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Greg' Relationship Building Google Folder

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Greg' Relationship Building Google Folder

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Some good resource links and surveys here

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Copy of Relationship Bldg in the Virtual World

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Must Look At

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Starting the school year remotely is uncharted territory for educators. While the opening weeks of school are always a time for building community and focusing on social-emotional learning, this is especially crucial as the 2020-21 school year begins. Educators need to consider how they can create welcoming environments that prioritize care, relationships, and community, regardless of how and where their students are learning. Students will be more likely to engage, take risks, and support each other if they feel a sense of trust and belonging among the group members and with their teacher.

This collection of activities address three important goals for the beginning of the school year:

1. Reorienting students to school

2. Getting to know each other and building relationships

3. Creating classroom community

Navigating the Activities

The activities are designed for teachers to use in conjunction with Opening and Closing Routines. Teachers can choose from multiple activity options and coordinate with colleagues who may teach the same students to avoid repetition of activities or readings. Each activity includes an "asynchronous extension" to help students apply key concepts to their own lives in meaningful and creative ways. Teachers should also review our Journaling in a Remote Learning Environment and Contracting for Remote Learning strategies before these introductory activities.

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Starting the school year remotely is uncharted territory for educators. While the opening weeks of school are always a time for building community and focusing on social-emotional learning, this is especially crucial as the 2020-21 school year begins.

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Very Good

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Student Engagement using JamBoard - no cameras needed!

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28 Breathing Exercises for Kids Printable: Great for School & Home

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These 28 printable breathing exercises for kids work well at school and home as calm down techniques, mindfulness exercises and brain breaks.

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My Favorite!

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Welcome to Greater Good in Education-a collection of science‐based practices for integrating social‐emotional learning, mindfulness, and character education into the DNA of classrooms and schools. About Us

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Welcome to Greater Good in Education-a collection of science‐based practices for integrating social‐emotional learning, mindfulness, and character education into the DNA of classrooms and schools. About Us

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Frayer model and Kahoot! | Connect your learners

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English teacher Laura Steinbrink combines Kahoot! with the Frayer a Friend model to connect her learners and create a collaborative atmosphere in class.

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How to use the Updated Gimkit as a Remote Teaching Tool: NEW ASSIGNMENT FEATURES!!!!!

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Create your own jeopardy template online, without PowerPoint. Or browse the pre-made templates created by other people!

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Three Good Things

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Self-Care Ideas

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Virtual Calming Room Click on the image below to launch your virtual calming room experience.

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Using Weekly Surveys to Assess Family Wellness

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In these uncertain times, checking in regularly on the needs of families in the school community is essential for school leaders.

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It is 7:50 a.m., and the 29 students in my first-period English class are slowly making their way into the classroom. There is lively chatter, laughter, hurried sips of coffee, and, of course, cell phones attached to the hands of almost every student. When the bell rings and attendance is taken, though, this animated group of 12th graders reluctantly put their phones away, wait for a short prompt from me, and then do something unlikely. They meditate.

The room of spirited and sometimes raucous students gets so still, so quiet, that you could literally hear a pin drop.

The practice only takes a couple of minutes and instantly changes the tenor of my classroom. At the very least, it is a positive way to get students ready to start class. At best, it is a game-changing practice that has the power to assuage student anxiety, improve focus and awareness, and cultivate emotional regulation and empathy.

The benefits are not only for the students; it is a simple but powerful tool for teachers to counter their own stress, be more present in the work, and reclaim the deep joy of teaching.

What does meditation actually look like in a high school classroom? How do you introduce it to your students? How do you get buy-in? How do you have time?

Develop Belief

For many educators, the emphasis on standardized test scores, data-driven instruction, and accountability protocols is overwhelming and disheartening. In The Mindful Teacher, researchers Dennis Shirley and Elizabeth MacDonald term this condition "alienated teaching," or the kind of teaching performed by teachers when they feel they must comply with external mandates that they have not chosen and which they inwardly oppose because the mandates do not serve their students.

Mindful teaching can help teachers counteract the effects of alienated teaching and recover the integrity and efficacy of their own practice. There is no single program to be purchased or a recipe to be followed, but there are a number of effective models.

The short daily meditation described here is one tangible element in this deep belief in the power of mindful teaching. For meditation to be effective in the classroom, educators should believe that slowing down to breathe and reflect can improve teaching and learning conditions.

Create a Plan

Find your voice. After reading about how teachers practice meditation in their classrooms, watch a video of a teacher leading a meditation or, if possible, observe a teacher leading a classroom meditation. Then, create a simple prompt that is consistent with your teaching voice.

