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IB: Why Well Being Matters During a Time of Crisis

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IB: Why Well Being Matters During a Time of Crisis

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Deep Breathing as a Coping Skill | Athletes Connected

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Relaxing white noise & pregnancy affirmations

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2 min Breathe Bubble |  Breathe Exercises - Sea - Think Nothing Exercise I Breathe In Calm App

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Rainbow Relaxation: Mindfulness for Children

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Autumn Evening Ambience with Relaxing Fireplace & Rain Sounds

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Blizzard Sounds for Sleep in a Soothing Living Room | Snowstorm Sounds with Fireplace Crackling

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Campfire by the Sea Ambience | Crackling Fire, Ocean Waves, & Crickets Sounds

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Relaxing Campfire by Lake at Sunset in 4k Ultra HD, Stress Relief, Meditation & Peaceful Deep Sleep

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This post may contain affiliate links. I earn a small commission at NO EXTRA COST to you, should you purchase through my link..
A simple and fun drawing and coloring gratitude activity page to help your kids focus on the people and things that they're thankful for this Thanksgiving.

This gratitude drawing and coloring activity is great for preschooler, kindergarten, older kids, and even adults. The printable is design to be very basic so preschoolers won't be overwhelmed. At the same time, it has blank spaces for older kids and adults to doodle in their own art.

For my preschooler who loves to draw, I basically just asked him to draw in what he's thankful for or people or things that he loves and he was off to drawing them. He didn't color it all in because he had to go back to his virtual Pre-K class. But he was back at it after school ended.

My 4 year old son is grateful for his mom, dad, brother, dog (depicted here pooping) and poop (shown here by a hand catching poop)!

Materials

Download and print out the gratitude drawing and coloring page onto copy paper or cardstock.
Supply your kid with some markers, color pencils and let her draw and color in the gratitude page.

If you want to do this activity in Procreate, download the PNG file.

I colored mine in using Procreate.

DOWNLOAD GRATITUDE DRAWING/COLORING PAGE

Thank you so much for visiting the blog. Have a great day!

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Free Printable Gratitude Activity for Kids - Shabby Mint Chic Party

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This post may contain affiliate links. I earn a small commission at NO EXTRA COST to you, should you purchase through my link.. This gratitude drawing and coloring activity is great for preschooler, kindergarten, older kids, and even adults. The printable is design to be very basic so preschoolers won't be overwhelmed.

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5 minute Desk Yoga for Wrists | Sarah Beth Yoga

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0:00 / 1:25•Watch full video

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Are you looking for fresh ways that your students can monitor their progress towards growth mindset goals? This growth mindset activity for kids infuses some technology, a bit of pop culture, and a dash of fun.
If you're like many other teachers, you've incorporated growth mindset concepts in daily lessons and activities. Your hope is that the concepts marinate long enough for your students to absorb them. As you continue to delve deeper into growth mindset concepts, it is important for yours students to take time to reflect on their own growth. Not sure how to go about that? Never fear.... Growth Mindset "Selfie" Goals are here! This quick and easy activity is a great way for students to reflect on their own path towards achieving a growth mindset.

When you begin talking to your students about growth mindset goals, you might want to review some of the basic tenets of growth mindset. For this reason, I've included a concept sheet to aid in their reflection and to stir their thinking about the goals they'd like to achieve.

Essentially, your students will either draw a selfie or take one with a camera and then choose areas of strength and areas of improvement. The questions on the printable are designed to help students reflect on their growth. I've included one goal page with sentence frames and another page that allows students to create their own sentence frames.

Here is a list of sample sentence frames that your students could use:

I am good at...

I have been working on...

When I get frustrated, I....

The growth mindset concept I've improved on is...

In the last month, I've gotten better at....

The growth mindset concept I'm still working on is....

The growth mindset concept that I struggle with the most is....

I am helping myself improve with that concept by....

In a month from now, I want to be able to....

When I make mistakes, I feel....

The best part about making mistakes is...

You might want to include this reflection exercise in your lesson plans once a month (or once a quarter). In order for this activity to be effective, it is important for students to revisit their goals periodically during the year.

How Should Students Talk About Growth Mindset Goals?

Students should be writing and/or verbalizing specific shifts in their thoughts, actions, and feelings. "I'm trying harder" isn't good enough. "I'm spending 30 extra minutes studying spelling during the week" is a much more specific and observable way to describe progress. Keep in mind that part of growth mindset is about shifting the mindset itself. Sometimes students will describe a shift in feeling or thinking (we can't assume it is always behavioral). Unfortunately, those descriptions don't always lend themselves to being measurable unless the student uses some sort of scale. For example, "my level of frustration during math went from a 9 to a 6 in the last month because I've chosen not to give up when it gets really difficult for me." When it's possible, ask students to use observable and measurable goals. If that's not possible, students should describe specific shifts in thinking and feeling which indicate progress towards the goal.

Need More Information?

If you need more information about growth mindset before you use this activity, check out Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset or 10 Things You Need to Know About Growth Mindset. You can also find popular and effective growth mindset activities for your students here.

