Mindfulness Practices by
"With foreword by Paul Liabenow Build compassionate classroom environments and mindful schools that prioritize high levels of achievement and high levels of well-being. Based on the latest neuroscience research, Mindfulness Practices details how mindfulness in schools can lead to new, improved ways of educating, learning, and living. The book's mindful education exercises are easily adaptable across grade levels -- from prekindergarten through high school -- as well as across urban, suburban, and rural school settings. Mindfulness exercises and trauma-informed practices for a positive learning environment: Explore the theory behind mindful education, including the interrelated nature of physiology, cognition, emotions, and mindfulness for students. Learn how mindfulness in schools contributes to a positive mindset, alleviates the impact of toxic stress, and takes advantage of neuroplasticity. Understand the effects of trauma and ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) on student behavior and the ability to learn, and discover trauma-informed practices that support healing. Acquire research-based mindfulness practices, including breathing exercises, yoga for the classroom, meditation for students, and cognitive reflection and awareness. Reignite the passion that first drew you to education and prioritize self-care for yourself and your students. Discover how to build a heart-centered learning community in classrooms and create mindful schools. Contents: Foreword by Paul Liabenow Introduction Part I: The Urgency of Now Chapter 1: The Need to Care Chapter 2: The Journey--Healing Along the Way Chapter 3: Our Brain and the Mind-Body Connection Part II: Mindfulness Practices--Getting Practical Chapter 4: A Deep Breath Chapter 5: Move and Stretch--Yoga and Meditation Basics Chapter 6: Mindful Sensation, Presence, and Emotion Part III: Mindful and Compassionate Classrooms and School Communities Chapter 7: Mindful Instruction--Paying Attention to Your Students Chapter 8: Executive Functioning Chapter 9: Mindful Leadership From Within--A New Mindset" publisher
Mindfulness in the Classroom by
In today's schools, students and teachers feel unprecedented--even alarming--levels of stress. How can we create calmer classrooms in which students concentrate better and feel more positive about themselves and others? Author Thomas Armstrong offers a compelling answer in the form of mindfulness, a secular practice he defines as the intentional focus of one's attention on the present moment in a nonjudgmental way. In Mindfulness in the Classroom, Armstrong - Explains how mindfulness affects the structure and function of the brain. - Provides an overview of mindfulness as both a personal practice and a classroom methodology that aligns with such educational models as Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS), and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). - Shares and explains the extensive research that shows the positive effects of mindfulness practices in the classroom. - Describes how to adapt mindfulness for different grade levels, integrate it into regular school subjects, and implement it schoolwide. - Offers guidelines for teaching mindfulness responsibly, without religious overtones. Dozens of observations from teachers, students, researchers, and practitioners provide striking evidence of the power of mindfulness and offer hope to anyone who wants to make classrooms more productive places of learning.
The Teacher's Guide to Student Mental Health by
Twenty percent of children and adolescents have a mental health disorder and in five percent, the disorder is severe. Chances are that every classroom in America will have at least one student who has a mental health disorder, possibly even in the severe range. These students often have symptoms that interfere with their ability to learn. From Ontario, Canada to California, school districts and state Boards of Education are recognizing the importance of comprehensive approaches to student mental health that include teacher education.By understanding child and adolescent mental health issues, general education and special education teachers have additional tools to provide the most successful educational environment for their students. But where can a teacher turn to get reliable information on what they need to know?Here, William Dikel, MD, a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist, who serves as a consultant to school districts nationwide, answers the call with a comprehensive, teacher-focused guide to student mental health. From anxiety and depression to ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, behavior disorders, substance use disorders, and psychoses, this practical book provides essential information on how mental health disorders are diagnosed and treated, how they tend to manifest at school, and how they affect students' emotions, behaviors, and ability to learn. It explains why traditional behavioral interventions are often unsuccessful, and describes effective classroom interventions that teachers can use to provide optimal educational experiences.Teachers will learn the differences between normal child and adolescent behaviors and behaviors that reflect underlying mental health disorders, and will recognize where these behaviors fall on a spectrum, ranging from behavioral (planned, volitional acts that clearly have a function) to the clinical (where a mental health disorder is causing the behavior).They will also learn how to communicate effectively with their school teams (and student families) to ensure that school mental health staff (psychologists, social workers, counselors, and nurses) will be able to provide appropriate interventions for students in need. Administrators will learn the importance of creating a district mental health plan that clearly defines the roles of teachers, mental health staff, principals, and others, with the goal of establishing a seamless system of coordinated professionals all working to meet the student's needs.Finally, the book profiles successful programs, provided both by school districts and in collaboration with community mental health professionals, including Response to Intervention (RTI), Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), social-emotional learning, and school-linked mental health services.Based on the author's thirty years of experience providing consultation to teachers in settings varying from general education classrooms to self-contained special education programs for severely emotionally disturbed students, this book will be an invaluable guide for parents, school principals, special education directors, school social workers, counselors, psychologists, and nurses.