Over the past 10 years, I have experimented with language and tone for my prompt, striving always to be true to my own teaching style. I have found that confidence, consistency, and brevity are extremely important. My own prompt is simple and brief:

"Hi class. I hope everyone is doing great this morning. Are you ready for our meditation?" (Short pause.) "Now, everyone, please find a comfortable seat, roll your shoulders slowly, sit up, back straight, fold your hands on your desk in front of you, and put both feet flat on the floor. Now let's take a deep breath in through our nose, hold, 1, 2, 3, and exhale through our mouth. Again, deep inhale, hold, 1, 2, 3, exhale and, now, slowly close your eyes. Try and relax and clear your mind for a couple of minutes."

A few minutes later, I end the meditation by simply and quietly saying, "Thank you." When you have written your own prompt and have decided on a start date, put aside five minutes at the beginning of each class.

Motivate Students

On the first day, explain that the class will be doing a short silent meditation every day and that there is a growing body of research to suggest that meditation can be a powerful tool to combat stress and improve attention. Share research about the science of meditation, specifically how it calms the central nervous system and improves oxygenation, often with instant benefit to students. Research suggests that meditation can be an effective way to assuage stress and anxiety, improve focus and attention, and even help students to regulate their emotions more effectively.

I created a folder in my Google Classroom, in which I share these articles, as well as a short primer, so that students have resources at their fingertips. This seems particularly important for high school students, who seem much more inclined to embrace this practice if they can see credible evidence that it works. Meditate that first day to show the process in action.

Practice Every Day and Reflect

As the school year progresses, urge students to expand their practice and share their experiences. Have students read and respond to articles about this subject. Ask them to teach other students to meditate and to reflect on their own practice.

This small, simple practice can have a profound effect on any classroom. In the decade that I have been meditating with my classes, I have noticed that the still, quiet time following a meditation is uniquely suited for authentic conversation. I use it to set the tone for my class and to connect with my students.

Like most things we do in school and life, meditation gets better with practice. Try to be consistent and make meditation part of your classroom's daily operating procedure.

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How to Introduce Meditation to the High School Classroom

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It is 7:50 a.m., and the 29 students in my first-period English class are slowly making their way into the classroom. There is lively chatter, laughter, hurried sips of coffee, and, of course, cell phones attached to the hands of almost every student.

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Since remote learning started this past spring, Bitmojis have taken the education community by storm.

Available through the Bitmoji app, these customizable, mini-me avatars have become stand-in teachers running virtual classrooms, enforcing rules and expectations, collecting assignments-and making students smile, we've heard. Simply put, they're fun.

Amber Weaver, a second-grade teacher in Louisville, Kentucky, says she likes that her Bitmoji classroom-a virtual replica of her real one-makes resources like the school calendar easily accessible to her young students and provides them with a sense of virtual familiarity and stability during a tough time.

But not everyone is a fan of the Bitmoji craze. Some educators believe that they're a distracting fad and that teachers should be focusing more on creating effective lessons and supporting students' well-being instead of creating cutesy virtual classrooms, according to an article in Education Week. They also claim that Bitmoji resources raise issues of digital equity, as not all students have easy access to the internet or to digital devices to use them. Proponents counter that effective instruction and Bitmojis aren't mutually exclusive, and say they're broadly helpful in engaging students in virtual learning.

As teachers prepare for the fall, many are considering ways to bridge virtual and hands-on learning to keep kids engaged-and Bitmoji may provide the leg up to do so. We talked to more than 50 K-12 educators about how they're using Bitmoji and gathered links to their resources that you can download and customize for your own use.

Getting Started

To get started creating your Bitmoji universe, you need to download the app (available for iPhone and Android) and create your Bitmoji by selecting physical features like hair and eye color and an outfit. After creating your character, you can cast it in a huge array of activities, such as reading, dancing gleefully, or even eating a sandwich.

Next, download the Google Chrome extension, which allows you to choose a favorite image of your Bitmoji-perhaps your doppelganger washing its hands or saying "hello"-to copy and paste it into whatever format you'd like, such as Google Slides where you host your virtual classroom.

For inspiration, Facebook groups like Bitmoji Craze for Educators offer a range of templates and tutorials that show newbies the ropes, like this step-by-step video tutorial on setting up a Bitmoji classroom, and hacks that inspire veterans with new ideas. And of course, the examples below are a great starting point.
Note: Most of the examples mentioned in this article are linked to templates that can be downloaded. One type of link goes directly to a copy that can be customized to your heart's desire. The other goes to an open Google Slide. If taken there, click "File," pause your cursor over "Make a copy," and select "Entire presentation." From there, it's yours.
Bitmoji Classrooms

The most popular use of Bitmojis in education is for creating virtual classrooms, or virtual learning hubs (typically hosted on Google Slides, which can be integrated into a learning management system (LMS) like Seesaw, Google Classroom, or Schoology) where teachers post classroom materials and resources for students. Every teacher's Bitmoji classroom is unique. Some teachers have made them resemble their real-life classrooms or homes, while others have leaned toward fantasy.

