Sarah Sypher
Return to: ETAP 623 Fall 2019 (Zhang) | Sarah's Mini-Course
About Me
Hi everyone! My name is Sarah Sypher,I am a permanent substitute teacher at Bay Shore School District in New York. I have my Bachelors in Early-Childhood/Childhood Education from SUNY Oneonta. Currently, I am pursuing my Master's degree in Curriculum Development and Instructional Technology at The University at Albany.
Mindfulness and Self Regulation
With a push for testing and assessments, more students are stressed and having a hard time managing their emotions. By incorporating mindfulness into the classroom we can teach our students coping skills in order to engage in self-regulation. This can decrease behaviors in the classroom and create a safer, more stress-free 21st-century classroom environment.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completing the mini-course, participants will be able to:
- Define mindfulness and self regulation
- Explain the importance of mindfulness practice
- Identify and implement different mindfulness practices in their classroom
- Improve students self-regulation skills and decrease stress levels
Needs Assessment
Problem
In today's society of high stakes testing and social media, children are faced with more stress and anxiety than ever before. It can be overwhelming to find the daily balance of academics, socializing, and responsibilities. According to Science Daily, more than 1 in 20 children age 18 and younger suffer from anxiety in the United States. The CDC reports 7% of children ages 6-11 to suffer from anxiety. For children aged 11-18, the percentage of children suffering from anxiety jumps to 11%. Therefore, we must equip children with the tools they need to practice mindfulness and self-regulation. Teaching children mindfulness at a young age will help them form habits that will carry on into adulthood.
The Learners
This mini-course is aimed for teachers who are interested in teaching mindfulness to elementary-aged children. They will be introduced to what is mindfulness and different mindfulness practices that they can incorporate into their classroom.
Instructional context
This mini-course will require internet access, the ability to watch videos, listen to audio, and access different google resources. The core content will be given through readings, videos, and PowerPoint to keep learners engaged.
Exploring the Problem and Solution
Students will learn what is mindfulness and explore different mindfulness practices that can be implemented in elementary classrooms.
Goals
The main goal for this mini-course is for students to learn the importance of teaching mindfulness to children at a young age. In addition, to give them the tools they need to teach mindfulness practices in their elementary classrooms.
Analysis of the Learner and Context
Target Learners
This mini-course is intended for K-6 teachers who have an interest in learning more about mindfulness and how they can incorporate it into their classroom. They will be introduced to age-appropriate videos and resources to implement mindfulness practices into their classrooms.
Learner Analysis
The students of this mini-course should either be pre-service teachers or current educators that are familiar with the needs of elementary-aged students. This course is designed with the assumption that the students have limited to no understanding of mindfulness.
Performance-Based Objectives
After completing this course, learners will have a better grasp of what mindfulness practices are and how they can implement it in an elementary classroom. This course is designed to help future or current teachers who are looking for more creative ways for students to learn self-regulation.
- Learners will be able to:
1. Define mindfulness
2. Analyze how mindfulness can benefit students.
3. Practice mindfulness.
4. Develop and implement their own mindfulness activities for their elementary classes.
Task Analysis
Unit 1:
What is Mindfulness?
Learners will begin by taking a quiz on Survey Monkey focusing on Mindfulness. This will allow them to see how much they know about mindfulness before learning about it. After, I will provide a video defining what mindfulness is. This video will be appropriate for elementary-aged students. Last, I will have the learners participate in a nearpod collaboration board. Collaboration boards will be implemented throughout the lesson. Students will be asked two questions they will need to respond too. They can read their peer's responses and engage with one another through text and pictures.
Unit 2:
Combating Chronic Stress with Mindfulness
Learners will first read and analyze some data on children's mental health reported from the CDC. Students will reflect on the data and think about how teaching mindfulness at a young age may help as children progress into adulthood. After, students will watch a TED talk lesson on how stress impacts the brain. Lastly, students will respond to two questions on a collaboration nearpod.
Unit 3:
Different types of mindfulness practices?
Learners will explore a variety of mindfulness practices. Throughout the unit, they will reflect on what practices may work best for their students. Learners will read, watch videos, and listen about different mindfulness exercise including deep breathing, guided meditation, yoga, and more. After exploring a variety of mindfulness exercises learners will make a list of at least four mindfulness activities they want to implement and share them on our class collaboration nearpod.
Unit 4:
How can you implement mindfulness into your elementary classroom?
Learners will learn that mindfulness activities don't require much time at all. They will watch a TED talk called "Bite-sized Mindfulness". Then they will watch a video on how a school in Chicago implement mindfulness into their primary grades. At the end of this learning segment, students will reflect on what they have learned throughout the mini-course. They will respond to their final collaboration board and take a post-assessment in order to see how much they have progressed since the beginning of this course.
Curriculum Map
References and Resources
Data and Statistics on Children's Mental Health. (2020, March 30). Retrieved April 28, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html
Gelles, D. (n.d.). Mindfulness for Children. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/guides/well/mindfulness-for-children