Regulation is Contagious

 Two dysregulated people cannot have a regulated moment.

Video from Dr. Russell J Ledet (helpful hint, when the video comes up hit the X at the top, you do not have to log into anything)

Emotional dysregulation is defined as the inability to manage the intensity and duration  of an emotion. This often results in outbursts, mood swings, or shutting down. Emotional dysregulation is common for those diagnosed with ADHD, mood disorders, brain conditions, and those with a history of trauma. 

Emotional regulation is defined as the ability to understand and  manage  emotions in a healthy way.

Emotional regulation and emotional dysregulation are learned from watching others or being taught by others. 

If you watched the video link above you will have met Dr. Russel J. Ledet. I have explored many of his videos and have loved all of them. He is a great resource. He often talks to parents in his video, but his words apply to all of us working daily with children.

Below I will share some highlights I gathered from the video. 

The urge you feel to yell is not just your feeling of frustration but also a signal your brain is being activated.

As the child's brain is activated and turning on the Amygdala and turning off the Prefrontal Cortex, your brain is being activated in the same way.

If you recognize those parts of the brain; the Amygdala and the Prefrontal Cortex, then you have been paying attention to my mindfulness lessons. When we introduce mindfulness to students we talk about those parts of the brain and how they connect to mindfulness.

Dr. RJ tells us to put on our own masks first (like in an airplane). Let's do it!

First, start by noticing biofeedback. Where in the body do you experience the emotion? Is your chest tight? Is your voice going up? Do you have racing thoughts?

Take a moment; pause, take a breath, and lower your tone on purpose.

Next, give yourself the gift of time.

I loved his statement he suggests using, saying that it is alright to tell a child that you are going to circle back in a minute. 

Last, do not forget to ground yourself first. (Feel free to take a refresher course on calm with the blog from March 18th)

Overpowering a child is not going to calm them down. And it will not calm you down.

Calm down first, then calm the child. You have to be the calm in their storm. We've said it before and we will say it again, do not join their chaos, invite them to your calm.

Remember to ALWAYS check yourself first. 

Be Mindful

 As we slowly approach Spring Break I wanted to share some fun facts about our school's mindfulness.

We have 39 active users of Inner Explorer.

On Thursday March 19th we had 51 staff utilize mindfulness to support their students.

So far this year we have engaged in 3,159 mindfulness practices for a total of 14,025 mindful minutes.

Our Top Staff are:

1. Cords 395 

2. Sentz 323

3. Nelson 241

4. McKenzie 218

5. Steiner 210

6. Rafaelian 178

7. Ali 177

8. Maier 160

9. Gulledge 150

10. Wenk 128

Did you know that you have a Dashboard on Inner Explorer? The dashboard has a section called Tune In. You can utilize this to send a email to parents to connect them with the mindfulness practice your class engaged in that day. You can send mindfulness home!

You also have a section on your dashboard called Tool Kit. This has journaling pages, case studies, statistics, and more. In this section you can learn that mindfulness benefits educators, reducing stress by 43% because mindfulness can help reduce behavior concerns by 60%.

This year Inner Explorer has given us the opportunity to try STEM +M. This has science lessons that meet standards and include mindfulness. This is for grades 2-4.

If you utilize the grade level 5-7 you can choose short or long mindfulness practices.

You do not have to stay in your grade level, you can explore younger or older.

If you need a quick mindfulness try a sound or transition practice.

If you need a moment try the educator well-being series. 

It is never too late to start a mindfulness practice. 

Find Your Calm

How are we finding our calm in unexpected chaos? Are we?

Did you know that Inner Explorer has a Safety Series? It is a great tool to utilize after a difficult time such as, the power problems we encountered Monday. We can help ourselves and our students find calm after chaos. 

We can also find ways to invite in calm during the moments of chaos and anxiety.

According to Psychology Today and the Rinehart Institute out of Kalamazoo, MI, we have several ways to help prepare our minds to handle stress, anxiety, and chaos.

