Self-care for Educators with Mindfulness

Abstract:  The human touch is critical to our wellbeing. In times of social distancing, online virtual meetings may seem to provide an alternative to face-to-face communication, but there are many challenges that can be facilitated by self-care. Participants of self-care for educators with mindfulness awareness practice will develop and strengthen a growth mindset to help face life and work related challenges with a caring attitude to the people they love and care for and their students. Participants will learn about the brain, self-care, and how to develop a mindfulness awareness practice. 

Target audience: 

Teachers of all age groups. 

Session objectives: "By the end of this session, participants will have...

1. teamed up and collaborated with peers 
2. a better understanding of what "self-care" means
3. practiced presenting on various aspects of self-care on ZOOM to peers.
4. understood the relationship between the left and right hemispheres and self-care.  
5. understood and practiced mindfulness awareness 
6. learned techniques on how to self-care

Syllabus: 

Week 1: (January 11 - 17) Getting Acquainted 

Participants will get acquainted with the platform, the tech tools to be used in the session, team up, and discuss how they practice self-care.

Read the following articles and watch the video below before you respond:

• Explicit Self-Care for Principals and Their Teachers: A Qualitative Transcendental Phenomenological Study on Administrator Stress Levels
• Educator Self-Care (ESC) & Social Emotional Learning (SEL) https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ToAM9rncQ-GaQ-3u5oP4qQ
• Early Childhood Education https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2x7c8JKHQL2DQ8_vYW0UkA 
• Greater Good in Education from Berkley University of California https://ggie.berkeley.edu

Discussion Forum

1. Why is self-care important for educators?
2. How do you self-care? 

Week 2: (January 18 - 24) The Brain 

Participants will learn about the two hemispheres of the brain, the effects of mindfulness on the brain, and how the two hemispheres relate to self-care. They will share the information and discuss practical ways of applying the information to themselves and to their students in and out of the classroom.

The purpose of the research is for participants to gain a better understanding of the brain and why knowing about the brain and applying the knowledge gained will improve self-care for the teacher and the students in and out of the classroom and improve the quality of instruction and learning.

Week 3: (January 25 - 31) Breathing and Mindfulness 

Participants will discuss the body and mind connection and practice the body scan to learn how to face circumstances that come our way and let go of the need to hold on to the stories that accompany them. Learning to take time off to be with oneself in the present is the key to letting letting go. The focus will be taking time off to be present in the present by following a mindfulness practice of breathing.  

Week 4: (February 1 - 7) Compassion and Gratitude 

The practice of Mindfulness and loving kindness helps us take care of ourselves, so we can be in a better position to help others. In this section, participants will learn about and practice self-compassion, self-kindness, and gratitude in and out of the classroom. They will also practice gratitude and how to show compassion and kindness to others. 

Week 5: (February 8 - 14)  Showcase and Reflect

Participants will use Vimeo, Flipgrid, Screencast-o-matic, Presentations and Wakelet, Padlet, Miro or any other curation platform to showcase their work and reflect on the experience.  

Media:

• Moodle
• ZOOM 

Other technology tools:

1. Vimeo https://vimeo.com
2. Screencast-o-matic https://screencast-o-matic.com 
3. Canva  https://www.canva.com
4. Wakelet https://wakelet.com
5. Miro https://miro.com
6. Padlet https://padlet.com 
7. Google (docs, slides, forms) https://drive.google.com 
8. ZOOM https://zoom.us
9. Jitsi (in the course) 

Suggested sponsor(s): TESOL 

Join this session

Registration starts on Jan 3, 2021. 

Sponsor:  CALL-IS

Moderators: Fill in the table on the page you have created for all session moderators and co-moderators. You can change or add to the list later. Co-moderators are expected to take part in the training session along with moderators.

Name (last, first)	Email address	Location  (country of residence)	Biodata  (max. 50 words)	Photo
Deutsch, Nellie	nellie.muller.deutsch@gmail.com	Canada	Nellie Deutsch, Ed.D. is a Canadian long distance teacher, runner, and healer. She has been teaching EFL in the public school system and at universities for over 40 years. Her teaching expertise include junior high school (ages 12-15) team leadership and adult teacher development. She also practices mindfulness, the Alexander Technique, the Paula Method, and Reiki in and out of the classroom.
Vohra, Poonam	poonam19.online@gmail.com	India	Poonam Vohra has a postgraduate degree in Economics and in Education; earned a number of certificates relating to technology and education. She is a keen learner, a passionate teacher, and possesses a rich teaching experience of more than 25 years. She has been adopting customised processes to enhance student learning. She has been designing courses for online teaching and believes in adopting pragmatic and flexible approach                                in handling changes, constantly updates skills  for and practices mindfulness under all circumstances.

Primary Contact: 

Nellie Deutsch

nellie.muller.deutsch@gmail.com