How to Get Middle School Students Into Mindfulness
- Lower your expectations Expecting your middle school class to become perfectly peaceful after introducing them to mindfulness is bound to lead to disappointment and frustration for both you and them. ...
- Make it engaging There is no better way to turn middle school students completely off from any classroom activity than to teach it in an uninteresting way. ...
- Explain the benefits ...
- Give them a choice ...
What makes a good middle school student?
Middle school students are characterized by rapid physical growth, curiosity about their world and an emerging self-identity. Middle school counselors have an impact on these years by implementing a school counseling program and collaborating
What are the benefits of teaching mindfulness to students?
Studies show that the benefits of mindfulness may include:
- Increased focus, attention, self-control, classroom participation, compassion
- Improved academic performance, ability to resolve conflict, overall well-being
- Decreased levels of stress, depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior
Should you teach your students mindfulness?
- Keeping mindfulness strategies and practices going while learning to navigate the responsibilities of adult life
- Using mindfulness practices to help the community and those around you
- Studying any personal long-term beliefs and assessing whether they are still in your best mental health interest
How to motivate primary and middle school students?
How to Increase Student Participation in School Activities
- Student Choice. Allow the students to choose activities. ...
- Work with their Peers to Increase Student Participation in School Activities. ...
- Work with Technology. ...
- Connect the Real World to the Work that We Do. ...
- Love What You Do. ...
- Get Me Out of My Seat. ...
- Use Visuals. ...
- Understand the Kids. ...
- Mix It Up to Increase Student Participation in School Activities. ...
- Be Human. ...
What is mindfulness for middle school students?
Being mindful is consciously bringing awareness to one's experience—focusing one's attention on thoughts, feelings, and environment in the present moment. Mindfulness can be applied to sensory experience, thoughts, and emotions by using sustained attention and noticing one's experience without passing any judgment.
What are the 5 basics of mindfulness practice?
Five Steps to Mindfulness.First Mindfulness Exercise: Mindful Breathing.Second Mindfulness Exercise: Concentration.Third Mindfulness Exercise: Awareness of Your Body.Fourth Mindfulness Exercise: Releasing Tension.Fifth Exercise: Walking Meditation.
What are 5 mindfulness exercises you can do with students?
Mindful activities for learnersMindful breathing. This activity is great for bringing the mind back to the importance of our breath. ... Color breathing. Ask your students to think of a relaxing color and another color that represents anger, frustration, or sadness. ... The five senses. ... Body scan. ... Breaktime bell. ... Daily gratitude.
What are 3 activities that promote being mindful?
These exercises are meant to transform everyday experiences into mindful moments.Gratitude list. Creating a gratitude list may help improve well-being and promote positivity by helping you focus on the things that you're grateful for. ... Walking meditation. ... Mindful driving. ... Single-tasking. ... Mindful eating. ... Mindful gardening.
What are the 7 principles of mindfulness?
Non-judging. Be an impartial witness to your own experience. ... Patience. A form of wisdom, patience demonstrates that we accept the fact that.Beginner's Mind. Remaining open and curious allows us to be receptive to new.Trust. Develop a basic trust with yourself and your feelings. ... Non-Striving. ... Acceptance. ... Letting Go.
What are the 4 mindfulness techniques?
Next time you find your mind racing with stress, try the acronym S.T.O.P.:S – Stop what you are doing, put things down for a minute.T – Take a breath. ... O – Observe your thoughts, feelings, and emotions. ... P – Proceed with something that will support you in the moment.
How do you teach students mindfulness?
Following are four ways to incorporate mindfulness into your curriculum and bring calm to your classroom.Mindfulness Through Breath. When we are stressed or anxious, we often take shallow breaths into our chests. ... Mindfulness Through Sensory Experiences. ... Mindfulness Through Guided Imagery. ... Mindfulness Through Movement.
What are some mindfulness questions?
20 Mindful Questions to Ask YourselfWhat makes me feel alive?What are my core values?How does anger/grief/anxiety/happiness present in my body?What is the fear beneath one of my surface fears?What choice or decision feels most authentic to me right now?At the end of my life, what will I hope to have experienced?More items...
How do you teach adolescent mindfulness?
Below are a collection of five suggestions that can help anyone trying to teach mindfulness to at-risk teens:Choose the right space. More on Mindfulness & Teens. ... Involve people they know. ... Build trust. ... Give them freedom to choose. ... Be flexible with the curriculum—within reason.
