The Empowered Minds team was honored to be a part of the Kane County Regional Office of Education Institute Day on March 3, 2023.
The event brought in teachers from nine school districts in Illinois, along with area charter schools and cooperatives. We hosted two sessions for this amazing group of dedicated educators, therapists, and counselors to provide actionable practices and resources to improve engagement, well being, and outcomes.
Sessions were as follows:
Putting SEL into Personalized Practice
Utilizing mindfulness and developmentally appropriate mediation to support your SEL 1a. Objectives, and have an immediate impact on staff and student’s well-being.
Learn a practical, accessible, and engaging method for using our senses to calm our brain so we are ready to learn! We will delve into what makes an effective mindfulness practice for kids and the neuroscience behind it.
Participants will learn how to tune into their five senses to introduce an effective meditation and visualization practice that can be used in the classroom or counseling sessions. We use evidence-based practices, rooted in neuroscience, to teach students to take charge of their emotions. This powerful practice can transform a classroom environment and empower children to choose which emotions will define them through their day and beyond.
Attendees will leave with an applicable practice and will be given digital access to program materials for implementation.
What’s Love Got to Do With It?
How developing the heart could be the missing piece in your SEL plan.
Most of the school day is spent on developing children’s minds, while their hearts need more attention. We’ve checked off all the boxes for addressing standards but the youth mental health crisis is still a major issue. Teaching youth to be more in tune with their heart has been shown to boost confidence, happiness, self-acceptance, reduce violence and more.
Learn practical and engaging ways to develop the heart to achieve social emotional learning goals, improve student well-being and school culture. We tend to fixate on problems and our mind keeps us stuck in this cycle, while the solution resides in our hearts, an area we need more practice tuning into.
Participants will learn the benefits of developing the heart along with effective activities and resources that can be used in the classroom and beyond.
“Problems cannot be solved with the same mindset that created them.”
Albert Einstein
Attendees will leave with applicable activities and resource lists for all age ranges.