Go ahead and snatch up your copy of this activity
You might be interested in these posts: Growth Mindset Picture Books Using Affirmations to Shift Student Mindset The Top Four Ways to Foster Grit in the Classroom

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Growth Mindset Goals: Keeping My "Selfie" on the Right Path

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Are you looking for fresh ways that your students can monitor their progress towards growth mindset goals? This growth mindset activity for kids infuses some technology, a bit of pop culture, and a dash of fun. If you're like many other teachers, you've incorporated growth mindset concepts in daily lessons and activities.

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Your Brain is Wired for Negativity (video resource)

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Your Brain is Wired for Negativity (video resource)

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Your brain is wired for negative thoughts. Here’s how to change it.

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Meeting Student Learning and Diversity in the Classroom

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Meeting Student Learning and Diversity in the Classroom

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IA Responses - Promoting Equity in Our Classrooms

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IA Responses - Promoting Equity in Our Classrooms

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Nov 1 - Promoting Inclusion in our Classrooms

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Thinking Collaborative - The Adaptive School

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Thinking Collaborative - The Adaptive School

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Learning Diversity and Inclusion in IB Programmes

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Learning Diversity and Inclusion in IB Programmes

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The 4 Principles of Good Practice in the IB Learning Cycle (IBSOM group work)

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The 4 Principles of Good Practice in the IB Learning Cycle (IBSOM group work)

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Post Updated on April 2, 2021

Affirmations seem to be having a moment right now. Everyone in the wellness space is praising the benefits of using affirmations in daily life, but are they all they're cracked up to be?

At first, I was skeptical about the idea of affirming myself (it just seems so self-indulgent, right?), but I've come to realize how much of a positive impact they can have on my mindset.

Since your thoughts play a big part in your overall success and happiness, it's important to find ways to improve your mindset. If you don't, you risk falling into negative thought patterns and holding yourself back.

Affirmations are a powerful way to improve your mindset on a daily basis, and research has shown that they can increase our feelings of self-worth.

In this post, I'm sharing what you need to know about affirmations and how to use them, plus a daily affirmations list that will help you maintain a positive state of mind when times are tough.

What Exactly Are Affirmations?

Affirmations are positive reminders or statements that can be used to encourage and motivate yourself or others. Often it's a lot easier to affirm others than it is ourselves, but we need to remember to encourage ourselves as well.

I've seen a lot of people use affirmations to convince themselves of something they perhaps don't believe about themselves yet. Telling yourself "I'm financially abundant" when you feel broke isn't necessarily going to make you attract more money. In fact, research has shown that people who say positive self-statements like "I'm a lovable person" when they don't believe it can actually make them feel worse.

It's a lot easier to affirm others than it is ourselves, but we need to remember to encourage ourselves as well.

In my opinion, a better approach is something called " self-affirmation." According to Lisa Legault, assistant professor of psychology at Clarkson University, "Self-affirmation is the process of reminding yourself of the values and interests 'that constitute your true or core self' [...] It's taking stock of who you are and what you care about." ( Source)

Self-affirmation encourages you to think positively about the important things in your life.

Rather than trying to convince yourself that you're beautiful when you don't feel that way, self-affirmation encourages you to think positively about the important things in your life, like your family, career, or hobbies. This means reflecting on things that you know and believe are good about yourself and your life.

Related Post: How To Overcome Mindset Blocks That Hold You Back

Daily Affirmations List to Improve Your Mindset

Here are some examples of affirmations that you can use on a daily basis. Pick a few that resonate with you or simply write your own!

1. I create a safe and secure space for myself wherever I am.

2. I give myself permission to do what is right for me.

3. I am confident in my ability to [fill in the blank].

4. I use my time and talents to help others [fill in the blank].

5. What I love about myself is my ability to [fill in the blank].

6. I feel proud of myself when I [fill in the blank].

7. I give myself space to grow and learn.

8. I allow myself to be who I am without judgment.

9. I listen to my intuition and trust my inner guide.

10. I accept my emotions and let them serve their purpose.

11. I give myself the care and attention that I deserve.

12. My drive and ambition allow me to achieve my goals.

13. I share my talents with the world by [fill in the blank].

14. I am good at helping others to [fill in the blank].

15. I am always headed in the right direction.

16. I trust that I am on the right path.

17. I am creatively inspired by the world around me.

18. My mind is full of brilliant ideas.

19. I put my energy into things that matter to me.

20. I trust myself to make the right decision.

21. I am becoming closer to my true self every day.

22. I am grateful to have people in my life who [fill in the blank].

23. I am learning valuable lessons from myself every day.

24. I am at peace with who I am as a person.

25. I make a difference in the world by simply existing in it.

How to Use Affirmations

Some people say affirmations out loud in front of a mirror. Others simply write them down in a journal. You can also repeat them in your head like a mantra during meditation.

The important thing is to find affirmations that resonate with you. I'll admit that there are plenty of affirmations out there that are just too woo-woo for me and do not resonate with me. Sometimes people throw in words like "manifest" and "abundance," but these words simply don't resonate with me (but maybe they do for you!).

