Attendance matters daily! 

Understanding the benefits of great attendance sets up students and staff for long term success. 

How do we discuss empathy? Guided path to building connections and teaching/discussing a useful daily skill. What is Empathy and why is it useful i n our daily lives?

We often think of consequences in terms of bad things that could happen. If I go to bed early, I’ll miss this TV show and see spoilers on social media tomorrow. If I stay up too late, I’ll be tired and cranky in the morning. But usually, our choices can have both negative consequences and positive ones. And this printable will help students think ahead and consider all outcomes before making a decision.

Check out this link to process Conflict. Feel free to print or work from the board. 

A sedentary life style contributes to many chronic diseases and poor educational performance. Since elementary school-aged children spend most wakeful hours in school, classroom teachers are essential for providing physical activity (PA) breaks during school.

A little breathing  goes a long way! Did you know that a few simple breathing techniques can be super useful in many situations! Here is a simple and useful way to practice and share with student and staff. 

This ice breaker will help students identify ways to calm oneself and practice strategies to manage their emotions. Have students do the following1. Stretch your hand out like a star. 2. Get your other hand’s pointer finger ready to trace your fingers up and down. 3. Slide up each finger slowly then slide down the other side. 4. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. 5. Put it together and breathe in as you slide up and breathe out as you slide down. Keep going until you have finished tracing your hand. Repeat if you are still not feeling calm! 

By helping students start the day by sharing feelings with their peers, teachers pave the way to academic success and a happy, healthy school. “Would You Rather…?” is a fun way to engage students at any part of the day. This engagement can be moving and outdoors or even sitting and on a sheet of paper. Be creative and have fun with your morning meeting. Here are a few questions to get you started. 

 Directions: For each question below, please choose an answer. 

Would you rather have an easy, but boring life or a challenging, but exciting life? 

Would you rather have one best friend or a lot of casual friends? 

Would you rather give a 2-minute speech in front of the class or write a 20-page report? 

Would you rather read a book or watch a documentary? 

Would you rather know exactly what someone is thinking or be good at reading body language? 

Would you rather speak 5 languages or be a great writer in 1? 

Stress can drain our mental resources, and during challenging times we can end up stuck in our habitual patterns of reacting.  Because of such repeated patterns of responding, we might, at times, react mindlessly to situations presenting themselves.  This might not be a skilful way to deal with situations that require us to stop and take stock of what present before proceeding forward.  This is where the mindful STOP practice could be of help as it can help in pausing and grounding to take better stock of whatever is presenting itself to us.  The mindful STOP practice can be a means through which we pause so that to try to respond skillfully, instead of reacting mindlessly. 

Discussion: 

How do I achieve my dreams?

Do you have goals but aren't sure how to start achieving them?

Directions:

1)  Fold your paper vertically and then horizontally to create four boxes

2)  At the top of each box, write down four goals (these goals can be for the week, month, year, etc.)

3)  Underneath your goal, write down “I will” statements (See example below)

4)  Underneath your “I will” statements, write an “I am” statement

5)  Revisit these goals at least once a week and continue to write new “I will” statements

6)  Watch your life transform

During these challenging and uncertain times, it’s important to remain hopeful, and morning affirmations are a great way for students to be engaged and start on a positive day! 

50 affirmations to start ANY day! 

Embracing creativity means using your imagination and trying new things so you can reach your big dream. You can read a book to learn more, ask a grownup for advice, or try a new hobby. Embracing creativity means having the courage to do things you have never done!

Mystery Drawing -- This activity focuses on embracing creativity and allowing yourself to think outside of the box. Students will each have a piece of paper in front of them. The teacher will come around and draw a random line on the paper. The students must turn this mystery line into something! Depending on the age group, it can be a random line drawn on the page or it can be a letter of the alphabet that the class is focusing on. Once everyone is finished, the Mystery Drawings can be shared and posted for the entire class to see. The discussion around this activity should be centered on the interesting and wonderful things that can come from being creative! 

Here is one of my favorite ways to help kids when they're feeling anxious or overwhelmed. It's called Count Down to Calm, and you can do it anytime, anywhere. Start with a deep breath in, and out. Look around you and notice five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, one thing you can taste, or want to. I  use this exercise when one of my students is having a hard time regulating, or with the whole class to help us settle down. I even use it for myself when I'm feeling stressed. Shifting your focus away from worried thoughts to non-threatening things in your immediate surroundings helps your body stop producing stress hormones, and resets your brain. Then you can get back to learning and move on with your day. Shifting your focus away from anxious thoughts to non-threatening things in your immediate surroundings can help your body stop producing stress hormones. This exercise was inspired by the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, developed by a therapist and former pilot to help people conquer a fear of flying.

Great for all purpose! So what is a countdown you may ask, well in the dictionary, countdown is set as: a number to mark the time remaining before an event; also : preparations carried on during such a count. An easier way of defining it is: the process of counting off backward in fixed units (as seconds) the time remaining before an event. Also, a timer is: a clocklike device that turns something on or off at a set time or gives a signal at the end of a period of time. We can also relate this to a clock, hourglass, metronome, timepiece. Things associated to countdowns and timers are: pendulum, stopwatch, sundial, ticker, timekeeper, time marker, watch, chronometer, chronograph, timepiece!