Mindfulness Matters

As we move into another week of our mindfulness challenge I wanted to take some time to share some whys related to our mindfulness practice at Fortis.

Why do we practice?

Why does it matter?

Why should I care? 

First I want to start with a quick video I found recently. If you have time I encourage you to explore more of Lani Lawson's videos on Facebook or Instagram. She shares a lot of great information regarding behavior and the classroom.

Quick Video 

When our students are amped up they do not need more amps, we don't want an increase in energy, but rather we need something to calm the mind and body.

In today's world our young students are inundated with things that amp them up. Our students are, according to social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation. In his book Haidt talks about Gen Z, which is the generation before our students, however, our students could be following a very similar path. The path track is due to a screen based childhood.

Haidt tells us that having a screen based childhood, hand held video games, and social media before puberty, has greatly affected our youth in negative ways.

Our students are more sleep deprived, screen addicted, and anxious. Haidt presents many studies in his book which show children are miswiring their brains and missing out on important life skills.

I share all of this to help us understand why mindfulness is extremely important for our students. 

We have all heard the expression, "Neurons that fire together, wire together." Our brains have what is called neuroplasticity. This is the brains ability to reshape and rewire based on repeated thoughts and behaviors.

Unfortunately many to most students today have brains wiring toward screens, video games, and social media. There is hope. We can help rewire their brains.

Studies on addiction find that it takes about 21 days to make or break a habit. Inner Explorer sets a 21 day journey to reflect theses finds. The research shows that if we can get someone to do something for 21 days they are more likely to continue that habit on their own.

Can you imagine the 21 (and far more) days our students have put into their screens? We can help our students with a daily mindfulness practice.

Studies show that a daily mindfulness practice can help to change the structure of the brain. Mindfulness helps calm the brain and wires it to know how to handle difficult situations. Mindfulness can also keep our minds healthy. It can help improve memory and decrease anxiety and depression.

Taking 5-10 minutes a day to practice mindfulness could help decrease negative behaviors, set up a calm classroom, and provide relaxation to anxious minds.

We practice mindfulness to help calm the brain an body.

We practice mindfulness to increase self-awareness and social awareness.

We practice mindfulness to support mental health and greater well-being.

We practice mindfulness to support behavior.

If you haven't started your journey, start today. You should care. It matters!

  

Teaching with a little Parenting Advice

I recently discovered videos by a woman named Deborah Tillman. She is a parenting expert who is often referred to as "America's Super Nanny." She has earned a Master's degree in Early Childhood Special Education and gives great parenting advice.

As I explored her videos I not only gathered great parenting tips but I found that her advice translates to the school setting as well. Below is one of her videos that I really enjoyed and found helpful for parenting and school. Also, isn't her dog so cute?!

Here is a link to another of her videos.

And other helpful video!

First, listening to her voice and seeing her smiling face has me calm and engaged. This is a great example of how we could present ourselves to our students and interact with them during times of need or crisis.

This is a good time of year to revisit the structures we have put into place with our students. We can start to evaluate what is and is not working. Work on a plan to make changes. Then start to implement those changes. As we approach spring break we can set up our classrooms for a successful start to testing season and a calm end to the year.

We have started our yearly mindfulness challenge to help us refocus on the calm and come together as a school to promote well-being. If you haven't started mindfulness yet, do it! Make it a non-negotiable for yourself and your students. Set up you calm and your students' calm with mindfulness. In the first video I shared from Deborah Tillman she shared that it is important to let children know we are safe people/a safe place. Mindfulness helps build that safety and trust.  

Here are some of the key takeaways I gathered from the shared videos:

- Don't engage in disrespect (we've said it before, invite them to your calm, don't join their chaos)

-One calm command, one consequence path

-say, "Let's pause together."

-say "I'm not mad, I'm here to help."

-say "Let's try this again together."

What are the take aways that stood out to you?

Let's Get Started

Have you ever had a difficult time starting a new task?

I know I have. There are weeks I struggle with an idea for this blog. If I do not have a clear idea it becomes a struggle mentally to begin. I become unsure where to start and the idea of starting becomes daunting. This is a real brain struggle called Task Paralysis. Our brains struggle to start a new task.

Initiating a task takes extra energy from our brains. Our brains will resist beginning a new task, especially if the task is unclear, or seems to be boring or emotionally loaded. The brain will protect it's resources and energy and work against your motivation to begin a new task.

This concept is true for all brains and is even more predominate in neurodivergent brains, such as those with ADHD.

When we consider our brains grow until about age 25, and the last part that finishes growing is the Prefrontal Cortex, we can see why starting a new task can be difficult.

