Rachel Brown - Social Emotional Learning Efforts

Social Emotional Learning Experience and Implementation

From partnering to nonprofits to train staff on how to implement mindfulness in the classroom to procuring grants for free training for teachers, my passion for Social Emotional Learning is evident in my teaching and community work. I firmly believe that students cannot thrive academically until they have the support and love they need emotionally, and educators can do a great deal to facilitate this. As a certified yoga instructor, I have trained teachers on how to help students release tension through poses (asanas) to be ready to learn. I have taught yoga to hundreds of students. I have partnered with Pilates Instructors, Yoga Instructors, and other community partners to bring these practices to my campus. Note: All students who attended campus Health and Wellness events, participated in academic competitions, or had images used on social media sites featured on my site all had media release forms on file.

When students returned to campus in the fall of 2020, there were many children who were experiencing stress and anxiety related to the lockdowns. Teachers were also stressed and struggling to teach online and in-person. I reached out to Breathe For Change (breatheforchange.com/) and applied for a grant that allowed all teachers and administrators on our campus to be trained in mindfulness and basic yoga asanas to reduce stress and cultivate a more harmonious teaching and learning environment. All students who were in-person and completing online learning were able to attend free yoga and mindfulness classes.

During the 2020 quarantines, teachers were stressed and struggling to teach students online, cope with quarantine-related stress and isolation, and manage family issues at home while trying to work. To ease stress for educators, I started leading yoga classes for those who wanted to attend. I also created Zoom and TEAMS workouts for teachers to join to foster a sense of community from a distance, and encourage teachers to stay accountable for their health.

2020: Expanding Yoga Options for Students: During the time students were quarantined, I started teaching yoga and meditation during some of my classes. I also started at-home fitness challenges to encourage teachers to stay in shape and fight stress during the time they were teaching online and quarantining at home. Knowing students would struggle when they transitioned from online learning and returned to school, I spent the summer of 2020 becoming a certified yoga instructor with a primary intention of bringing yoga to schools. After partnering with yoga instructors for years in an effort to provide services for students, I felt this would be a better way to ensure students could benefit from the practice more frequently, and with less external organization.

When students returned to in-person learning, I was working as a Math Interventionist. During this time, we experienced many staffing issues due to Covid policies. For a time, I was tasked with teaching all the physical education classes on campus. Since we had to social distance (no contact sports) all students were able to do yoga. This was an opportunity to perfect my yoga classes for kids. I was able to incorporate music, storytelling, and improvisational elements in to my yoga classes.

Preparing the team and reminding them of their breathing and relaxation techniques.

I found that if I taught my students who were in academic competitions basic meditation techniques while they were in meetings and at practices, it solved team conflicts and helped them be more productive. I started making mediation and yoga an introduction activity for team practices. Students were taught to meditate and breath right before a competition. Here are a team of FLL students practicing their meditation techniques in the hallway right before going in to compete in front of the judges.