GREAT NEWS:  My Mindfulness Mondays with Regional Office of Education #40 are still going strong.  Each is worth a PD Hour and you can attend as many as fits your schedule.  Feb 28 and March 14, 21, 28 from 3:30 - 4:30 pm (Central) on GMeets. Registration  All are welcome, and they're free.  If you are from another state and need something else for evidence of completion, please let me know!

IDEA 

"You are your emotions as much as you are the man in the moon." ~Matt Weld
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I've talked some about how we are shaped by our experiences, and our memories of experiences are more emotions than events.  This is the same reason that our students remember how we made them feel rather than the content we taught.  Often, however, people think that we are then owned by our emotions.  We aren't.  We experience them, but any value that we assign to them is of our own construct.

This week, try this:  The next time you feel a strong emotion, sit with it for a moment (even if it's later in the day when the students are gone) and reframe it with the intentional use of language.  Instead of saying, "I am frustrated," think, "I feel frustrated."  Maybe that will lessen some of the subsequent guilt and anger.

SELF-CARE EXERCISE - Introduction to Meditation

This week, we're starting a 5-week mini-course on meditation.  Each video is 5 minutes or less and can be watched throughout the week as you start your meditation practice. 

RESOURCE:

Want more meditation goodies?  Thinking about starting a meditation practice with your students?  Check out this new course on TeachIllinois.  Dr. Bill Meyer is an educator from New York who used meditation with his students for several years as a way to build community and to deepen student insight into their own learning.  You can get 3 PD Hours, too.  Enroll.

JOKE:

Q:  What do an island and the letter T have in common?
A:  They are both in the middle of water.

Have a great week!

GREAT NEWS:  My Mindfulness Mondays with Regional Office of Education #40 are still going strong.  Each is worth a PD Hour and you can attend as many as fits your schedule.  Feb 28 and March 14, 21, 28 from 3:30 - 4:30 pm (Central) on GMeets. Registration  All are welcome, and they're free.  If you are from another state and need something else for evidence of completion, please let me know!

IDEA 
"Burnout occurs when you keep riding the upslope of the emotional rollercoaster but never coast back down. " ~Matt Weld

Educator burnout has been on our minds since, well, even before the pandemic. It's a real thing.  The big takeaway here is that emotions have a cycle, and your body (yes, that's where your emotions are) needs to complete the cycle or stress builds up and can have side effects like heart problems, sleep issues, digestion challenges, etc. 

I wrote an article this week about what burnout is and how to lessen stress before you get to burnout.  Some other time, we can explore what to do once you're there. 

This week, try this:  After school each day do one or more of the following:  exercise, laugh, cry, hug, or create. Notice that each one of those is a physical action.

RESOURCE:

#SELday is Friday, March 11.  You can win a $1K grant for your classroom!

Join Coalition of Schools Educating Mindfully, SEL4US, Urban Assembly, Inner Explorer, Peace of Mind, MoveMindfully, JabuMind and others as we unite educators in prioritizing well-being in schools with mindfulness-based SEL practices!

Ten minutes is approximately 1% of our waking day. It's a very small time commitment that will make a huge difference in everyone's mental health. If we all take this pledge and keep reminding our community and school leaders that learning skills for lifelong well-being is our priority, we can make a big impact.

As part of our challenge, and to inspire others, we invite educators to share what committing to 1% looks like in your class or school. Those who share a video will be entered to win a $1000 grant to use on the SEL resources of their choice. 

MORE INFORMATION: https://www.educatingmindfully.org/commit

​JOKE:

Q:  Where are average things manufactured?
A:  In a satisfactory.

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Have a great week!

Happy Valentines Day! 

GREAT NEWS:  My Mindfulness Mondays with ROE #40 have six new dates.  Each is worth a PD Hour and you can attend as many as fits your schedule.  Feb 7, 14, 28 and March 14, 21, 28 from 3:30 - 4:00 pm on GMeets. Registration  All are welcome, and they're free. 

IDEA 
"It's not reality that shapes us, but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality." ~inside-the-brain.com

It's not our beliefs that shape our experiences.  It's that our experiences shape our beliefs.  And the way in which we view the world.  And the way in which we treat other people.  

This week, try this:  The next time you label something, or make a judgment, 1) note that you are labeling or judging, and 2) ask the question, is that label based in reality or due (at least in part) by your past experiences?

RESOURCE:

CosmicKids.com "We make yoga and mindfulness FUN for kids!"  A lot of free videos you can use with your younger students.  The app has a 2-week trial, then it's $10/month or $65/year.  I recommend you start in the WATCH tab where you can filter for videos by length (<10 min, <15 min, or >15 minutes), energy level (calm, focused, or active), or category (stories, mindfulness, or yoga).

JOKE:

Q:  What is the name of a penguin's favorite aunt?
A:  Aunt Arctica

Have a great week!

Mondaaaaay!  Greetings, Educators!

If you've been through Snowpocalypse 2022, just remember that we're just that much closer to Spring. :)

GREAT NEWS:  My Mindfulness Mondays with ROE #40 have six new dates.  Each is worth a PD Hour and you can attend as many as fits your schedule.  Feb 7, 14, 28 and March 14, 21, 28 from 3:30 - 4:00 pm on GMeets. Registration  All are welcome, and they're free. 

IDEA 
"Resilience is your armor against hardship and failure" ~lovetoknow.com

When we talk about resiliency with kids and with ourselves, this quote sums it up.  Some people have a wide zone of resiliency, while others have a narrow band.  The wider the zone, the more resilient you are, which means that when something stressful happens, your stress out and then get back to normal.  Being resilient doesn't mean you don't have emotional and physical reactions to stress; it means that you recover your baseline faster and more consistently.  The more you work on your self-awareness, the wider your zone will become.  

This week, try this:  At the end of each day, think back to when you went into your high zone (anxiety, anger, paranoia, pain, etc.).  Can you remember what your body felt like each time?  What about when you went into your low zone (depression, fatigue, numbness, etc.)?  Eventually, you want to be able to identify as you are traveling there so that you can make choices. 

RESOURCE:

The Art of SEL Podcast by Ohio Teacher of the Year (2018) Jonathan Juravich.

https://youtu.be/ZXjb7EpMjK0 (trailer) For the podcast itself, look on your favorite podcast app (Apple, Google, Spreaker, Stitcher...)

JOKE:

Q:  What's the difference between a hippo and a Zippo?
A:  One is really heavy, and the other is a little lighter.

​Have a great week!