Mandated trainingPlease go to the following mandated training webpage to view all directions and frequently asked questions regarding this year's mandated training. We have updated the FAQs based on recent questions received this past week. Please go to the FAQ section to find answers to your mandated training questions. exsel NetworkOur exSEL Network will begin with its first network meeting on October 22nd and the second network meeting on December 12th. We are seeking 5+ teachers across all buildings who are willing to partner with our ExSEL Network team to pilot social-emotional learning strategies in the classroom that are shared at our ExSEL Network trainings. The participants just need to be willing to try out some new techniques this year in their classrooms and report back quarterly to the exSEL team about what's working and how their efforts to integrate SEL are progressing. E-mail Maureen Cohen if you are interested or want more information. Homework guidelinesWith our upcoming Open Houses occurring soon, please be sure to review our district guidelines for homework. october 11, 2019 PD DayBased on overwhelming feedback last year by teachers, the October 11th PD day this year will be the teacher-directed day. Although, we are four weeks away from the PD day, some planning has already begun. We already have some PD offerings available on that date, which are posted on our PD website and also listed in available events in the Teachpoint PD Tracker. The PD Committee is meeting this Tuesday afternoon and the formal proposal process and link will be communicated after the meeting. PD OpportunitiesPrimary Source Courses We are a member district with Primary Source, which provides high quality professional development in social studies, humanities, and civics. They have just released their course catalog for 2019-2020 courses and registration is open for fall courses. Please review the catalog and e-mail Maureen if you are interested in taking one of the courses or workshops this fall. We have five openings for the fall. Primary Source Catalog Facing History Facing History will be running 3 regional based Civics workshops this fall. The "central" regional workshop will be hosted by Hudson HS and will take place on October 9. Additional information can be found here. resourcesArticles/Blogs from Twitter this week
Self-assess your self-compassion: Self-Care Practice: Cultivating CompassionThe following GRACE process was developed and adapted from Joan Halifax, "G.R.A.C.E. for Nurses: Cultivating compassion in nurse/patient interactions," pp. 121-128, 2014 and adapted for teachers in the Mindfulness for Teachers book. This process helps you to act with compassion under stressful situations. Step 1. G is for "Gathering your attention." Take a pause and focus your attention on your body, the breath, and the sensation of your feet on the ground. As you bring your attention to the present moment, you can be a more helpful resource to yourself and your students. You will offer a fresh presence that is stable, discerning, and caring. Step 2. R is for "Recall your intention," that is, your reason for being a teacher. As you learned in Chapter 1, recalling your intention helps you align your behavior with your values and reignite your motivation. Your altruistic motivation primes you to act in caring and supportive ways. Step 3. A is for "Attune to yourself, your body, heart and mind, before you attune to those around you" and then attune to your students, to parents, and to colleagues. Attuning to yourself first let's you touch in to your biases, and what is arising in your body and mind at this moment. Then sense into what your student is feeling (empathy) and how he or she might see the world (perspective taking). Take time to tune in to what is happening. Assumptions often come from scripts--cognitive biases that interfere with the ability to perceive what is needed. Your scripts bias your perception. At this step, the key is just to notice these scripts and let them go. Step 4. C is for "Consider what will serve your students or colleagues." This might include institutional expectations, environmental features, social constraints, conflicting needs, and consequences. At this step, you engage in a process of discernment to ascertain what truly serve others. Step 5. E is for "Enacting and ending." The entire GRACE process results in a principled, ethical, and compassionate-based action: engaging or apply compassion in the service of others. This step is the conclusion--the point when the action is complete and it's time to move on to another activity, letting go of any lingering feelings that may keep us from being fully present for the next situation." ( Jennings, Patricia. Mindfulness for Teachers, pp. 128-129,)
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