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Five Specific Ways to Integrate Mindfulness into the Classroom

Mindfulness in education is a rising topic of discussion. Mindfulness refers to being completely in touch with and aware of the present moment, as well as maintaining a non-judgmental approach to one's inner experience. It helps to develop emotional intelligence and it teaches students to pay attention on purpose. What’s more, mindfulness can help improve test scores, classroom behaviors, and stress management. So how can teachers integrate mindfulness into the classroom? 1) Teachers must practice mindfulness in their own lives. If a teacher does not have the time to meditate and listen to his or her breath and thoughts, they can be mindful or present even while doing household chores. For example, instead of quickly watering the plants while chatting on the phone. One can pull themselves into the present and find the joy of offering plants sustenance. Notice each plant and appreciate the beauty and contribution it makes to your home. 2) Define and discuss mindfulness with y...

10 Ways to Teach Planning, Time Management and Organization

Teaching students planning, time management and organizational skills is necessary in the classroom as well as at home. Although some find executive functioning to be quite obvious, there are those that need to learn the process. Here are 10 recommendations: © 2012 Good Sensory Learning Click on image to learn more Provide verbal, written and even electronic reminders. Let students select their preferred calendar option. There are daily, weekly and even monthly calendars. In addition, a calendar can be maintained on electronic devices, computers, wall charts, as well as printed planners. Offer a calm, supportive and mindful environment. Avoid name calling. Using terms like "careless" or "unmotivated" only creates negative energy, frustration and helplessness. Provide short breaks. Schedule "unstructured time" in your daily routine. Offer a structured and organized environment with clear expectations. Set an example and sh...

Dry Erase Pockets Can Save Time and Money

I just love these dry erase pockets. Students enjoy working on activities when they are able to use colorful dry erase markers! You can save a ton of time and money by not having to copy handouts. I personally got 25 pockets. They were quickly filled with worksheets, large graph paper and more. They are perfect for doing activities with clocks, tracing letters, fractions, and graphing to name a few. Have any of you used these? Cheers, Dr. Erica Warren Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator, and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials . She is also the director of Learning to Learn and Learning Specialist Courses . · Blog: https://learningspecialistmaterials.blogspot.com/ · YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/warrenerica1 · Podcast: https://godyslexia.com/ · Store: http://www.Goodsensorylearning.com/ & www.dyslexiam...

Teaching Higher Order Language Skills: Abstract and Critical Thinking as Well as Multiple Meanings

Concrete learners, as well as those who struggle with higher order language processing, often experience difficulties when shifting to more abstract ways of learning. Difficulties may arise when multiple meanings are used in conversation or when reading. Consequently, “reading between the lines” or searching for a deeper meaning can be a challenge. Additionally, concrete or rigid ways of thinking can create miscommunication. It’s easy to misunderstand someone’s intended meaning when they are being sarcastic or they are using unfamiliar vocabulary. I’m sure you have had one of those ah-ha moments in life where you thought, “Oh, that’s what she meant!” Finally, difficulties interpreting jokes, puns, or inferences can lead to one feeling confused or embarrassed. I am sure we all know of a time when someone told a joke and although we laughed along with everyone else, we did not really “get it.” Although learning this important skill is a process for many students, it does not ...

Mindful, Fun, Multisensory Materials for Learning the Vowel Combinations or Vowel Teams

One of the most difficult reading concepts to learn in the English language is the vowel combinations or vowel teams. Well, not anymore. The process is now fun, memorable and multisensory with Vowel Combinations Made Easy. It was created for my own students and I have found it to be extremely successful. Students learn their vowel combinations by finding them hidden in images, coloring, doing mazes and playing card games. What's more, I am now offering a free sampling of my workbook, so you can have the opportunity to see some of the activities. If you are interested in getting the free sample pages and activities CLICK HERE Cheers, Dr. Erica Warren Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator, and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials . She is also the director of Learning to Learn and Learning Specialist Courses . · Blog: https://learningspecialistmaterials.blogspot.com/ ...

Teaching Inference Skills Can Be Fun

Teaching students about how to make inferences can be challenging. Unlike most of the concrete learning that they encounter, this is an abstract notion. However, most students love the idea of finding or uncovering a hidden message. So, explaining that, like a detective, they can solve the secret code, students will find this both appealing and exciting. Here are four activities that you can do to help even the youngest of learners find joy in searching for inferences. Look through magazine images and see if you can uncover any hidden messages. When traveling look at billboards and see if you can point out any inferences. Look at the images on book covers and see what kind of hidden messages they might include that tell you a little bit about the story. When watching TV pay attention to the advertisements. What kinds of secret messages are implied? If you would prefer to use a 60 page workbook, with images, activities and games, you can always...