The important thing is to find affirmations that resonate with you.

Start by choosing two to three affirmations from the list below that resonate with you. From there, decide if you will say them aloud, write them down, or recite them in your head. Try to do this in the morning or before you go to bed as part of your daily routine.

The key here is that you don't have to go through a running list of affirmations every day. Just choose a few that really speak to you and encourage you to keep moving forward.

Related Post: 5 Mindset Shifts That Have Changed My Life

Want more affirmations? Get the toolkit!

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25 Daily Affirmations To Improve Your Mindset

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Post Updated on April 2, 2021 Affirmations seem to be having a moment right now. Everyone in the wellness space is praising the benefits of using affirmations in daily life, but are they all they're cracked up to be?

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Social & Emotional Learning (SEL)

Asking middle school students to focus on their guiding principles can lead them to more productive individual and group work.

Rawpixel Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

Intention-setting-a powerful mindfulness practice rooted in a rich contemplative history-is becoming a popular tool for supporting the personal and professional development of adults. Can it be used in the classroom in a way that supports student learning?

Intention-setting, it's important to note, is different from goal-setting. Goals are clear targets that we strive to hit. For example, a student may articulate the goal: "By the end of class, I will have brainstormed several possible designs and decided which one I'm going to build based on the given criteria."

Intentions are guiding principles that can help us, as individuals, connect our present actions to our personal values. They focus on who we are and who we could be in this moment. For example, "I want to be a more empathetic (or hard-working, generous, etc.) team member" may be an intention that a student establishes before launching into a group work session.

Intention-setting can lead to more generative individual and group work because students create aspirational visions of themselves and the way they hope to be prior to engaging in the work. When a student sets the intention to be more empathetic, diligent, generous, or in tune with the needs of their teammates, they're also setting the stage for more fruitful collaboration.

As educators co-teaching an elective course at a local middle school, we've been enjoying experimenting with intention-setting in our classes. We work to integrate mindfulness practices into a project-based learning curriculum to support students' social, emotional, and academic development. In each class, we give students three minutes to set a guiding intention for the upcoming activity, and then five minutes at the end of class to reflect on the ways in which they lived their intention.

This intention-setting protocol is still very much a work in progress; however, in the process of refining it, we've identified some considerations that we've found helpful to think through.

Key Aspects of Intention-Setting

Invite students to set an intention at the beginning of every class or activity: Intentions are most effective when they reflect who we are and who we want to be in the present moment. Therefore, student choice is critical. For a given activity, students may choose the same intention they've been working on all week or commit to a different one. The point is that they have time to reflect on and articulate an aspect of the person they intend to be during class.

Consider providing scaffolds: Many students struggle to distinguish between intentions and goals. For example, a student might say to their group, "Let's finish on time!" That's a worthwhile goal, not a personal intention. Intention-setting requires students to consider the personal commitment that they're interested in making. Perhaps this student could set the intention to be fully present, to serve as a strong facilitator, or to exercise patience with their teammates.

One way we've tried to support students is by offering a list of possible intentions. While this can be helpful, there's a danger that students will simply copy these intentions without thinking deeply about them.

Check in with students throughout the class period or activity: Use students' personal intentions as a tool to (re)focus their work, by asking them what their intention is and how they're living it in that moment. A quick check-in with a student can be more powerful and effective when it is oriented around a personal intention that the student has set for themselves, rather than an extrinsic goal or motivator.

For example, a teacher might say, "I know that you set an intention to be a deep listener, especially when your team is exploring a disagreement. How are you leaning in to that intention?" Check-ins like this encourage in-the-moment reflection-reflection doesn't need to happen only at the end of the period.

Consider implementing peer feedback: The question of whether students should share their intentions with each other and get feedback on how well they lived their intentions depends on several factors, including your students, your goals, and your classroom context. Intentions can be deeply personal-e.g., "I intend to be more assertive (or confident, humble, etc.)." If students know they'll have to share their intentions with their teammates, they might choose intentions that represent less vulnerability and are thus less meaningful to them.

Asking students to provide constructive feedback to one another requires strong classroom norms and scaffolds, but according to psychologist Daniel Goleman, feedback is essential for developing self-awareness. Therefore, this is an important question for educators to explore.

Make time for students to reflect at the end of class: Giving students an opportunity to reflect at the end of class can create an iterative cycle that helps them become more self-aware. Powerful learning can result when students set an intention, practice that intention, and then reflect on how well they were able to live their intention. This reflection can also help inform the intentions that students choose to set for themselves in subsequent classes: Based on how well they were able to live their intention and the impact that had on them, their groups, and their work, students may add nuance to their intention or choose an entirely new one in the next class.

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Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) Asking middle school students to focus on their guiding principles can lead them to more productive individual and group work. Rawpixel Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo Intention-setting-a powerful mindfulness practice rooted in a rich contemplative history-is becoming a popular tool for supporting the personal and professional development of adults.

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