Mindful Teaching: Incorporating Mindfulness Practices into Your Teaching Routine

Teaching is an incredibly demanding profession. It's understandable that teachers often feel stressed and overwhelmed, struggling to manage challenging student behaviors and meeting administrative expectations.

The good news is that mindfulness practices offer teachers an effective way to cultivate inner resilience, manage stress, and create a more focused, compassionate classroom environment.

In this comprehensive guide, you'll discover the research behind mindfulness in education, including evidence of its benefits for students and teachers. You'll also find practical strategies to incorporate mindfulness into your own teaching routine and classroom, from morning mindfulness resets to mindful lesson plans. Finally, you'll get recommendations for top mindfulness programs and curricula to bring more peace and focus into your school.

The Power of Mindful Teaching

Mindful teaching incorporates mindfulness practices into the classroom to help students better manage stress and anxiety, improve focus, and enhance academic performance. Research increasingly supports these benefits - a recent review found mindfulness training improves cognitive outcomes, social skills, resilience, and self-regulation. The American Academy of Pediatrics even suggested mindfulness could belong in every classroom.

Why Mindfulness Belongs in the Classroom

Mindfulness training develops present moment awareness, helping students regulate emotions, reduce reactivity, and build resilience. Benefits span inattention, anxiety, trauma, and more. As one study put it: mindfulness may "buffer the effects of adversity on children's development".

Simple practices like mindful breathing teach focus, calm, and self-management. Skills then transfer to learning and behavior. Mindfulness also enhances teacher wellbeing and classroom climate. No wonder leading medical groups endorse classroom mindfulness.

Free Mindfulness Training for Teachers: A Starting Point

Programs like Mindful Schools and Learning to Breathe offer free online mindfulness training for educators. These evidence-based courses teach foundations then help implement classroom mindfulness.

Start simply - brief, informal practices build student familiarity. Focused breathing, gratitude journaling, mindful sensing activities - many options exist. Regular practice is key, even starting with just 5 minutes a day. Build from there based on student receptiveness and engagement.

Mindfulness in Schools Research: Evidence of Effectiveness

Robust research demonstrates mindfulness positively impacts students. Meta-analyses find medium to large effects on cognitive performance, resilience, relationships and more. Studies span all ages - from preschoolers to high schoolers.

Specific program evidence is also compelling. For example, studies show MindUp boosts math grades, attention, empathy, optimism and aggression control. Similarly, clinical trials find Still Quiet Place reduces anxiety, emotional distress, and behavioral incidents.

As research mounts, leading institutions increasingly recognize the role of mindfulness in education.

The Connection to Religion: Addressing Concerns

Mindfulness itself is not religious - it focuses on present moment awareness without doctrine. However, some practices originate from Buddhism, causing confusion. Address concerns by emphasizing secular mindfulness simply trains attention and emotional skills. No spiritual or religious component need apply.

Evidence clearly demonstrates benefits across religious backgrounds. For example, mindfulness reduces anxiety and boosts cognition similarly in Christian and non-Christian children. Just focus practices on secular skills like focus, resilience and self-regulation.

In summary, mindfulness in education powerfully fosters student outcomes. Start simply, evaluate receptiveness, and build from there.

How do you incorporate mindfulness into the classroom?

Incorporating mindfulness practices into the classroom can have tremendous benefits for both students and teachers. Here are some highly effective contemplative activities you can use:

Guided Meditation

Guided meditation helps students calm their minds and focus on the present moment. Even just a few minutes of meditation at the start or end of class can center students and prepare them for learning. There are many free apps and YouTube videos offering kid-friendly meditations.

Breathing Exercises

Simple breathing exercises teach students techniques to self-regulate emotions and reduce stress. Have students slowly inhale through their nose while counting to five, hold for two counts, then exhale slowly for 5 counts. Just a minute or two of conscious breathing can relax the nervous system.

Listening

Practice deep listening skills by having students close their eyes and tune into subtle sounds around them for 30-60 seconds. Then have them describe what they heard to a partner. This sharpens focus and builds sensory awareness.

Journaling

Journaling encourages students to tap into inner wisdom. Prompt them to write freely about emotions, gratitude, or hopes. Creative writing enables self-expression and self-awareness.

Integrating brief, positive contemplative practices into the school day lays the foundation for mindful living. Through repetition, these simple, secular techniques can have profound impacts on wellbeing over time.