What is a good mindfulness activity?
Mindful moving, walking or running. While exercising, try focusing on the feeling of your body moving. If you go for a mindful walk, you might notice the breeze against your skin, the feeling of your feet or hands against different textures on the ground or nearby surfaces, and the different smells around you.
What are the 8 attitudes of mindfulness?
Once you begin to recognize the eight attitudes of mindfulness, it becomes much easier for you to put these attitudes of mindfulness — learner's mind, nonjudgmental, acknowledgment, settled, composed, letting be, self-reliant, and self-compassionate — in your activities and with other people.
What are the 3 steps of mindfulness?
MINDFULNESS: THE 3-STEP EXERCISE From positivepsychology.com & presented by Deidre DattoliStep 1: Step Out of Autopilot.Step 2: Become Aware of Your Breath.Step 3: Expand Your Awareness Outward.
What are the 4 core elements of mindfulness?
What are the Four Foundations of Mindfulness?mindfulness of the body,mindfulness of feelings,mindfulness of mind, and.mindfulness of Dhamma.
What are the 3 steps of mindfulness?
MINDFULNESS: THE 3-STEP EXERCISE From positivepsychology.com & presented by Deidre DattoliStep 1: Step Out of Autopilot.Step 2: Become Aware of Your Breath.Step 3: Expand Your Awareness Outward.
How do I start a mindfulness practice?
A Simple Meditation PracticeSit comfortably. ... Notice what your legs are doing. ... Straighten your upper body—but don't stiffen. ... Notice what your arms are doing. ... Soften your gaze. ... Feel your breath. ... Notice when your mind wanders from your breath. ... Be kind about your wandering mind.More items...
How do you create a daily mindfulness practice?
Fire up your five senses. One of the simplest ways of staying mindful is to bring your attention to the present moment. ... Focus on your breath. Another access point to bringing our attention to the moment is by focusing on our breath. ... Observe your thoughts. ... Mindful eating. ... Practice active listening. ... Observe your surroundings.
Why Should Middle School Students Practice Mindfulness?
There are a lot of difficult experiences that come along with being a middle schooler. It's a time in life when kids are going through a big transition: shifting from childhood into adolescence. Many middle school students face challenges like:
How to Get Middle School Students Into Mindfulness
Deciding to introduce your middle school students to mindfulness is a great first step. But getting their buy-in may be another thing altogether. How can you get middle school students excited about mindfulness?
3 Mindfulness Lesson Plans for Middle School Students
If you’re still feeling stuck on how to get started, here are 3 simple mindfulness lessons you can try with your middle school students. Remember to keep the above tips in mind, and present these lessons in the most engaging way possible.
How to teach mindfulness to middle schoolers?
If you’re looking to incorporate more mindfulness exercises into your middle school counseling toolbox, start slowly and small! Give them space to explore how mindfulness can actually benefit them. Use short, 5-minute or fewer activities to give them opportunities for success and to pique their interest. You don’t have to spend a whole, 30-45 minute lesson doing one activity! Mindfulness can easily be used as a warm up or wrap up to any classroom guidance or small group activity. Introduce your students to a wide variety of mindfulness exercises so they can find their perfect fit, whether it’s simple breathing, meditation, or more active practices.
How to introduce mindfulness to students?
When introducing the concept of mindfulness, I begin by having my students create a problem list. What are their stressors? What are the things causing turmoil in their lives right now? I ask them to be as specific as possible. Is it just homework in general or one specific assignment? What about that assignment is troubling? Is it hard to complete a project that large? Is it hard to work in a group? We go on like this for a while. As you can imagine, this list is often long!
What to use for guided painting?
Directed Painting. Grab some cardstock, watercolors, brushes, and straws for a guided painting activity. Students will use the brushes to drop paint on the paper and then will use the straws to blow the paint on the paper (hello, breathing exercise!).
How to teach students to not talk?
Go for a Nature Walk. Take your students on a nature walk. Remind them that they should not talk during the activity because you’ll give them cues throughout. Guide them through noticing things they see, what they smell, things they hear, and their own sensations and emotions as you walk.
How to teach kids to garden?
Work in a Garden. If you have a school garden or have the space to create even a small plot, do a gardening exercise. Let students sink their hands into the soil and help them notice the sensations they experience during the activity. They can also tune into smells and sounds while working in the garden.
What are the problems students identify?
