me way more than I taught them.
While I was doing research to develop the class, I came upon a wealth of information about mindfulness programs in schools. For one, I learned that actress Goldie Hawn has been working with neuroscientists, cognitive psychologists and educators to develop a mindfulness curriculum for schools. I was thrilled to find out that their research reported that mindfulness education in schools has proven benefits: it increases optimism and happiness in classrooms, decreases bullying and aggression, increases compassion and empathy for others and helps students resolve conflicts.
If you ever want to be inspired and also have a giggle, ask a group of kids what they think “mindfulness” is. “Relaxing out of our daily troubles and stress,” “A way to stay yourself when you’re going through something troubling” and “It’s like getting off of one railroad track and getting onto another one” were some of my favorite answers from the recent class meeting.
When I told them the dictionary’s definition (“a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique"), the kids weren’t entirely sure what I was talking about. And so we did some exercises to test it out. Feel free to try these at home!
1. The Bell Listening Exercise
Ring a bell and ask the kids to listen closely to the vibration of the ringing sound. Tell them to remain silent and raise their hands when they no longer hear the sound of the bell. Then tell them to remain silent for one minute and pay close attention to the other sounds they hear once the ringing has stopped. After, go around in a circle and ask the kids to tell you every sound they noticed during that minute. This exercise is not only fun and gets the kids excited about sharing their experiences with others, but really helps them connect to the present moment and the sensitivity of their perceptions.
2. Breathing Buddies
Hand out a stuffed animal to each child (or another small object). If room allows, have the children lie down on the floor and place the stuffed animals on their bellies. Tell them to breathe in silence for one minute and notice how their Breathing Buddy moves up and down, and any other sensations that they notice. Tell them to imagine that the thoughts that come into their minds turn into bubbles and float away. The presence of the Breathing Buddy makes the meditation a little friendlier, and allows the kids to see how a playful activity doesn't necessarily have to be rowdy.
3. The Squish & Relax Meditation
While the kids are lying down with their eyes closed, have them squish and squeeze every muscle in their bodies as tightly as they can. Tell them to squish their toes and feet, tighten the muscles in their legs all the way up to their hips, suck in their bellies, squeeze their hands into fists and raise their shoulders up to their heads. Have them hold themselves in their squished up positions for a few seconds, and then fully release and relax. This is a great, fun activity for "loosening up" the body and mind, and is a totally accessible way to get the kids to understand the art of "being present."
4. Smell & Tell
Pass something fragrant out to each child, such as a piece of fresh orange peel, a sprig of lavender or a jasmine flower. Ask them to close their eyes and breathe in the scent, focusing all of their attention only on the smell of that object. Scent can really be a powerful tool for anxiety-relief (among other things!).
5. The Art Of Touch
Give each child an object to touch, such as a ball, a feather, a soft toy, a stone, etc. Ask them to close their eyes and describe what the object feels like to a partner. Then have the partners trade places. Both this exercise and the previous one are simple, but compelling, ways to teach the kids the practice of isolating their senses from one another, and tuning into distinct experiences.
6. The Heartbeat Exercise
Have the kids jump up and down in place for one minute. Then have them sit back down and place their hands on their hearts. Tell them to close their eyes and feel their heartbeats, their breath, and see what else they notice about their bodies.
7. Heart-To-Heart
In this exercise, the meaning of "heart" is less literal. In other words, this activity could also simply be called "Let's talk about feelings." So sit down and casually, comfortably ask the children to tell you about their feelings. What feelings do they feel? How do they know they are feeling those feelings? Where do they feel them in their bodies? Ask them which feelings they like the best.
Then ask them what they can do to feel better when they aren’t feeling the feelings they like best. Remind them that they can always practice turning their thoughts into bubbles if they are upset, they can do the Squish and Relax Meditation if they need to calm down, and they can take a few minutes to listen to their breath or feel their heartbeats if they want to relax.
My hope for the mindfulness class was to give the kids some tools they can use anytime: tools to calm down, slow down and feel better when they are troubled. I sure wish I had these tools at my disposal when I was their age. Imagine if all the children around the Earth learned to use these tools during their childhoods. What a change our world would experience within just one generation!