Kindergarten teacher Sara Hannah's Bitmoji classroom looks a lot like her real classroom, she says, but with some elements of fun. In the virtual room, clickable icons link to assignments, games, read-alouds, and short video lessons-even the virtual cats are clickable. Incorporating Bitmojis has created more excitement around classes, which she says helps motivate students in virtual learning.

Brittney Harvey, an elementary school-certified occupational therapist assistant, created an occupational therapy room for her students in Oklahoma. The virtual room links to resources like Zoom for one-on-one sessions, pre-writing video lessons, and GoNoodle-a video library filled with exercises that help Harvey's students develop gross motor skills.

The Bitmoji classroom isn't limited to core subjects. Educators have created Bitmoji classrooms for at-home recess (grades pre-K-3), art classes (first grade), and maker spaces (grades K-6).

Setting Expectations and Norms

Teachers say they've found that Bitmojis can be a helpful (and fun) way to get students to remember the rules and expectations in their virtual classrooms.

Jillian Graham, a high school math teacher from Fort Mill, South Carolina, created norms around how to act during Google Meet classes and used her Bitmoji character to remind students about them, for example. While her students waited to join a Google Meet session, they saw her Bitmoji explaining how they should act on video calls with instructions like "dress appropriately" and "be an active participant."

Aimee Wilson, a 10th-grade U.S. government and English teacher, on the other hand, created a Bitmoji cell phone policy poster that outlined when it is and isn't OK to use a cell phone, while Brandi Dudley, a first- and second-grade teacher in California, created Bitmoji Covid-19 posters to remind her students of protective measures like handwashing.

Bitmoji Libraries

Many educators say they are using Bitmoji to create "libraries," or virtual bookshelves, linked to video read-alouds, PDFs, and digital books.

Cammie Duval, an elementary school teacher in Milwaukie, Oregon, created a K-2 growth mindset library for her district, for example, and has 29 libraries in total on different themes like " Mad Scientist," which have been downloaded as templates more than 90,000 times by teachers. To stimulate excitement, Duval hides a digital worm ("a bookworm") in every library that kids can search for as they peruse the books.

"Most of my students cannot read and don't have family members who have a lot of time to read with them," says Duval of the benefits of the digital read-alouds. "Bitmoji libraries give those kids the ability to fall in love with reading at home by themselves."

In light of recent events, some educators have been inspired to create libraries with a host of diverse books. Overcome with emotion after the murder of George Floyd, Tracey Burton, a pre-K-5 technology teacher in Ishpeming, Michigan, created a Bitmoji library that houses VideoLink links-YouTube links without the ads-that connect to read-alouds of books about different races and cultures like Mixed Me and Too Many Tamales.

"I didn't think I could change the world, but I do feel like I [can] make a change," says Burton. "Reading about other cultures makes the world smaller and more connected."

Relationship-Building Activities

Other educators have found that Bitmojis can play a role in building relationships and making deeper connections with their students from afar.

Last spring, Angie Baton Ritenour, a fourth-grade teacher in Farmington, Michigan, collaborated with two grade-level colleagues to create an iSpy Bitmoji room, which they used during a video call to get students more engaged in remote learning. They filled the virtual room to the brim with objects, like photos of students and items from their classrooms. During the video call, students took turns saying "I spy with my little eye...," and their peers had to guess what object they had picked-helping students build connections with one another.

And Amanda Wells says she plans on having her eighth-grade students complete an All About Me Bitmoji assignment so she can get to know them better this fall. On a templated Google Slide, students will share their interests coupled with a drawing or photo, such as a drawing of them playing with their dog, and write two complete sentences explaining why they enjoy each activity.

While some educators argue that teachers should be spending their time on developing engaging lessons rather than creating superfluous Bitmoji resources, educators have proved that they can do both.

Laura Hoomes, a kindergarten teacher in Huntsville, Alabama, says she's spent more time planning this summer than in previous ones, having already created over 40 Bitmoji libraries to use next year. She's also created home learning kits, weekly at-home crafts, and 22 center games for each of her students-none of which are Bitmoji-to give students a range of activities to choose from.

"I have two young kids, so it's mostly what I can accomplish at night after they go to bed!" says Holmes. "I'm just trying to be ready for virtual kindergarten."