Our prefrontal cortex is in charge of planning, initiating, and motivating our wise choices. We often feel lower motivation when we do not utilize our prefrontal cortex. When we are looking at a task from the view of our Amaygdala we run emotional choices and may experience fear of failure. 

There is good news for our brains and the brains of our students. We can engage in small changes to help build a greater ability to begin a task.

Before we even begin a task we can start by setting the bar lower. Make your goal to start the task, not to finish the task. Give grace. When you start a difficult task, be proud. When a student starts a task, give praise. 

Then to start we can look at a task and make it smaller. Our students would benefit from this as well. Take a task and tell the students only a little about the task at time. 

Make the room comfortable and not confronting. Use soft music, soft light, and alternative seating. Sometimes we all need our environment to change to help us make a change.

There is a creative idea called Body Doubling. This is asking someone to sit by us to help keep us on task. They become our motivation. We are less likely to be distracted when we have someone "watching" us as a support. 

We can also use the 5 Minute Rule. Give yourself, or your students, a five minute timer and ask them to do as much as they can in 5 minutes and then stop. Don't keep going. Take a break. When our brains have a clear stopping point they are more likely to start since they know they can stop.

When I was in high school my senior year English teacher taught in what he called "short bursts". He would tell us that the next task would take 15 minutes and 23 seconds, give or take, and then we would have a 2 minutes and 37 second break. We knew that as long as we stayed focused for those first 15 minutes and 23 seconds we could get up, sharpen pencils, talk to a friend, use the bathroom, or stretch for those next 2 minutes and 37 seconds.

We can work with our brains to support our efforts, motivation, and determination. Help your brain start and it will keep going!

What are the ways you find motivates your brain? Share those tips and tricks with your students.

Plan to Find out Who You Are

 In her book Daring Greatly, Brene Brown shares, " What we know matters, but who we are matters more."

Knowing who we are is not as easy a task as one might think. It involves being able to be reflective and have courage.

In her book Brown tells us that knowing who we are takes courage to show up for ourselves and courage to let others see our authentic selves. Knowing who we are involves being vulnerable.

Through Brown we also learn that knowing who we are relates to being a safe person who is consistent and kind in all relationships. 

As we explore who we are we learn that it is more about how we treat others than what we achieve. Knowing who you are is about your compassion; empathy in action. 

This idea also relates back to our blog from January 16th when we talked about Adam Grant's idea about listing our contributions to the day.

Who you are comes from how you help better the day be better and how you treat others.

How do we go about cultivating this in ourselves and our students? 

I created a Daily Mindfulness worksheet we can use to help us and our students start and end the day building character and begin exploring who they are in a deeper way.

Link to worksheet

This mindfulness daily planner can help us check in with ourselves. We can begin to explore who we are and how we want to show that each day. 

This worksheet helps track mood as the day begins, setting our intention for the day, listing gratitude, and then sending three wishes. I like this last part because it stretches us to truly consider the questions related to being a safe, consistent, and compassionate person. It asks the question "Am I courageous enough to send a well wish to someone I do not like?" 

As we have explored, Brene Brown states that who we are relates to how we treat others and the compassion we have for them. The way we treat others shows our inner character, our integrity.

This worksheet can help us with our personal growth and create authentic connections with others by sharing our reflections. This will take another step of courage. Sharing is a vulnerable act that is not easy but helps us continue to build a kind character. 

The worksheet is two parts; morning and afternoon. It could be seen as a check in/check out system for who we are each day.

The afternoon reflections asks us to consider how we contributed to the day. What we noticed that day. How we feel as we wrap up the day. 

This worksheet is a great way to train our brains to focus on the positive, explore who we are, and set up our day for success.

Self-Regulation

 Self- Regulation. 

Psychotherapist Jennifer L. Hartstein defines self-regulation as, "It is the ability to effectively manage one's behavior and reactions in a variety of situations." 

This is not something that we are born knowing how to do. It takes guidance, practice, and the help of others, to build the skill.

Self-regulation utilizes the prefrontal cortex. As we have talked about in the past, this part of the brain is the last to develop and typically is not fully developed until age 25.

Our prefrontal cortex is tied to impulse control and planning. Since it is underdeveloped in our students we will see a lack of or limited ability to plan and control impulses. 

We need to take time to work with our students on self-regulation and build the skills. We can help these skills be built into their brains as they grow.

Children often do things without thinking and when asked why they did something they may not have an answer. This is not an avoidance of addressing their behavior but rather the truth, due to the stage of brain growth. Our students who have been diagnosed with ADHD, autism, and anxiety have an even harder time with impulse control. They will also struggle more with knowing why they acted the way they did.