Students identify problems like interpersonal conflict, feeling stressed by schoolwork, being overwhelmed by responsibilities and extracurricular activities, feeling like they don’t fit it, and the list goes on.
How to teach mindfulness in the classroom?
Consider a designated day or time in the classroom, or even time of year, to introduce mindfulness in the classroom and then follow up with the skills on a consistent basis (e.g. weekly, monthly, before big assignments). And as with any unit, collaborating with colleagues on your classroom approach to mindfulness will help with consistency, as well.
How many weeks of mindfulness for middle schoolers?
Mindfulness made easy for middle schoolers! Four weeks of activities to easily add mindfulness to your school curriculum from sixth to eighth grade! This done-for-you workbook will provide you with daily activities to help middle schoolers find quietude, calm, and focus in the midst of their otherwise-busy day.
What are some good ideas for mindfulness posters?
VISUALS. Posters are very helpful when incorporating mindfulness into the classroom. Ideas for posters include: Voluntary breathing tips and practices (e.g. Inhale, 1, 2, 3/Exhale, 3, 2, 1) Yoga poses for the classroom. Pictures of tranquil places, such as the mountains, beach, etc.
How many mindfulness cards are there?
Download these 60 digital cards to bring simple mindfulness practices to your home, classroom, or studio. Includes an index card, mindfulness activity tips, 25 Mindfulness cards with illustrations, and 25 corresponding description cards.
What are some yoga poses that students can practice safely and comfortably in the classroom?
Simple balance poses such as mountain or tree pose, chair poses, and voluntary breathing exercises can be done right at the desk. A short sequence of yoga poses could also be done in an open space in the classroom, if you have it.
How to help kids breathe?
Help your children feel calm and focused with breathing exercises like Balloon Breath, Bee Breath, and Bunny Breath. Download these Breathing Exercise Cards (66 cards in total) to use in your home, classroom, or studio. Index, Breathing Exercise Tips, and Breath Instructions are included. Recommended ages: 4+.
How to calm students during a stressful time?
Guide students through voluntary breathing exercises to calm their thoughts and/or relax their muscles. Even just giving students a chance to relax their jaws and shoulders at their desks can relieve tension and stress! Consider reading a guided meditation script or finding a recorded guided relaxation. This is a great tool to use before or after a big assignment or during a stressful time of year.
How does mindfulness affect school?
When teaching mindfulness is accepted and embraced, it can change the tone and tenor of an entire school, or district. In 2008, the South Burlington, Vermont, school district began an effort to train teachers and students, using the Inner Resilience program for younger grades, and the Learning to Breathe program for older ones. For two years, almost 130 teachers volunteered to take the mindfulness training, and the program continued to grow and expand more deliberately to include cafeteria staff and bus drivers, totaling 170 trainees.
Why is mindfulness important in the classroom?
Research shows that mindfulness skills improve memory, organizational skills, reading and math scores, all while giving kids the tools they need to handle toxic stress. Read More. Michelle Kinder. January 25, 2017.
How long is the mindfulness class at Brown?
Brown has brought mindfulness into his school on multiple levels, including a semester-long elective that meets twice a week for 10 th, 11 th, and 12 th graders (and fulfills an academic requirement), an intensive eight-week course, a mindful movement class, parent workshops, and soon, a faculty cohort.
How much more social behaviors do mindfulness students have?
Compared to the students who learned the social responsibility program, those trained in mindfulness scored higher in math, had 24% more social behaviors, and were 20% less aggressive.
When did Terrizzi begin teaching mindfulness?
Once she completed her yearlong mindful educator certification in 2014, Terrizzi began to incorporate mindfulness into the library curriculum. Each week when the teachers dropped off their students at the library, Terrizzi would teach a mindfulness lesson, routinely beginning the library class with ringing a chime and mindful listening. “I expected the kids to be resistant but they weren’t and it slowly began to change the tone of the whole school,” she said.
When did Slade come to mindfulness?
Slade came to mindfulness on her own about 10 years ago , and after seeing the benefits in her own life, she started experimenting in the classroom with practices that used breathing and mindful listening. “As I became more knowledgeable, experimenting and seeing what was working, I was really impressed,” she said.
Who collects quotes from children who share their experiences with mindfulness?
Terrizzi collects quotes from the children who share their experiences with mindfulness, and hopes to turn them into a book one day. “Before I started the mindfulness training, I had severe burnout and was completely drained,” said Terrizzi. “The content and perspectives I learned changed everything, and re-enlivened my approach to children and education.”