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Educators Turn to Bitmoji to Build Community and Engagement

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Both fun and practical, Bitmoji classrooms are adding some levity to fall planning this year.

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Kids, especially struggling ones, tend to act out their difficulties rather than share them in words. We adults are often only marginally better. When words are unavailable, it helps to find other ways to demonstrate the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

A snow globe or glitter jar is one of the most powerful visual metaphors for that connection; it illustrates how mindfulness -the cultivation of stillness in the face of swirling chaos of life-affects us. At first I used to do this practice only with young kids, but I've since found that even teens enjoy it.

How to Make a Glitter Jar

You can use a mason jar, a spice jar, or even a plastic water bottle for this practice. Be sure to use glitter that sinks rather than floats. Adding some glycerin to the water slows down the fall of the glitter.

If you'd prefer to avoid using glitter, you can make a more eco-friendly version by using different-colored beads, a mix of food coloring and oil, or even pieces of LEGO you already have around the house.

Fill the jar to the top with water. Have your children pick three colors of glitter: one to represent thoughts, one to represent feelings, and one to represent behaviors (or "urges to do things"). Drop a few pinches of each color glitter into the water, which represents their mind, and maybe a few drops of food coloring. Seal the jar with its lid or duct tape.

With each event they name, swirl and turn the jar, demonstrating how it becomes difficult to keep track and see clearly what our thoughts, feelings, and urges are.

Ask the children what kinds of things will make the glitter in the jar swirl. Encourage answers that reflect distressing events (fights with siblings, losing in sports) and positive ones (getting a good grade, making a new friend), events in the foreground (sick siblings) and events in the background (scary stories on the news). With each event they name, swirl and turn the jar, demonstrating how it becomes difficult to keep track and see clearly what our thoughts, feelings, and urges are.

How to Use a Glitter Jar for Mindfulness

There are many variations of this practice, depending on what you want to emphasize. My colleague Jan Mooney, who often works with groups of kids, uses a giant jar that all the kids can add glitter to. Each color represents different feelings the kids have. Other variations include using a few plastic beads to represent behaviors and watching until the behaviors separate from thoughts and feelings. Kids can also try to focus on just one color, or one piece of glitter until it settles, or all of them.

Your script can go something like this:

The jar is like our mind, and each color of glitter represents something different in our mind.

Let's put in red for thoughts, gold for feelings, and silver for urges to do things. (Pour in a little bit of glitter with each comment.)

Now we seal up the jar. (Put the lid on the jar and seal it.) Then we start our day.

We wake up, and things are pretty settled. We can see that clearly. (Show how all the glitter has settled on the bottom of the jar.)

But pretty soon, things start swirling around. Maybe we are running late (swirl the jar). Our big sister eats the last pancake for breakfast, and it leads to a fight (shake the jar). We hear scary things on the news in the car ride to school (swirl the jar). We get to school and find out we aced the test (shake the jar).

Now it's only a few minutes into the school day, and we can't see clearly because all of our thoughts and feelings and urges are getting in the way.

So what is the one thing we can do to get the glitter to settle and see clearly again?

Be still! And what happens when we are still? We can see clearly again.

There is also no way to rush being still. We can't push all the glitter down to the bottom. We just have to watch and wait. No amount of effort will make it settle sooner.

When things become clear, we'll know the wise next thing to do. In fact, that's one definition of wisdom: seeing things as they are and choosing how to act.

While we wait, does the glitter go away? No, it stays at the bottom. Our thoughts and feelings and urges are still in our minds, but they are no longer in our way, clouding our vision.

A finished glitter jar can serve as a visual timer for other practices, such as breathing practices. For example, you can shake the jar and say: "Let's do some mindful breaths until the glitter settles."

We actually don't want to get rid of the thoughts and feelings and urges. We just want them out of the way so they don't prevent us from seeing clearly.

Some families use the jar as a "calm-down jar," to mark and measure calm-down time. Ideally, the entire family can use the calm-down jar together when there is a conflict: "We are all upset with lots of thoughts and feelings rights now. So let's all take a break until the glitter in the calm-down jar has settled and then start talking again."

There are even a few glitter jar and snow-globe smartphone apps, which one kid I work with just loves.

One particularly sharp student of mine pointed out that you could just take a filter and make the jar clear again. He had a point, and it wasn't until I was driving home that I came up with the response: "We actually don't want to get rid of the thoughts and feelings and urges. We just want them out of the way so they don't prevent us from seeing clearly."

This article was adapted from Dr. Christopher Willard's book Growing Up Mindful .

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The glitter jar represents the mind settling. It's a great afternoon activity that your kids can keep coming back to as a mindfulness practice.