I am the Resource Room teacher for my school and have all classifed students with special needs. I teach a variety of learners from different economic backgrounds and family lives. With their learning abilities far below the learning expectations for their peers, a school day is not simply reading and math. My students need more than just the academics; they need to learn how to be in control over their own bodies and brains. Mindfulness training will teach my children how to have Self-Awareness. I want my students to be able to recognize their own feelings and thoughts and then notice the impact that their feelings and thoughts make on their own behavior. My sweet and loving students are willing to learn and persevere when they are in the comfort of my resource room classroom; I want them to be able to generalize these social and emotional skills outside of my classroom and in the real world.
My Project
My learners within my Resource Room need to focus, but do not have the tools to do so. When focus is lost, there is little academic growth to be had. Additionally, when a learner loses their focus, I tend to see more negative, behavioral responses. The social and emotional skills of coping with the stress of academics and the ability to regain our focus is critical to be learned at an early age. Many adults mature and still do not fully understand what it means to "Focus" and how to gain control of their own bodies.
I will be teaching my students Yoga and Mindfulness practices that will help them learn 1: How to Focus, 2: How to use Breathing to regulate their emotions 3: How to use movement to regain control over their own bodies.
We will need Yoga Mats to help us understand personal space while using our bodies during our Yoga and Mindfulness practices. Our Mats will also keep our bodies off of the ground during many of these practices for both comfort and hygiene purposes. The Yoga Blocks will be props for enlongating the limbs of our bodies to assist the varying sizes of students that will be participating. Blocks are also used as a prop that helps with balance, a skill that requires Gross Motor skill maturation. Great Yoga and Mindfulness books will help my students make text-to-self connections with the characters who learn lessons of mindfulness; my hope is for my students to apply these lessons in real-life!
These tools will greatly help us routinely practice the important skills of Mindfulness, Focus, Patience, Balance, Reflection, and Vulnerability -- goals that we should all work towards still as adults!
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