Why practice mindfulness in schools?
Today’s schools are often called upon to provide much more than academic instruction to their students. Particularly in urban public schools, children arrive with a variety of stressors. Teachers must now address the effects of poverty, neglect, societal pressures, technology, and a host of environmental challenges that stand in the way of students’ readiness to learn.
Mindfulness training helps us respond to challenges more skillfully. Benefits include decreased stress, increased self-awareness, better ability to focus and stay on task, reduced cortisol levels, and increased capacity for empathy and compassion.

How Does this Work?
Mindfulness instruction for kids and their teachers falls into three general categories. Contact me for a more detailed conversation:

In-class mindfulness training for students and their teachers Mindfulness instruction for class, grade, or whole school.
Typical sessions are nine to fourteen weeks and meet once or twice each week for 20 to 45 minutes per classroom.

Mindfulness for teachers, administrators and specialists Training for classroom teachers and other caring adults in the school community
Learn to bring mindfulness and focus to your work with your students.

Workshops and Professional Development Topics for teachers, administrators, and specialists
Topics include Mindful Play for Focus and Attention, Self-care for School Specialists, Bringing Mindfulness to the Physical Therapy Zone, Mindfulness and Individual Education Plans, and more.

Growing Responsive Minds is Betsy Caruso
Betsy is a certified Mindfulness Instructor, specializing in school communities. Her focus area is urban schools.
Learning to respond skillfully to the environment unlocks our abilities to focus, attend and “show up” for our work as students, teachers and other school specialists.
Betsy can be reached at:
617-329-5255
betsy@growingresponsiveminds.com

Growing Responsive Minds
Useful and Interesting Links, News, and Upcoming Events
The Pause That Refreshes: ideas for creating mindfulness in the classroom Part IV
Toward a more mindful classroom Here are some ways to bring mindfulness into your classroom and your teaching life. I hope you’ll find them helpful and even fun! Set an intention (prime the pump). Most of the time, our curriculum and lesson plans tell us what we’re...
The Pause That Refreshes: ideas for creating mindfulness in the classroom Part III
Put yourself first - the mindful breath If you already have some familiarity with mindfulness, you may know that establishing a regular practice is key to implementing mindfulness in your life, inside and outside your work environment. Establish a regular practice. To...
The Pause That Refreshes: ideas for creating mindfulness in the classroom Part II
Integrating emotion and sensation In the previous entry, we noted that the emotional state of the adult in charge becomes the dominant emotion in the room As teachers about to begin a new school year, it’s helpful to be aware of the emotions and the sensations that...
The Pause That Refreshes: ideas for creating mindfulness in the classroom Part I
The importance of the adult nervous system in creating classroom equanimity Viennese neurologist Viktor Frankel wrote, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space, is our power to choose our response. In that response lies our growth and our...
STRESS AND AMERICAN SCHOOL CHILDREN
In our test-obsessed school culture, there is often a strong bias toward using broad, relatively shallow assessments to quickly judge students’ academic performance and potential. These tests do not consider environmental, emotional, or clinical factors that may have...