Mental Health Information for Teens by
Provides basic consumer health information about the causes, warning signs, and symptoms of mental health disorders, along with facts about treatment approaches and tips for teens on coping with stress, building self-esteem, and maintaining mental wellness. Includes a further reading list, a directory of crisis helplines and related organizations, and an index.
8 Keys to End Bullying by
Groundbreaking books have peered into the psychology of bullying and the cultural climate that--seemingly now more than ever--gives rise to such cruelty and aggression. But few have been able to synthesize what we know into 8 simple, targeted "keys" that equip educators, professionals, and parents with practical strategies to tackle the issue head-on. This book answers that call. Social media bullying--and the recent tragedies stemming from it--has given the widespread problem a new dimension. While no magic cure-all exists, adults can learn and implement all sorts of quick and easy techniques that can make a huge difference in the lives of kids. In 8 core strategies, this book lays them out, from establishing meaningful connections with kids to creating a positive school climate, addressing cyberbullying, building social emotional competence, reaching out to bullies, empowering bystanders, and much more.
Stop the Stress in Schools by
Committed to fostering a healthier classroom, Stop the Stress in Schoolsprovides explicit methods for building healthy relationships and solving problems in positive ways. It features calming strategies that include slowing the pace; increasing positive engagement and interaction, considering the perspective of the student; and celebrating processrather than product. Instead of targeting the symptoms of stress, this thoughtful book focuses on the social-emotional traits that are instrumental in helping children navigate stress constructively. A comprehensive approach to reducing stress and frustration for teachers and students, the book includes practical examples, activities, and samples of student work.
Promoting Child and Adolescent Mental Health by
A Focus on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Promoting Child and Adolescent Mental Health is written for health education students with a keen focus on how to build sustainable support systems across the community, classroom, schools and families to adequately promote positive behavior and mental health for both children and adolescents. The text addresses a wide range of learning challenges and mental health issues and outlines the support needed to provide communities and schools with the proper guidance to create an adaptable system which promotes child and adolescent mental health allowing them to flourish. The text presents mental health as a community-based challenge. By focusing on children and adolescents, it allows undergraduate and graduate students to concentrate on specific populations while acquiring skills that are applicable to a broad spectrum of diverse communities. This innovative text models teamwork across a variety of disciplines and encourages students to develop connections across communities and systems to promote child and adolescent mental health. Key Features * Text and resources draw from real-world experience of professionals who work in schools * Features course material currently used in school curricula * An emphasis on developing individual responsibility through active involvement with diverse communities * Evidence-based methods * A focus on practical application and simple, clear, relatable language * Real-life vignettes that launch each chapter and inspire discussion and further thought * Content that is easily adaptable for both undergraduate students and experienced human services professionals * Extensive instructor resources, including chapter outlines, text-linked teaching tips, test bank and answer key, and chapter-specific PowerPoint presentations * Action-based tips for promoting child and adolescent mental health * Extensive information on networking with other human services professionals to develop a larger framework of support for children and adolescents * Information on referrals, teams, partnerships, and collaborations
Mental Health and Growing Up by
Does your child throw embarrassing temper tantrums in public? Are you worried about your best friend who has become preoccupied with food, yet skips meals? Is there a child in your class who seems to have no concentration and is always causing trouble? These factsheets may be able to help. These short, simply written and easily understandable information sheets offer parents, teachers and young people practical and up-to-date information on what you can do if you are worried about your child, a pupil or a friend. There are forty-six different factsheets covering a wide range of emotional, behavioural and mental health problems that often affect children and young people. Each factsheet explains what the problem might be, the possible causes and effects, gives tips to help you deal with it, outlines the treatments available, gives the best available evidence, and shows how and where to get help and further information.
