In our busy everyday work lives as teachers, it is easy to fall into habits of rushing and reactivity. Here you can find tools to help you to slow down and pay attention to what is happening around you and inside of you, along with resources to help your students do the same. These tools include guided meditations, films, and books.
There are two types of content in this section:
Guided Meditations The audio meditations in this section are all under 10 minutes long. These meditations are explicitly designed for teachers before, during, and after school.
Tools These are a hand-picked set of resources such as books or apps that can be helpful in cultivating a meditation practice.
You can filter the content in this section by either of these types by clicking one of the links under “Filter by Post Type.”
Guided Meditations and Other Resources to Calm the Body and Focus the Mind
Silence by Lemniscates is an award winning children's book that can help introduce the concept of mindful listening through students. Each page takes you through what can still be heard in different kinds of silence. Both beutifully written and beautifully illustrated this book is a steppingstone for helping children to develop a mindfulness practice. Follow the link to the book's website. A perfect read aloud for a mindful classroom!
Many teachers use GoNoodle regularly for brain breaks, movement breaks, and indoor recess solutions. It can also be used to promote mindfulness in the classroom.
UC Berkeley offers a free online course called The Science of Happiness. The course focuses on many topics that contribute to happiness, including mindfulness.
From KQED public media from Northern California, MindShift is an online resource that examines the future of learning, including the impact of technology, culture, and mindfulness.
Megan Mahoney, a participant in the Mindful Teacher seminar and special educator in the Boston Public Schools, embraced this idea of stopping both for herself and her students.