Mindfulness Meditation for Teachers & Parents

One thing I've struggled with over the years, both as a teacher and as a parent, is having the courage and energy to continue giving to my students.  I could go on and on about this, as I'm sure most of you can, but I'd rather share with you what helps me survive.  

What keeps me from throwing my children out the window is mindfulness meditation.  To me, the practice of mindfulness means being truly present in this moment.  This is especially important when you hear your four-year old say "Stop controlling me!" or your six-year-old purposefully ignores everything you say.  Before I react to their behavior, I try to take a look at what they need at the present moment - lately, they've been screaming for control.  Of course, this doesn't always work.  I'm human, too.  That's why it's important to remember that meditation is a practice;  it takes practice and work.

To be mindful is to be truly alive, present and at one with those around you and with what you are doing. We bring our body and mind into harmony while we wash the dishes, drive the car or take our morning shower. (from http://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/)

HELPFUL SOURCES TO HELP YOU PRACTICE

http://www.meditationoasis.com/

The free Meditation Oasis  podcast has been very helpful.  Their podcasts are guided meditations on a large number of topics.  I've especially enjoyed a podcast on "Deep Rest"  and the "Sleep Meditation for Children" has helped my kids settle down at the end of a long day.

UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center has free meditations for download on itunes.  Find the link to them here.

www.dharma.org

Insight Meditation Society is a retreat center in Massachusetts, but their site has a number of helpful pages including a page of outside resources for how to find meditation retreats, centers, and communities.  Another page is a great reading list of respected authors to learn more about meditation.  Although the IMS instructs from the Buddha's teachings, their focus is more universal.

http://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/

Another retreat center that is a great resource is the Plum Village Community.  It was founded by Zen-Master Thích Nhất Hạnh,  who I have come to admire. 

Thich Nhat Hanh is the author of many books on meditation, including a mindfulness book for working with children that I love:  Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness With Children.  

I am also VERY EXCITED to learn about a book for teachers called Everybody Present.  Find an article written about this book here from Mindful Magazine.

by Molly Hahn of www.buddhadoodles.com

I'll be adding this post to the linky party the teachers over at Blog Hoppin are sponsoring this week.  Please also feel free to leave comments with other helpful sources below. 

Thanks, Rosanna

Blog Hoppin Counter Hints

My friends over at Blog Hoppin are sponsoring a fantastic linky.  You can go and visit it here.



Each day this week, teachers will be posting helpful hints, time-savers, etc.  I love what they have posted so far and I know I'll be checking in all week to see what ideas people share.  Here's my little helpful hint about collecting counters and manipulatives for math activities.

1.  Rob your children.  That's right.  If you are teaching about  transportation and your child has 50 matchbox cars, grab them.  Veterans' Day?  Steal those green plastic army soldiers for a week.

Plastic Dinos Shamelessly Stolen

2.  Visit the party isle of your local Target or Dollar store.  My favorite thing to buy lately are boxes of "Table Scatter" I can find in Target's dollar area.  For $1 you can find seasonal objects that supposedly rational people use to decorate tables at a party.  Most of these look like jewels, which will coax any child to a math center.  Check out the images I found with a google search here.

Leaf-shaped Table Scatter

Scatter Used as Counters to Demonstrate Odd & Even

 3. Finally, go outside.  Some of the best manipulatives I've used have been found on the ground.  Go for a walk and gather acorns.  Have your students search for the most beautiful pebbles they have ever seen.  Have a friend bring back shells from a trip to the beach.

4.  As a last resort, print out pictures.  Find these St. Patrick's Day counters and number cards for FREE at my store on TPT here.   Here is a shameless plug for another product with more seasonal picture counters on TPT:   click here

St. Patrick's Day Counters

Dinosaurs in Denver

Tyrannosaurus Rex at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

 Denver is such a wonderful place to study prehistoric life.  With museums and excavation sites in the immediate area, Jr. paleontologists-in-training can immerse themselves in study.  

Trilobite Fossil at DMNS

 At the Denver Museum of Nature and Science Pumpkin and Little Dude were able to follow Earth's story from the beginning of life in the seas... 

Beautiful Fossilized Crinoids

...to the Cretaceous where Allosaurus attacks the Stegosaurus and Duck-billed dinos roamed...

Hadrosaur (Duck-billed)

 to the extinction of the dinosaurs and the development of mammals...

The Kids Impressed with an Entelodont

And on to the Ice Age!  There were a number of fossils from the Ice Age.  The highlight was seeing volunteers at the Lab working to uncover the tusk of a mastodon.

Mammoths!

Viewing the Lab at Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Although smaller, the Morrison Natural History Museum nearby is a real gem.  Their website spoke of the hands-on nature of this museum, but falls short of describing how interactive it really is.

Little Dude and a T-Rex

 Little Dude and Pumpkin were able to interact with everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. They could touch all of the fossils and fossil casts to explore how dinosaurs and other pre-historic creatures were like.  

T-Rex Forearm

Allosaur Skull

Allosaur Leg

Footprints!

Footprints of Apatosaurus

Apatosaurus Baby Footprints

The absolute highlight of the visit was the opportunity to view and help work on uncovering an Apatosaurus skull (His name was Kevin, as Pumpkin reminds me).  Yes - I said they WORKED ON this real fossil.  

Apatosaurus Skull in Sandstone

This tool chips away the sandstone.

Handing Over Tools

Pumpkin and the Milksnake

Feeding time at the museum.  They had a number of reptiles and amphibians that have lived in the area for millions of years.  The kids watched the volunteers feed and care for them and even got to touch a couple.

Mammoth Skull & Tusks

Sabertooth Skull

Sloth Skull

Mammoth Tooth

Pterrasaur 

Ammonite

One other lucky thing about our visit was that we were able to speak with  Dr. Robert "Bob" Bakker, a paleontologist and author.  He signed one of his books for us, a great one appropriately named,  Dinosaurs!  It was a wonderful visit.

Meeting Dr. "Bob"

Dr. "Bob" and Fans