Health literacy in Canada: A primer for students by
"This core text offers a critical examination of how culture, ethnicity, social media applications, and the literacy and digital divides affect individuals’ ability to secure health information, services, and support." publisher
Classroom instruction that works : research-based strategies for increasing student achievement / Ceri B. Dean
LB1025.3 .M339 2012
"Six tip from Classroom instruction that works:
http://inservice.ascd.org/six-tips-for-creating-a-positive-learning-environment-in-your-classroom/
Always build classroom rules and procedures collaboratively and in the positive. I cringe when I visit classrooms and see “No Talking” as classroom rule #1. I suggest beginning by have a discussion with your students about how they learn best and then fashion your rules accordingly. If some students say they need a quiet area to work in at times, try a sign like, “Quiet Area, Brains at Work.” Also, if your classroom rule says “We don’t use cellphones in class.” the students shouldn’t see their teacher texting someone. Classroom rules should apply to everyone equally.
Continually let your students know you believe in them. Saying “I know you can get this” rather than “You need to try harder” for example is an indication of your belief in them rather than an accusatory statement. Saying, “We talked about this yesterday. Did you forget?” is laying blame on the student. Instead a statement like, “You had this so well yesterday. I know you can get it today.” reminds the student of their past success. These are both subtle differences in language that can make a big difference in your students’ perception of your faith in their as learners. Think about Carol Dweck’s work on fixed and growth mindsets.
Speaking of mindsets, examine your own mindset. Do you believe in your own ability to learn and grow? Do you believe it is your obligation as a teacher to model learning and growing? Look at this graphic on an educator’s mindset and do a little self-reflection.
Use your language to show students that they are learning for their own benefit, not yours. I can’t begin to count the number of times I have heard teachers begin an instruction or direction by saying, “What I need you to do for me…”. This tells the student they are doing a task for the benefit and approval of the teacher. Just eliminate that part of the direction and begin with, “The first thing you need to do to learn this is…” The learning has to be for the benefit of the learner, not the teacher.
Be honest in your feedback. Good feedback tells the learner what they did correctly, where they may have missed the mark, and what specifically they need to do next. I remember being a 7th grade student art class. I have a number of talents, but drawing isn’t one of them. The teacher wrote, “nice job” on my sketch of an orange. I knew very well that my smudged mess of an orange wasn’t a nice job. It wasn’t even a decent representation of any fruit known to man. I would have benefited by her telling me one thing I could do to make it better. Maybe something like “We are learning about perspective. Try adding a shadow behind your sketch.” Her “nice job” told me little about how to improve. Knowing I received undeserved praise lessens the impact or praise when it is truly earned.
When dealing with a student conflict or behavioral issue, be objective rather than accusatory. For example, rather than say, “Why did you take Jacob’s pencil?” begin by asking what happened. Asking why a student did something will likely provoke a defensive comment. “I took is pencil because he called me a name.” This leads to the inevitable “No I didn’t, yes you did” cycle. Asking what happened will allow both students to tell their story, moderated by the teacher. Give prompts like, “How did you think that make Jacob feel?” – “How else do you think you might have reacted?” – “What might you try next time?”
Students are more likely to learn in a safe learning environment – one in which they feel valued and protected. As you build and cultivate this environment, also be sure to use research-based instructional strategies to be sure students clearly know what they are expected to know, understand, and be able to demonstrate. Building a strong learning environment and using research-proven instructional strategies makes it more likely that students are able to answer “yes” to the questions, “Can I do the work?” and “Will I be accepted here?”