We have tools to help our students learn self-regulation. We can help our students slow down, learn to think before they act, and regulate their feelings and behaviors.

Here is a list of ways to begin to show and teach your students self-regulation skills.

1. Break things down. Taking a challenging subject/activity and break it down into small more manageable steps. This builds in time to think and regulate.

2. Validate feelings. We can let a child know their behavior was unacceptable while also letting them know their feelings are valid. EX: "You are allowed to feel angry when someone hurts your feelings. You are not allowed to throw chairs to express that anger." 

3. Take a Break. Cool off. Brain breaks. Walks. Deep breathing. Pause (like we talked about last week).

4. Mindfulness. Teaching mindfulness skills at any age is helpful for self-regulation. The younger we start and the more consistent we are, the more skills our students will have.

5. Calm Yourself First. Fire doesn't stop fire. You can't both be hot. If a student's emotions are elevated you need to check your emotions and ensure they are not elevated as well. Invite them to your calm. Do not join their chaos. 

6. Be realistic with expectations. The younger the child the less impulse control. The older the child (if they have been at Fortis long enough) the more mindfulness and self-regulation they have been taught. Set expectations based on age and knowledge of the child (ie: ADHD, Autism, etc)

7. Celebrate Success. Let students know when they have done well with self-regulation. This helps them know what to do next time, reenforces the right path, and lets them know you see them doing well.

Make sure you regulate your own emotions first. 

Remember what we learned at back to school pd, QTIP...quit taking it personally. 

Be the calm they need. 

Be the calm you want to see.

Pause

This week I came across a quote that stood out to me. It said, "If you do not overcome your problems, you will be overcome by your problems."

Our students do not know how to overcome their problems on their own. If we are honest with ourselves, many adults do not know how to maturely overcome problems. If we allow ourselves to be overcome by our problems we become stuck and this can lead to unhelpful choices.

Teaching ourselves and our students to take a mindful pause can help build inner strength.

Below is a video I encourage you to take some time to watch. Take a few minutes to think about the different you can make by teaching children to pause.

There is a lot of outer noise in our lives. We cannot always quiet that noise. There is often inner noise that we can be overcome by and we react to without thought. We need a pause.

Taking a mindful pause allows us the space to think, evaluate, and reflect. 

Remember to pause, listen, rest, breathe, and reflect. Engaging in this practice and teaching this practice can help us to have and know a place of calm. The Mindful Pause is a place of calm. It is a place to reflect and think before acting or speaking. It matters. 

Growing Our Emotional Vocabulary

Emotional Vocab Link

I found this resource recently and felt it was too good not to share. I love utilizing the Mood Meter and it works great, but there is always room for more tools in the toolbox. 

I like this wheel and how it breaks down feelings even more than the mood meter. Our Mood Meter helps us realize the intensity of an emotion and this wheel can help us with breaking down feelings into small categories. This could be helpful for our younger students. 

Helping our students identify a feeling empowers them to take ownership of that feeling.  When we share a common emotion language it becomes easier for all of us to identify feelings, support feelings, and either embrace or let go of feelings.

In my small groups I encourage students to explore the variety of emotions on the Mood Meter. I love when they read a word and ask what it means. This opens up a time of learning and exploration. I have observed that as we learn a new feeling word together more students use the word in the following days. The curiosity and growth of one student in my groups has helped increase the curiosity and growth of the others.

When we learn to identify an emotion in ourselves we are more likely to be able to identify it in others. This is true for our students. We can help them grow their empathy and compassion by teaching them emotional vocabulary. 

As we teach the words to connect to the feelings we also teach the students that all feels are real, valid, and important. The key is how we handle the emotion. As we teach the emotion we follow it up with the regulation of the emotion. We have heard the quote before, "Name it to tame it." 

Once you have helped a student name an emotion, work with them on regulation. Below is a TPT link to free emotional regulation resources.

TPT Emotional Regulation

The first resource has a great poster with pictures and words that display options regarding ways to regulate. The poster could be a great resource to print and place next to an emotion wheel or mood meter.

The third resource has a great activity for promoting affirmations. As we explore emotions we need to build up our students to help them have a full bucket. 

The ninth resource has a number of posters that could support a calm down space in your room. 

Number 13 has some feelings trackers. This could help students see the change in emotions over the course of a day and week.

As I scrolled through the resources I noticed ones for younger students as well as older students. Explore and find what is right for you. Feel free to also reach out to me and I can help you navigate these and other resources. 

I hope that you find some helpful information and start working to build a strong emotional vocabulary with your students.