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I liked the idea of a breathing board for elementary students as it is visual, also hands on and gives children something to focus on while breathing. This allows children to have something to look at, touch and pace breathing. I found this at www.thepathway2success.com

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Use these two free mindfulness breathe boards to help kids and young adults practice mindfulness to help promote happiness, attention, and emotional control. By learning to first focus on our own breathing, we can begin the mindfulness practice. Using a breathe board can help learners more concretely and visually understand what it means to control our breathing.

Mindfulness means being present in the moment with your thoughts and feelings without making judgements. It is being aware of what is happening but not being overwhelmed. Coloring is one technique that helps practice mindfulness in a fun way.
Why Teach Mindfulness
Research has shown many positive outcomes when you practice mindfulness. People of all ages and abilities can practice. It is a great strategy for kids struggling with depression, anxiety, anger, lack of attention, or other behavioral concerns.
How to Use
Have students trace their finger around the shape or line of each board, breathing in and out as they go. The breathe boards can be printed and placed on a student's binder, on a desk, in a calm down area, or anywhere else where a student might need to focus on breathing and mindfulness in the moment.
Buy The FULL Mindfulness Activities { Mindfulness Activities }
Help kids and young adults practice mindfulness to help promote happiness, attention, and emotional control. Mindfulness activities include listening to music, coloring, making crafts, and much more. Activities are specifically tailored to kids and young adults.
{ Mindfulness AND Coping Strategies }
If you need more, consider getting this huge set of mindfulness and coping strategies activities. It includes structured lessons, task cards, crafts, and more all focused on helping kids and young adults manage their emotions in a more positive way.

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Disclaimer: These resources and materials are for supplementary support/education purposes and not intended as a replacement for counseling, education, or other necessary supports. Educators, parents, counselors, and others who utilize these materials are encouraged to seek out additional support, as needed.

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Use these two free mindfulness breathe boards to help kids and young adults practice mindfulness to help promote happiness, attention, and emotional control. By learning to first focus on our own breathing, we can begin the mindfulness practice. Using a breathe board can help learners more concretel...

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I feel that structured reflection is a very powerful tool when it comes to developing self-awareness and perseverance. By this I mean as a school having guidelines for how often and how to reflect. This can be written or oral prompts depending on age, and weekly or twice a week at the same time. Having a routine also helps.

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Mindful Observation for High School Students

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Mindful Observation for High School Students

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Please find below a lesson for a 25 minute lunch time mindfulness drop in space. This would be used as an initial introduction to mindfulness for a drop in space that would be available to students once/week during lunch.

1. Check-in: Name, Pronouns, High/Low

2. What is stress?

1. Stress is a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. Stress is a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives. Everyone experiences stress to some degree. The way we respond

to stress, however, makes a big difference to our overall well-being.

3. What causes stress?

1. Changes in routine

2. Limited sleep

3. Big tests

4. College applications

5. Conflicts

6. Demands at home

7. Sports

8. Problems with friends or romantic partners

9. Grades

4. What is mindfulness?

1. Awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment to moment. - Jon Kabat-Zinn

2. The ability to be aware of your thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and actions - in the present moment - without judging or criticizing yourself or your experience.

5. Mindfulness Exercise #1 - bubble timers (would need enough bubble timers for everyone) - 1 minute to observe

1. What did you notice?

2. Thoughts?

3. Feelings?

4. Reactions?

5. Internal dialogue?

6. Did you find it challenging just to be still and present in this exercise?  In what ways?

6. End with Breathing Into Stress Headspace Exercise

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Use of videos to explore concepts of perseverance

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Use of videos to explore concepts of perseverance

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I have used the above video to introduce the concept of perseverance to primary age students. After watching the video I would ask them the following questions:

What does perseverance mean?  How is it demonstrated in this video?

What does resiliency mean?  How is it demonstrated in this video?

I would then ask them to reflect on themselves with the following questions:

1. How do I show resiliency when I am working on a difficult assignment?

2. How do I show resiliency when I am feel sad, down, or hopeless?

3. How have I shown resiliency on a personal project (e.g. lego build, scratch project)

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I have often used the resource from Responsive Counselor called Flipping a Lid: My Brain and My Feelings to help younger students understand the role of the brain in our emotional reactions. I would read through the slide deck with them and then either have accompanying coloring sheets for them to complete as a follow up or explore strategies or strengthening your Wise Eagle or PFC by practicing asking for help, taking deep breaths or doing a soothing activity.