How can you incorporate mindfulness into your regular routines?

Here are some simple ways to incorporate mindfulness into your daily teaching routine:

Start the day with a mindful moment

Set aside 5-10 minutes at the beginning of each day to practice mindfulness with your students. This can be a focused breathing exercise, body scan meditation, or simply sitting in silence. Starting the day grounded in the present moment sets a calmer tone for learning.

Practice mindful transitions

The time between activities is the perfect opportunity to take a mindful pause. You can use a chime or singing bowl to cue students to take a few deep breaths before moving on. This allows students to fully disengage from the last activity and be more focused for the next.

Integrate short practices throughout lessons

Even one minute of mindful breathing during a lesson can help students concentrate better afterwards. You can also try mindful listening exercises focused on specific sounds that tie into what you’re teaching. Integrating these quick yet powerful practices throughout the day is an easy way to cultivate mindfulness.

End each day reflecting

Having students reflect at the end of the day on what they learned, how they felt, or what they’re grateful for allows them to process the day's events mindfully. Journalling or discussing as a class helps students gain self-awareness and perspective. This reflection time enables them to let go of any struggles and end the day positively.

Starting small with brief yet consistent mindfulness practices builds the foundation for a more mindful learning environment. With time, you’ll notice improvements in students’ focus, self-regulation, and overall wellbeing.

How do you incorporate mindfulness into work?

Here are some effective ways to incorporate mindfulness into your work routine as a teacher:

Be Present

Make a conscious effort to be fully present in the moment when interacting with students. Notice your thoughts and emotions without judgment and refocus your attention on the student in front of you. This builds stronger connections.

Practice Brief Meditations

Take just 1-2 minutes during your break to practice mindfulness. You can do a simple breathing exercise or body scan meditation to relieve stress. These short practices keep you centered.

Single Task

Avoid multitasking as much as possible. When you single task you can devote your full attention and be more present, productive and less stressed.

Use Reminders

Set reminders on your phone, computer or post sticky notes that say “Breathe” or “Be Present” to remind you to practice mindfulness throughout the day.

Slow Down

Rushing through tasks can overload the mind and body. When possible, slow down and fully focus on one task at a time without hurry. This promotes mental clarity and efficiency.

Reframe Stress

See workplace stress as helpful energy you can harness to teach more effectively with focus and presence. Reframing perspectives can empower you.

Find Gratitude

Take a moment to mentally recognize things you are grateful for about your job, students, coworkers. This positive outlook boosts resilience.

Practice Humility

Remember that every person and situation has an opportunity for growth and learning. Maintain humility and an open, patient mindset.

Is mindfulness a practice that should be incorporated into the school day?

Mindfulness practices can provide significant benefits for both students and teachers when incorporated appropriately into the school day.

Research shows that mindfulness in the classroom can:

Improve students' focus, self-regulation, resilience, and academic performance
Reduce stress, anxiety, and behavior issues
Teach valuable life skills like empathy, gratitude, and awareness

The American Academy of Pediatrics and organizations like Mindful Schools recommend mindfulness in moderation as part of a comprehensive approach to supporting students.

Recent research does suggest mindfulness should not replace evidence-based interventions, or be implemented without proper training and consent. Allowing students quiet time for self-directed mindfulness can be beneficial. However, forced participation or overemphasis risks harming vulnerable students.

In summary, when applied judiciously alongside social-emotional learning and trauma-informed best practices, mindfulness can absolutely enrich the school day. But restraint is warranted to avoid overstepping student/family boundaries or detracting from core academics.

Implementing Mindfulness Practices into Your Teaching Routine

Teachers have incredibly demanding jobs. Between lesson planning, grading, meetings, and actually teaching, there often seems to be little time left to pause and recenter. However, incorporating small mindfulness practices into your daily teaching routine can have profound benefits for both you and your students.

Morning Mindfulness Routines: Setting the Tone for the Day

Starting your day with intention helps ground you in the present moment before the busyness of the school day pulls you in many directions.

Begin with 5-10 minutes of mindful breathing or meditation to become fully present. Apps like Calm or Insight Timer have free guided practices.
While drinking your morning coffee or tea, pause to savor the aroma and flavor.
On your commute, turn off screens and music and simply observe your surroundings.
When you arrive at school, take a quiet walk around the building and grounds before the students enter. Notice how this shifts your mindset.

