Cultivating A Classroom Of Calm

"Discover strategies grounded in neuroscience that help teachers foster a truly calm classroom environment that supports emotional awareness, psychological safety and belonging, and connected relationships"--

Transform your chaotic classroom environment into a classroom of calm by fostering community, trust, and self-reflection. Calm is a choice. The key to a calm classroom isn't students who are obedient or quiet but students who feel empowered and safe. It starts with you as the teacher and your ability to foster an environment that supports emotional awareness, psychological safety and belonging, and connected relationships. In Cultivating a Classroom of Calm, mindfulness coach and former principal Meredith McNerney will help you promote student engagement and self-regulation using strategies grounded in neuroscience research. The book provides all the tools you need to • Discern the characteristics of a truly calm environment. • Explore the four dimensions of engagement. • Discover how trauma often affects students. • Balance empathy with accountability in the classroom. • Develop practices to regulate emotions and stress. As you explore how the brain can learn to make calm and responsible decisions, the book will guide you in building a personalized plan to cultivate calm for your students and yourself. When you understand your own basic emotional and relational needs, you can instill your own calmness and help your students learn how to do the same, cultivating a classroom environment in which every learner can grow.

Creating Calm Classrooms presents easy-to-follow and guaranteed to succeed strategies, teacher behaviors and class management practices that the author successfully deployed to create oases of peace and tranquility in his classrooms in more than twenty years of teaching in urban schools. The methods contained in this book can enable any teacher, regardless of lack of experience, to create calm classroom environments in which teaching and learning flourish without the strenuous stresses of students’ misbehavior. Unlike most books on classroom management, Creating Calm Classrooms is not espousing a narrow academic theory on classroom management arrived at through a narrowly focused study carried over a year or two. This book is a rich distillation of knowledge gathered, examined and refined in more than two decades of teaching. The teacher behaviors, management practices and students’ reactions described here yielded classrooms for the author where he was always able to teach and the students were also always ready to learn. It is not an exaggeration that this is the kind of knowledge that every teacher in the USA should have before he or she steps into a classroom to teach.

A step-by- step and easy to understand guide to support teachers, social workers, and administrators in learning all of the techniques of the Calm Classroom program. The accompanying CDs and presented by the Luster Learning Institute's staff. An exact demonstration of how to implement each three minute modules is provided. The manual is fully illustrated and includes a comprehensive description of the following age appropriate techniques: * Twenty-five physical stretching movements, steady postures and relaxation techniques * Twelve breathing techniques to maintain alertness and energy * Twelve mental concentration and focusing methods * Templates and instructions for designing a unlimited variety of unique lesson plans

"A superb book that does exactly what it promises: takes the reader from theory to practice. Rich with clear prose, strong research, and thoughtful reflection, this useful tool is for teachers who want to engage students more deeply with each other, the content, and the world—all for the sake of real learning." —Parker J. Palmer Author, The Courage to Teach Facilitate the growth of successful learning communities—both in the classroom and schoolwide! Teachers at every level face the challenge of finding a balance between learner-centered philosophies and day-to-day classroom life. Aligned with progressive educational thought, this book shows teachers how to make the jump from theory to practice and cultivate learning communities in the classroom and in their schools. The authors help both new and experienced educators engage in a fundamental shift in their teaching approach: from behaviorism to constructivism; from following recipes to understanding the learning process; from standardized, age-based expectations to using standards for individualizing expectations and instruction; and from coercing obedience to facilitating students′ authority and autonomy. Readers will find examples illustrating learner-centered strategies in action, information about how to work more effectively with students with special needs, and methods for: Organizing the classroom Planning instruction for individuals, small groups, or an entire class Building students′ responsibility for their own learning Observing, assessing, and reporting student growth Practical and accessible, Cultivating the Learner-Centered Classroom is an essential companion for teachers who want to empower and motivate students for lifelong learning.

Creating an inclusive classroom means understanding federal legislation as well as national and state standards, but the practical and streamlined seventh edition of Creating Inclusive Classrooms: Effective and Reflective Practices recognizes that it means more than that. This text goes beyond the typical inclusion text, translating theory and research into practices you can use in your inclusive classroom by illustrating the principles of effective inclusion through classroom scenarios, online footage, and successful strategies. The text has the most current vision of today's inclusive classroom, which truly helps you create a successful educational experience for all students. New to This Edition: *NEW UDL and You features throughout the text guide you in understanding and implementing the principles of universal design to help all learners access the general education curriculum and succeed in inclusive classrooms.

In chaotic times, a deep breath can bring calm to your classroom. As the pandemic recedes and the world gradually returns to “normal,” it’s more important than ever to make your classroom a place that supports mental health and improves overall wellness. In this book, you’ll discover the why and the how of using techniques to reduce stress, improve executive function, and set the stage for increased memory and attention, better self-regulation, and improved cognition and academic learning. With this practical, research-based guide, you’ll incorporate age- and grade-appropriate meditation, breathing, mindfulness, and secular yoga activities into your teaching, in ways that work for in-person as well as virtual and hybrid settings. Features include Adaptations for special populations, including those who have experienced trauma Recommendations for family involvement in social emotional learning Guidance on self-care for teachers and school staff Data from successfully implemented programs Dozens of illustrations, QR codes, and reflective questions Mindfulness isn’t just a buzzword-it’s a time-tested, teacher-tested technique for reducing anxiety and improving you students’ outcomes. Incorporate it into your classroom and see for yourself how much good a deep breath can do.

This book describes how teachers can create a structured, student-centered environment that allows for openness and surprise, and where inquiry guides authentic learning. Strategies for fostering student curiosity through exploration, novelty, and play; questioning and critical thinking; and experimenting and problem solving are also provided.