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Copy of Flipping a Lid PPT Eagle Version.pptx

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This is a bit off direct topic but I really liked these lessons to do with a class as it allows for discussions and understanding of different ways people learn and feel.

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This is a class that I did with our year 3 students. We covered: emotions and why we have them, flipping your lid (Dan Siegel) and thoughts in the form of rain clouds and white fluffy clouds. We covered the interconnectedness and how we can express our emotions in a healthy way.

Comment thoughts and ideas! Happy to receive feedback :)

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It's a great tool for children from ages 4+. This method helps students reach a calmer state in order for them to know what to do next in whatever situation they're in. It is not only a visual but engages their sense of touch as well. I found this at https://www.thecalmcorner.com/2018/11/material-share-monday-5-finger-breathing.html.

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Material Share Monday is coming at you a day early this week because I wanted to share this in conjunction with a self care weekend. I LOVE using 5 Finger Breathing with my kiddos, but I also use it all the time for me.

For the longest time, I taught coping skills TO kids, but I wasn't great at using them myself. Then, one year, I made it a goal to start using some of what I was teaching to my students. I was doing a series of class lessons on Mindfulness with a classroom, and I figured that if I wanted 20 children to use it, I had to really believe and know that it worked. The first tool I really started using myself was 5 Finger Breathing. A teacher in the classroom I taught it in told me actually that they still use it all the time today, and the lesson was 2 years ago! Now when I teach this skill to kids, I share that I use 5 Finger Breathing all the time-in the car when I'm in traffic, when I'm waiting for a meeting or appointment I'm getting anxious about, when my kids won't stop crying...All the time!

I created this visual for my office and students but am sharing it today. See it here.

Do you use this tool?

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Material Share Monday: 5 Finger Breathing | The Calming Corner

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5 Finger Breathing mindfulness calming tool

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I feel that sometimes we can benefit from taking the time to explore a child's self esteem when we talk about having a growth mindset or observe that they have a negative thought cycle. Unpacking this can show us why a child may be feeling strongly against trying new things, making mistakes or avoiding participation in class.

There are lots of great resources that I use from Wholehearted School Counselling on self esteem and growth mindset.

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Hi there! Welcome to WholeHearted School Counseling. Your place for fun & effective social emotional learning activities for kids!

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Here is a lesson I do with PYP reception aged students using canva slides and using puppets as well. Along with the script for the story on self control with puppets.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12_ZrLpwyvWL3iiqLUvvAnHqHXVbI-kyGoL0kPnBHcE4/edit?usp=sharing

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Anger and impulsiveness are learning roadblocks that we face across the board. Here is a lesson on 'Managing your Anger' for PYP Year3 students that I created. We are constantly empowering our students with strategies & tools to keep in their toolboxes so that they are readily available if they need to use it.

The learning engagement that I always use is group discussion, reflection & sharing what a friend has said to improve listening skills and feeding back information.

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We’re currently checking your connection. This shouldn’t take long.If you keep getting this page, check if there’s a problem with Canva.

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This is an Advisory lesson we do with our MYP and DP students. It is intended to support communication skills, most specifically collaboration skills. This lesson follows a communication skills assessment that we ask all students to take. At the conclusion of this activity, we ask students to process using the following questions:

How did your group decide what to pick?

What role did you play in the process?

Did anyone dominate?  Anyone feel ignored?

Were some items easy or hard to decide on?

Thinking back to the communication assessments we did a couple of weeks ago, what styles of communication (assertive, aggressive, passive, passive-aggressive) did you notice?  Which ones were most effective?  Did you push yourself in any way to try a different style of communication?  How?

How do you rate your group’s chances of survival?

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Following the protocol for identifying SEL skill development need areas, I determined that self-awareness was an important area to develop an intervention. We use our Advisory blocks to teach explicit SEL skills and do rely on the CASEL 5 core competencies to develop our lessons. Attached is a lesson aimed at supporting skill development for middle grades students. The lesson includes an opening check-in, explores the importance of exploring personal strengths, and then provides time for students to engage in some hands-on learning. The ATL skills reinforced are thinking skills and is also providing a foundation to build towards self-management skills.