#mindfulAISD (10/3)

Mindfulness in the Austin Independent School District

#mindfulAISD (10/3)Mindfulness in the Austin Independent School District

Week of October 3rd

Welcome to the #mindfulAISD newsletter for the week of October 3rd. 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

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Pre-K Teacher Training

See the tweet.


#AISDProud to support Pre-k teachers learning about the effects of trauma on young brains #MindfulAISD #tbri #wizardlizardbrain


Kaysie Fernandez and Teri Wood are presenting this information to every Pre-K teacher in the district. So important and powerful.

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Mindfulness as Intervention

See the tweet.


Met w @valerieborchers & Ms Vick @BeckerElem re: mindfulness room as intervention! #AISDProud #mindfulAISD @AustinISDSEL @AISDSupt #inspired


Becker Elementary is going to pilot a program similar to the one from the article in last week's newsletter about replacing detention with meditation. They are creating a mindfulness room and will use it as an intervention tool when students are removed from class. Mindfulness replacing punitive consequences. Talk about a Growth Mindset! Way to go, Becker!

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Teacher Self-Care at Reagan ECHS

See the tweet.


Teacher wellness spa today! Conference rm @ReaganECHS #selfcompassion #mindfulAISD @AustinISDSEL


Hilary Simon, SEL Specialist, set up an awesome self-care wellness spa for teachers at Reagan last week. She had different mindfulness activities available for the teachers to practice self-care during the day. Awesome stuff, Hilary! Contact James Butler if you'd like something similar at your school.

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

Pokemon Poses--courtesy of 3rd graders at Cunningham Elementary

Mrs. Garcia's 3rd graders at Cunningham created Pokemon Yoga Poses for Market Day last week and they wanted to share their creativity and hard work with y'all. Creating poses and incorporating mindful breathing with the poses is such a great way to make mindfulness fun and easily practiced by all. Nicely done! Click here for the entire set of poses.

Mindfulness and the Brain

An article about how mindfulness affects the brain. Teaching the brain science behind mindfulness is a great way to reach secondary students and those who might be a bit skeptical about mindfulness. This article references the MindUp program, which has great lessons on the brain.

How Mindfulness and Storytelling Help Kids Heal and Learn

A great article about the kids who wrote Master of Mindfulness: How to be Your Own Superhero in Times of Stress. The article also has a short, yet powerful video, highlighting the 5th graders who wrote the book. Shout out to Sandy Chilton for sharing this article via Twitter!

Mindful Classrooms--Week 7

If you're using Mindful Classrooms: The Educator Guide, I recommend using Week 7 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.

FREE FOR TEACHERS!

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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.

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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!
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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."

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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.

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.
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Contact

James Butler

SEL Mindfulness Specialist


james.butler@austinisd.org