By cultivating beginner's mind, you can approach even familiar routines with fresh eyes. This plants the seeds of mindfulness that blossom through the rest of your day.

Taking Mindful Breaks: Strategies for In-Classroom Stress Management

The demands of teaching often lead to stress and exhaustion. Taking short mindful breaks builds resilience by allowing your nervous system to reset and return to equilibrium.

Between classes or lessons, lead students in a 1-minute mindful breathing exercise. Have them rest their hands on their desks and focus on the rise and fall of their breath.
Use movement or stretching breaks to discharge pent-up energy. YouTube has free classroom-friendly yoga and mindfulness videos.
When tensions rise, have students close their eyes and visualize their favorite peaceful place. Guide them to conjure the sights, sounds, smells and sensations of this calming environment.

Weaving these micro-practices throughout your day maintains presence and emotional balance for both you and your students, supporting effective teaching and learning.

After-School Mindfulness Practices: Reflecting and Recharging

The school day often ends in a blur of papers to grade and meetings to attend. Counteract this frenzy by building in time for reflection and self-care.

After students leave, pause to appreciate any small successes from your day, however humble. This positive outlook boosts teaching satisfaction.
Tend to your own basic needs - eat a nourishing snack, hydrate, use the restroom, and move your body before tackling work tasks.
When lesson planning or grading, build in a 5-minute mindful breathing break every 25 minutes. Set a timer to maintain this rhythm.
Close your eyes and bring non-judgmental awareness to any difficult interactions from the day, then consciously release these burdens.

Establishing these reflective rhythms keeps you energized, focused and compassionate.

Mindfulness Lesson Plan: Structuring a Mindful Curriculum

Teaching mindfulness equips students with emotional intelligence, attention, resilience, and social skills that serve them in the classroom and beyond.

Start small with 5-minute mindfulness sessions 2-3 times per week. Apps like Calm Kids have engaging guided practices.
Teach focused breathing by having students imagine bubbles or a balloon inflating in their bellies as they inhale and deflate as they exhale.
Use visualizations to build concentration. Have students picture pleasant scenes like beach vacations as you guide them to engage all five senses.
Practice mindful listening by playing a song or nature sounds and having students close their eyes and focus intently on what they hear.

Integrating these micro-lessons lays the foundation for longer formal mindfulness practices. Building these skills over time can profoundly benefit students’ wellbeing and academic performance.

By weaving mindfulness through your own daily teaching routine and formally teaching it to students, you plant seeds that support presence, resilience and compassion for all.

Bringing Mindfulness into the Classroom

Teaching Mindfulness to Students: Techniques and Resources

Incorporating mindfulness practices into the classroom can have tremendous benefits for students, including reduced stress and anxiety, improved focus, and enhanced academic performance. Teachers have a variety of techniques and resources at their disposal to teach mindfulness.

Some ideas to try:

Start each class with a short mindfulness exercise like mindful breathing or a body scan meditation. Just one minute of practice can help students calm down and focus their attention. Apps like Calm for Kids have great guided meditations.
Use visual cues like glitter jars or sand timers to help students practice mindfulness. Have them watch the glitter settle or sand fall while taking some deep breaths.
Try yoga cards or GoNoodle videos that get kids moving mindfully during academic lessons or as brain breaks. Simple poses paired with breathing build body awareness.
Read inspiring picture books about mindfulness like "Master of Mindfulness" or "Listening to My Body" and discuss the concepts.
Practice mindfulness during routine activities like eating snack, walking in line, or packing up to go home.

Excellent free resources are available from organizations like Mindful Schools, Learning to Breathe, and MindUp. Grants may also help fund mindfulness curriculum and teacher training. Start small by picking one technique at a time until mindfulness becomes a classroom habit!

Creating a Mindful Classroom Environment with Inner Resilience

Promoting inner resilience in the classroom begins with modeling self-care and emotional awareness as a teacher. Create a space that feels safe, welcoming, and supportive for all students.

Some ideas for building a mindfulness-based classroom culture:

Display affirming messages about feelings, growth mindset, and kindness on your walls or whiteboard. Change them regularly.
Incorporate community-building circles where students take mindful listening turns sharing stories or ideas.
Teach students mindfulness vocabulary including emotions, stress responses, and coping strategies.
Role model positive self-talk, breathing exercises, movement breaks, and other resilience tools for handling difficult emotions.
Use a feelings chart, emotions meter, or mood check-in to help students identify and express their inner experiences.
Validate all feelings non-judgmentally, then guide students to healthy regulation strategies like self-hugging, counting breaths, or taking a walk.
Allow flexibility for movement breaks, fidget tools, or calming corners so students can tune into their individual needs.

