Resources to Help Build Skills

 This week I wanted to take some time to share some resources that you may find helpful for yourself and your students.

ADDitude Magazine

This website is dedicated to ADHD education. There are sections for; Professionals (educators), Parents, Adults with ADHD, and even a section for testing. The testing sections is a great little quiz you can review to see if behaviors fall into the ADHD category.

Below is a great poster you can download and print. It helps explain ADHD to teachers. It breaks down what you see and what is going on underneath.

If you take time to explore this site I guarantee you will find something helpful. I found this site through an article on utilizing praise systems for students with ADHD. 

The next resource is a great SEL (social emotional learning) resource. AND ITS FREE. 

Harmony

I have used Harmony over the years for various posters, material, and education ideas for students. This week they shared that they have added some online SEL games. They even have an app you can download. I have explored the online games and they are user friendly and help students with working on emotions and behaviors. There is a game called Battle the Bullybot. It is a game that gives scenarios related to bullying and asks the students what to do or if the right thing was done in a situation. This could be a great way to take brain breaks. Explore the site and try a game. Students can play alone or together.

Don't forget about Inner Explorer. Put this into practice daily and you will have the easiest 5-10 minutes of your day. Our kindergarten teachers tell me their favorite is the 2-Minutes of silent mindfulness lesson. Mrs. Cords states that it is the quietest her class gets. She states that they can do it and they do it well! Give it a try.

For teachers of older students, have you ever wondered about your students' strengths?

The Virtues in Action Survey is a great way to explore this topic. You can take it too. I've completed the survey for classes I've taken and I have loved seeing the results. The VIA talks about your top strengths as well as your bottom. They never say you don't have a quality on the list, just that you lack it more than others, It is presented less in your life. In classes I've had we were challenged to build our bottom strengths by utilizing our top strengths. I have used the VIA to help create daily goal plans for middle school students. The VIA was created with idea that we should look at strengths and not simply criteria for the criteria for mental health diagnoses  (ie the DSM aka a how to for billing insurance companies). 

With cold months ahead you may find you are inside during recess. You can utilize this time to present an option of controlled movement and mindfulness. ALO Yoga is a great site with free lessons. They use mindfulness and yoga to help children. They have some with titles such as; "Post-Lunch Refocus" and "Yoga for Confident Learning". Each session is under 10 minutes and features an adult and children working though the lesson together.

This week I want to leave with this last link. It is a video of high school students explaining how mindfulness has helped them. I love finding videos of students sharing out. We as adults can express the benefits, but when you hear from a student, the impact is different and powerful. The Power of Mindfulness