Fun, Free Activities That Sharpen and Strengthen Language Processing Over the Summer Break

The old saying - If you don't use it you lose it - often describes the cognitive setbacks that many students experience over the summer months. Exercising children's brains with engaging and fun activities is a must. Here are 5 strategies you can use this summer to help your little ones sharpen and strengthen their skills. When watching TV, discuss the commercials. See if they can figure out what product each commercial is promoting and see if they can uncover any inferences or hidden messages. Play with anagrams - Write down a word that has at least 6 letters. In 5 minutes, see how many new words you can create by scrambling the letters. Play catch with a football, baseball or beach ball. When you first toss the ball, call out a main idea such as days of the Week. When your child catches the ball, they have to say one of the days of the week. When they toss it back to you, you say another day of the week. Players can only say each detail once. If a detail is...

Do We Need to Reform Education? Why So Many Students Are Struggling With Executive Functioning.

As a learning specialist and educational therapist, I have been overwhelmed with calls from parents claiming that their children struggle with executive functioning. These students are often described as lazy and unmotivated, and by the time that I meet many of these students they also have a case of learned helplessness. Although executive functioning weaknesses can manifest in different ways, the majority of my students find it difficult to record assignments, organize their materials, turn in their homework, pull out the salient information, focus in class and employ meta-cognitive strategies. Part of the problem is that we live in a society where we are continually multitasking. It’s almost impossible to find a quiet, distraction free spot where one can direct ones full attention to an undertaking. Instead our thoughts are continually diverted to the bleeps, jingles and bings of text messages, phone calls, emails and so forth. ...

Remediating Reading Reversals, Tracking Difficulties and Visual Discrimination Weaknesses

Remediating reading reversals can be a difficult task. Well, not anymore! Dr. Erica Warren now has four multi-sensory workbooks that can make the process both simple and enjoyable. Her first workbook, Reversing Reversals, was so popular all over the globe that she released more great activities in Reversing Reversals 2, Reversing Reversal Beginners and Reversing Reversals Primary. Come get a FREE SAMPLING of Reversing Reversals 2. You can also purchase this publication here . Would you like to learn about the Reversing Reversal Series? Reversing Reversal Primary : Enjoyable activities strengthen and develop the core skills needed for reading and writing. All the activities and games utilize animal characters instead of letters and numbers. Areas of cognition addressed include: visual memory, auditory memory, sequential memory, visual reasoning, auditory reasoning, visual discrimination, receptive language, listening skills, mental flexibility, attention, attention t...

The Four Types of Sentences: A Fun and Easy Approach

Learning about the four types of sentences can be difficult. Now the process can be fun and easy. Cartoon-like characters can now help students remember the difficult terms. Students will meet Commander Pear, Ms. Clair Bear, Rog the Frog and Sam the Clam. Come get a free sampling of Commander Pear click here To learn more about the full versions click here Cheers, Dr. Erica Warren Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator, and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials . She is also the director of Learning to Learn and Learning Specialist Courses . · Blog: https://learningspecialistmaterials.blogspot.com/ · YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/warrenerica1 · Podcast: https://godyslexia.com/ · Store: http://www.Goodsensorylearning.com/ & www.dyslexiamaterials.com · Courses: http://www.learningspecialistcourses.com/...

Exposing Students to the 12 Ways of Learning

Many know of the four common ways of learning: visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic. But did you know that students need to be exposed to even more ways of processing information too? Going multisensory is essential these days and presenting instruction that teaches to all 12 ways of processing, as described in the Eclectic Teaching Approach , can help prepare your students for a successful future of life long learning. The other 8 ways of learning include: 1) Sequential Learning: teach students how to order information alphabetically or numerically. Teach with timelines, successive instructions, outlines, and keep materials organized. 2) Simultaneous Learning: teach students how to categorize materials by similarity. Web information, define and discuss main ideas and details, and use flow charts and diagrams. 3) Verbal Learning: teach students how to process ideas aloud. Provide opportunities for students to process ideas verbally through one-on-one or g...

Executive Functioning: Helping Students with Planning Time Management and Organization

Executive functioning is a newly defined cognitive process that has gained recognition in schools over the past decade and accommodating students that struggle in this area is often neglected. Inappropriate labels such as “careless” and “lazy” are often placed on this population. Instead of compassion and strategies, they are often intimidated, harassed and mishandled with discipline and inconsistent methods that result in poor grades. For these students anger, frustration, poor motivation and feelings of learned helplessness are common. More and more students are being described with this label and students need to learn strategies for success. Capable and intelligent learners can sabotage their grades by: losing materials forgetting to turn in assignments leaving things to the last minute miscalculating or underestimating the amount of time it will take to complete a task failing to record homework in an agenda or planner leaving needed materials at school ...

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