Giving students the space to recognize and adjust their feelings, as well as see their teachers model vulnerability, builds crucial lifelong resilience. Inner awareness is the first step!

Managing Challenging Behaviors Mindfully: Insights from "Breaking the Behavior Code"

When students act out with challenging behaviors, it often represents lagging cognitive skills, not willful disobedience. Dr. Nancy Rappaport's book "Breaking the Behavior Code" reveals how behaviors link to developmental deficits in flexibility, frustration tolerance, problem-solving, and more.

Mindful, compassionate strategies for managing behavioral issues include:

See the child's goodness while setting limits on inappropriate actions. Separate deed from doer.
Get curious, not furious! Ask why they are acting this way and what they are feeling. Listen openly.
Validate their emotions and frustrations even if the behavior was unacceptable. "I see you were really angry when...I get angry sometimes too."
Remain calm and model stress management. Breathe deeply or take a break if needed. Reassure them you are there to help.
Collaborate on solutions. "What could we try next time instead of yelling?" Role play alternate reactions.
Adjust classroom factors that may be triggering issues. Assess noise, lighting, scheduling, social dynamics, lesson pacing, and individual needs.
Keep consequences logical, consistent and discreet. Reintegrate them back into class community.
Offer encouragement often! "I appreciate how hard you are trying even when it's difficult."

With empathy, insight, and mindfulness, teachers can turn disciplinary issues into opportunities to teach vital emotional intelligence and self-regulation skills.

Mindfulness in the Classroom Video: Engaging Visual Aids

Videos can be incredibly engaging mindfulness aids to show students what mindful awareness looks, feels, and sounds like. Try these creative clips:

"Still Quiet Place" Mindfulness Animation Beautifully animated, this 7-minute video guides viewers young and old to practice mindful breathing, body scanning, emotional awareness, and focus. The soothing narration and imagery teach mindfulness in an accessible, inviting way.

GoZen Mindfulness Video Series
These short 1-3 minute videos use fun animation and kid-friendly themes like monkey mind, balloon breath, and heartfulness to explain mindfulness concepts. Bite-sized lessons make practicing attention muscles easy and entertaining!

A Still Quiet Place for Kids
This stunning PBS film follows a group of students as they learn mindfulness at school. Seeing other children move mindfully, interact compassionately, and explain mindfulness vocabulary makes the practices highly relatable.

Mindful Moment Series
Brief 30 second clips demonstrate quick mindfulness exercises for the classroom like mindful listening, noticing emotions, anchor words, and more. These vivid video snippets inspire kids to weave mindfulness into daily activities.

Choose videos that fit your student age group and curriculum goals. Ask reflection questions or try the practices yourselves after viewing. Let these engaging visual tools instill the incredible value of mindfulness through sight, sound and motion!

Building Support for Mindfulness in Schools

Getting Admin & Parent Buy-In: Presenting the Case for Mindfulness

Gaining support from school administration and parents is key for implementing mindfulness practices in the classroom. Here are some tips:

Highlight research showing mindfulness improves focus, academic performance, and behavior in students. Share specific statistics.
Explain how mindfulness reduces anxiety, boosts social skills, and builds resilience - outcomes all stakeholders want.
Assure mindfulness is secular and accessible for all students, regardless of background. It simply teaches self-awareness, self-regulation, and focus.
Start small with a pilot program for gauging receptiveness. Once positive impacts emerge, expansion across grades and classes will be easier.

Connecting with Other Mindful Educators in the Mindful Schools Network

Connecting with other educators already using mindfulness delivers support. The Mindful Schools network provides:

Mindfulness training specifically designed for teachers' needs.
Lesson plans for integrating mindfulness into classrooms.
An educator community for collaborating and sharing best practices.
Mindfulness education conferences for continued development.

Leveraging these resources accelerates your own mindfulness teaching journey.

How to Implement Mindfulness in Schools: A Comprehensive Guide

A phased, structured approach works best for bringing mindfulness into schools:

1. Assess needs and readiness: Survey students, educators, admin, and parents to gauge needs and receptiveness.

2. Design initial rollout: Start small with a pilot group for testing impact. Outline mindfulness curriculum and needed resources.