1. Focus on the here and now. 

Turn off the "what if" and start seeing and trying to understand "what is". Our brains try to predict what will happen but cannot accurately accomplish this task. We can train our brains to sit in and understand the here and now and focus on what is.

This is mindfulness.

Being in the moment, not focused on what may or may not happen next. Be in the moment without judgement. The Beatles told world in 1970 that in times of trouble, Let It Be. 

Let the moment be, mindfully.

2. Slow Down

Moving too fast with our bodies and brains can cause burn out or the feeling of failure. Slow down. Allow your brain to respond instead of react. 

When we move too fast we react to a situation. When we slow down we allow our brains to calm and find a response.

Slowing down allows the time for mindful mediation and reflection.

3. Focus on what you can control.

There is always something we can control in a situation. Even if the only thing in  our control is our response to the event or situation. 

Shift your focus. 

Stop focusing on the things out of your control. If you can't control it, why give it brain space?

4. Ask for help.

Humans are social beings. Our brains have mirror neurons that seek to reflect others. Psychiatrist and author Amir Levine, in his new book, Secure, shares that the human brain was designed for secure attachment and acceptance. These things are only possible when we invite others into our lives. Our brain wants others and needs others. Seek them out. Don't go it alone.

5. Notice Gimmers.

Incase you were not here at Fortis back in 2023 here is our Glimmer Blog.

A glimmer is said to be the opposite of a trigger. It is something that makes our brains happy and hopeful.

Find glimmers and experience gratitude.

Focus on the small moments that inspire and create hope. Save space for these moments and savor every part of them.

6. Deep Breathing.

This doesn't have to be a formal mindfulness, but rather, just deep breathing. Deep breathing calms the brain.

7. Grounding

This is another way to utilize mindfulness to anchor us in the here and now.

Groundings is a 5-4-3-2-1 experience. Notice 5 Things You See, 4 Things You can Touch, 3 Things You can Hear, 2 Things you can Smell, and 1 Thing you can Taste.

8. Exercise.

This is intentional movement. Movement brain breaks are helpful in class from time to time, but this is a focus on moving the body to work it out. This is yoga. This is running. This is weight lifting. A planned, intentional movement the brain as well as the body focuses on.

9. Limit Stimulation

This is the hardest one for our students and for us adults.

Limit sugar.

Limit caffeine.

Limit screens.

Brains need a true break. We live in an over stimulated world. We have to have intention regarding giving brains breaks.

10. Progressive muscle relaxation

Inner Explorer has several of these options. This is the process of going top to bottom or bottom to top relax our bodies part by part. Start with toes, legs, lower back, shoulders, neck, face, head.... Relax your body and release tension a little at a time. Take your time. Relax.

11. Create a relaxation ritual

Make this a self care that doesn't feel forced. 

Often we are told to engage in self care and it feels forced and uncomfortable. Our minds are still focused on everything else.

Make this a want to, not a have to. Build it into your daily, weekly, or monthly schedule.

Every morning relax, take deep breaths, do a mindfulness, and focus on gratitude. Savory the moment.

Every night relax, take deep breaths, do a mindfulness, and focus on the positive ways you contributed to the day. Savory the moment.

Make this a want to do. Not a have to do.

12. CBT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. 

The rewiring of our thought patterns. 

Identifying negative thoughts, challenging the thoughts, and replacing the thoughts. Find balance. 

Also if you want to watch a really good show that has CBT often discussed, check out Shrinking on Apple TV. It's a favorite of mine. Also, Harrison Ford, need I say more.

You do not have to do all 12 of the items on this list. Start with picking one or two to focus your effort and energy toward. 

I've said it before and it's worth the reminder.... Invite Students to Your Calm. Do Not Join Their Chaos. ....also don't be the chaos they join.

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 findings. 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 and 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. Don't be like Unicorse from Bluey (see picture below)  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.