Yeah, so today is National Sock Monkey Day, National Flapjack Day, and the start of National School Breakfast Week.  Tomorrow is International Women's Day and Mardi Gras.  Find more. Whew!  Busy!

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"Stop giving people the power to steal your peace.  It belongs to you and no one should be able to run away with it.” ~A. Elle  " 

During last week's Mindfulness Monday, we talked about Energy Vampires and how they exist in the darkness of their own low self-esteem and need to feed off of ours.  You know the people whom you avoid in the grocery store?  The ones you send to voicemail or groan when their name appears in your inbox?  When we can recognize them, we can actively work to manage them.  We can't always avoid them and we can't use their own tactics against them (why would we sink to their level?), so we need to remain aware of our own boundaries and choose techniques that resonate with us.

This week, try this:  Use the resource below to identify Energy Vampires and to select a reasonable response. 

SELF-CARE EXERCISE - Introduction to Meditation

In this second in the series of How the Meditate, let's explore the idea of a home base, which can be your breath, your heartbeat, the feeling in your toe (you get the idea), or even an external sound. 

RESOURCE:

There are 6 types of Energy Vampires and 15 ways to manage them.  I just hope you don't self-identify as one of these.  If so, the good news is that identification is the first step in recovery.

JOKE:

Q:  After an unsuccessful harvest, why did the farmer decide to try a career in music?
A:  Because he had a ton of sick beets.

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!

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"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!

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"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!

It's a new week!  Let's do this!!  

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 

"Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance, order, rhythm, and harmony." ~Thomas Merton

I think that we live in a world of extremes for two reasons:  1) all things have an opposite because they wouldn't exist without it, and 2) our culture is obsessed (See?  There I go with a verb on the extreme end) with superlatives.  Things are the 'best' or the 'worst'.  People 'hate' or they 'love'. 

We need to keep ourselves in balance.  Once too much of one side enters our lives, we become out of balance, and we don't necessarily fix it by bringing in the other side.  For example, we spend too much time on Facebook which can make us jealous and unsatisfied - out of balance.  Instead of finding self-acceptance and gratitude, we fill the void caused by the imbalance with self-harm (in whatever way) and vitriol to our loved ones.  

This week, try this:  Pay attention to your negative emotions.  When you feel yourself at an extreme, stop, close your eyes and figure out what the opposite emotion is. That's it.  Just being aware that there is an opposite it the first step. ​

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RESOURCE:
SEL Conference February 4-6.  Pay What You Can.  Virtual.  Attend what you want. PD Hours available. I don't think you'll find a better bang for your buck, and some of these presenters are phenomenal.

JOKE:

Q:  How do math teachers scold their children?
A:  "If I've told you n times, I've told you n+1 times..."

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Have a great week!

Hello,

Let's get a jump start to this amazing week!

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WEEK #2:  HAPPINESS

"Happiness cannot be pursued.  It must ensue."  -Viktor Frankl

Happiness is what happens when you are in a space without desire for anything new or different.  You are content with everything just the way it is in that particular moment.  Unfortunately, these moments are fleeting, and new desires continually emerge - from something simple like, "I'm hungry," to more complicated like, "I wish I were 20 years old again." 

Dr. Bono, professor at Wash U. in St. Louis wrote of the Happiness Equation in his book, "When Likes Aren't Enough."  Happiness = What We Have / What We Want.  As long as we can keep that equation greater than 1 with our wants fewer than what we have, we are content.  We are happy.

Try this thought experiment this week: What wants and desires can you let go of in order to increase your happiness?  Try cleaning out just one drawer.

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RESOURCE:  CASEL's The SEL 3 Signature Practices

Many teachers fear that incorporating SEL is just 'one more thing'.  The good news is that many are probably already doing it because it's just good teaching.  CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning) advocates for 3 practices for each day or period:

1. Start with a welcoming inclusion activity, routine, or ritual.
2. Embed engaging strategies
3. Close with an optimistic closure

Check out page 4 on the link above for a quick overview, with the rest of the resources giving a lot of details.

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JOKE:  

Q:  Why did Adele cross the road?
A:  To sing, "Hello from the other side!"

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Have a fantastic week!

​Hello!


I get it.  We're all crazy busy these days and could use a little positivity.  As an SEL Coach, I've been trying to figure out a way to connect with people in a way that can scale.  Facebook? YouTube channel?  New podcast?  But like I said, we're all busy. So let's keep it simple, and have a weekly email.  

Back in the days of being a Tech Coach, I produced a weekly Tech Tip for my district over several years, and people found it useful.  Hopefully, the same will happen here.

The formula will be simple:

• a positive intention/quote
• a quick exercise you can physically do (breathing, movement, visualization, etc.)
• an SEL resource for either you and/or your classroom 
• a joke

Let's get started!

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WEEK #1:  SELF-ACCEPTANCE

"You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens."  -Louise Ray

Self-esteem can be wrapped up in self-evaluation and how you perceive yourself through the filters of your past experiences.  How did your family value you growing up?  Do you feel you make meaningful contributions at work?  Do you feel you belong in a social group?  Each of these questions requires you to compare yourself to an outside standard and the opinions of others.  

What about your opinion of you?  This is self-acceptance.  This is the root of your personal power. 

Try this mantra this week:  "I love myself, I believe in myself, I support myself." Put it on a post-it on your monitor or your mirror so you can start each day with positive self-talk.

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RESOURCE:  Moozoom

I recently had a tour of the Moozoom interface, and I was impressed.  It's new and out of Toronto, developed by an attorney whose daughter needed such a tool.  

Tagline:  Moozoom helps Elementary School Students learn how to handle everyday challenges in just 30 mins per week.

It fosters engagement (as much as a screen can) with choose-your-own-ending videos with real kid actors.  It would be best, I think, with a teacher following along in a whole-class setting (with the scripts they provide!), but it can also be assigned for individual viewing.  Moozoom is marketed for grades 1-6, but I think 3-6 would be more accurate.  It has decent reporting, and a great user interface/experience.  

The first module is free.  If you try it, and it's something you like, let me know.  The representative seemed willing to work out some bulk discounts even for you smaller schools who can't ever seem to get those discounts.

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JOKE:  

My teacher accused me of plagiarizing my paper.
His words. Not mine.

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Have a fantastic week!