My students are in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade & have Special Needs. Their social, emotional and academic needs and abilities vary but 1 thing they have in common are their genuine hearts & desire to make more friends.
We practice social pragmatics everyday and the skills that help us stay happy, calm & focused.
We found that mindfulness, meditation & yoga help us & we want to invite other kids in the school to join us! My students would love to invite more classmates to join us so they have more opportunities to interact and connect with their peers in a different way. Just because they may not read on the same level, does not mean they may not share other things in common. My students are so special because everyday they continue to try to have friendly interactions with classmates, even if they aren't always received nicely. This was a great idea they had in hopes to welcome friends into our room and to expand the perception and mindset of the general education population within our building.
My Project
We are hoping to have yoga mats donated so that the students are able to have a comfortable and relaxing place to practice their breathing, yoga and meditation skills. The yoga mats will be used by my students and the gen. ed. population one period a day during Study Hall.
Launching this project for general education students to interact with my special education students in a fun and easy-going environment.
My hope is initiative will help to erase the negative stigma my classroom has as a 'special room' for 'special kids'.
During a school-wide character ed activity, it became clear that many of the students enjoy yoga and meditation. My students already participate in these activities daily, so we brainstormed that holding a class period for it would include other students.
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