3. Equip educators: Provide core staff training in mindfulness practices and teaching methodology. Leverage external partners if needed.

4. Gather buy-in: Present pilot results to leadership and community, highlighting benefits. Use data to spur engagement.

5. Expand program: With buy-in secured, extend formal mindfulness instruction across grades. Infuse informal practices schoolwide.

6. Refine and sustain: Continue iterating, enhancing teacher training, assessing impact, communicating wins, and realigning as needed.

This measured approach allows mindfulness programs to demonstrate value early before scaling successfully.

Mindfulness in the Classroom Articles and Resources for Further Reading

To continue building your mindfulness teaching skills, some excellent articles and resources include:

Two Simple Mindfulness Practices For Back-To-School
A Mindfulness Practice for Stressed-Out Parents
How to Create a Glitter Jar for Kids
Mindfulness in Education Research Highlights from Mindful Schools
Mindful Teachers Community Forum

These are great for continuing your own mindfulness learning and sharing with other mindful educators.

Mindfulness Programs and Curricula

Learning to Breathe: A Mindfulness Curriculum for Adolescents

Learning to Breathe is an evidence-based mindfulness curriculum specifically designed for adolescents. It aims to help teens manage stress and emotions, gain focus, and improve academic performance. The curriculum consists of 6 sessions that teach core mindfulness skills like breath awareness, body scanning, and recognizing thoughts. Research has found Learning to Breathe improves adolescents' mindfulness, resilience, and social-emotional competence.

MindUp and Still Quiet Place: Programs for Younger Students

MindUp and Still Quiet Place are two popular mindfulness programs for elementary school students. MindUp consists of 15 lessons that teach students about brain science, mindful breathing, sensory awareness, perspective-taking, and expressing gratitude. Still Quiet Place focuses more narrowly on breathing techniques and sensory exercises to help students self-regulate behavior and emotions. Both programs have been shown to reduce anxiety and aggression while improving focus, social skills, and academic performance in young children.

CARE for Teachers: Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education

The CARE (Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education) program specifically targets teacher wellness through mindfulness. It provides online and in-person mindfulness training for educators on practices like mindful breathing, movement, listening, and self-compassion. Research shows CARE improves teachers' ability to manage stress, build resilience, and cultivate caring, reflective classrooms. Many schools now offer CARE as professional development to prevent teacher burnout.

The Kindness Curriculum uses stories, writing exercises, and role-playing activities to teach elementary school students prosocial behaviors like empathy, compassion, and gratitude. Combined with mindfulness practices like breathwork and movement, it aims to improve children's focus, self-regulation, social skills, and peer relationships. Studies show schools implementing the Kindness Curriculum see increased positive social interactions and reduced peer rejection.

Mindfulness for Special Populations in Educational Settings

Supporting Students with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Through Mindfulness

Mindfulness practices can provide valuable support for students with attention and behavioral challenges like ADHD and autism spectrum disorders. By cultivating self-awareness, focus, and self-regulation, mindfulness helps students manage symptoms and build resilience.

Teachers can use mindfulness techniques to help students with ADHD strengthen attention and executive functioning. Simple breathing, sensory awareness, and focus exercises teach students to direct their attention intentionally. This improves concentration, impulse control, and task initiation. Teachers may also use mindfulness cues like bells, chimes or verbal reminders to orient students' attention during activities.

For students on the autism spectrum, mindfulness facilitates self-regulation of emotions and behaviors. Movement-based practices like mindful walking or yoga help students regulate sensory needs. Mindfulness scripts, videos, and visual aids can make abstract concepts more concrete. Routines with predictable sequences also aid self-regulation. Teachers should offer alternate options to accommodate sensory sensitivities.

With patience and adaptation, mindfulness gives these students tools to navigate daily challenges. By integrating practices into instruction, transitions and break times, teachers can nurture self-awareness and resilience.

Addressing Trauma: Mindfulness as a Tool for Self-Regulation

Childhood trauma impacts learning, behavior and relationships. Mindfulness helps students regulate emotions, manage distress, and build resilience.

Teachers can incorporate mindfulness into routines to help students feel safe and grounded. Practices like mindful breathing, movement, or listening focus attention on the present moment, instead of trauma triggers. This reduces anxiety and reactive behaviors. Teachers should use invitational language, letting students determine their own level of participation.

By practicing self-awareness and self-care, mindfulness also nurtures students' inner resources. Self-compassion practices teach students to care for themselves in difficult moments. Gratitude practices remind them of inner strengths and external supports. Over time, mindfulness cultivates resilience.

Teachers should also strive to create a compassionate classroom culture. Using mindfulness for personal stress reduction enables more empathic, attuned interactions. Simple awareness of tone and body language prevents students from feeling judged or shamed. This provides a healing environment for trauma recovery.

Mindfulness and Resilience: Building Capacity in Stressed Teens

Many teens today face intense academic, social and emotional demands. Mindfulness practices build resilience to navigate stress.

Focused breathing, body scans and sensory exercises train attention and awareness. As students tune into momentary experiences, they learn to self-regulate thoughts, emotions and behaviors. This reduces reactivity and builds resilience over time.

Mindfulness also emphasizes self-care and renewal. Teachers can incorporate brief pauses for movement or stretching between tasks. Longer practices like mindful walking, yoga, or listening build in time to decompress. Students also benefit from keeping gratitude journals, self-compassion exercises and relaxation techniques.

By caring for mental health, teens gain capacity to handle challenges. Mindfulness provides tools to monitor stress levels, avoid depletion and renew inner resources. With resilient mindsets, teens can thrive amidst life’s ups and downs.

Yoga and Meditation: Complementary Practices for Mindfulness in Education

Yoga and meditation complement mindfulness curricula with embodied practices. Yoga combines physical postures, breathwork and mindfulness. Meditation trains focused attention and awareness.

In classrooms, yoga energizes or calms students as needed. Sequences can activate and engage; slower postures and savasana relax. Matching practices to energy levels optimizes attention and learning readiness.

Teachers can also use meditation to train focus. Mindful listening, visualization, mantra repetition or object focus teach students to redirect wandering minds. Over time, these concentration practices strengthen attention, memory and learning capacity.

Both yoga and meditation also reduce stress. As students learn to regulate body, breath and mind, they build resilience to anxiety. Teachers may incorporate yoga-based movement or meditation breaks between tasks or testing.

By integrating yoga and meditation into mindfulness programs, schools provide tools for self-awareness and self-care. Students gain skills to support mental and emotional wellbeing amidst daily pressures. These embodied practices sow seeds of lifelong health.

Conclusion: Embracing Mindfulness for a More Focused and Compassionate Classroom

Incorporating mindfulness practices into the school day can have profound benefits for both students and teachers. The research shows that mindfulness boosts focus, self-regulation, resilience, and compassion. It also reduces stress and anxiety. With so many proven advantages, bringing mindfulness into education simply makes sense.

Teachers can easily integrate short mindfulness activities into daily routines. This allows the whole class to reset, refocus, and reconnect with the present moment. Over time, these simple practices cultivate the life-long skills students need to handle life's challenges with more ease.

Remember the Good Things: Celebrating Mindfulness Successes

Keep a journal to record positive outcomes from mindfulness practices. Refer back to it whenever you or your students need inspiration.
Verbally acknowledge mindfulness successes. Express appreciation for students embracing the techniques.
Set group goals and reward progress. This could be additional recess time or a class party.
Share results with parents and administrators to garner more support.

Two Simple Mindfulness Practices for Back-to-School

Morning Mindful Minute

Ring a chime and have students pause to take three deep breaths together.
Ask them to set a positive intention for the day.

Brain Breaks

Play calming music for 2-3 minutes during lessons. Have students do mindful coloring or deep breathing.

Mindful Kids Practice: Coming Back to the Positive

This activity helps students reconnect with hopeful thoughts.

Close your eyes and remember a time you felt happy, appreciated, or proud.
Focus on the positive emotions you felt in that moment.
Silently wish for that feeling to arise again today.

A Mindfulness Practice for Stressed-Out Parents: The Glitter Jar

Making a glitter jar offers a soothing visual for stressful moments.

Add warm water and glue to a jar. Mix in glitter glue or glitter flakes.
Screw the lid on tightly and shake the jar to see the glitter swirl.
When stressed, shake the jar and watch the glitter settle. This represents the mind calming.

Embracing mindfulness, even in small ways, allows students and teachers to flourish. The benefits ripple out beyond the classroom into the whole school community.