Choose Kindness Movement

Choose Kindness Movement is program designed to help

Choose Kindness Movement

Students, Staff, Parents and Community

Mr. McElhaney is sponsoring a club to reinforce a positive school climate that supports our students' academic, social, emotional, and personal well-being. It also will help build awareness of strategies that support social emotional learning. The goal of this club is to share ideas that help people become happier, healthier, and successful through a series of Cognitive Strategies.

This program is based on the best research for positive Social and Emotional Learning, Character Education, Emotional Intelligence, Neuroscience and Mindfulness.

Choose Kindness Movement will help students create a place where they are safe, compassionate, and connected. Choose Kindness Movement will boost students’ self-esteem, improves communication and relationship skills, creates greater pro-social behavior…

Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) website- http://www.casel.or

Choose Kindness Movement endeavors to improve Social Emotional Learning helps kids develop:

Compassion

Connection

Optimism

Personal responsibility

Resiliency

Self-Management

Self-Awareness

Social Awareness

Relationship Skills

Responsible Decision-Making

Choose Kindness Movement offers Cognitive Strategies that center of 4 Pillars of Character, Courage, Gratitude, Forgiveness, Compassion

Each of these strategies will help students process life experiences in more positive ways. Students and staff who embrace this program will help create a more positive school culture and a build a community of shared values.

The 4 Pillars of Character

Use Cognitive Strategies to process experiences.

By using these strategies to think about experiences, people, and your reaction to them... you can be more positive, reduce interpersonal conflict, be more understanding, feel better, and be more accurate in your appraisal of reality...

It's all about how you think about the issue.

Courage

Gratitude

Forgiveness

Compassion

REFERENCES

American Counseling Association. (2011a). Fact sheet 7: Terms to know. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/docs/trauma-disaster/fact-sheet-7---terms-to-know.pdf?sfvrsn=2

CASEL. (2015). what is social and emotional learning? In CASEL. Retrieved from http://www.casel.org/social-and-emotional-learning/

Cuddy, A. (2012, June). Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_ you_are?language =en

Journaling for mental health. (n.d.). In University of Rochester Medical Center Encyclopedia online. Retrieved from https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=1&ContentID=45_52

Lomas, T., Froh, J. J., Emmons, R. A., Mishra, A., & Bono, G. (2014). Gratitude interventions: A review and future agenda. The Wiley Blackwell handbook of positive psychological interventions, 1-19.

Main, D. (2015, November 25). 5 Scientifically proven benefits of gratitude. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/5-scientifically-proven-benefits-gratitude-398582

Mayo Clinic. (2016). Types of relaxation techniques. Retrieved from

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/ relaxation-technique/art-20045368?pg=2

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2014). Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/ meditation/art-20045858

Morin, A. (2014, November 23). 7 Scientifically proven benefits of gratitude that will motivate you to give thanks year-round. Retrieved m http://www.newsweek.com/5-scientifically-proven-benefits-gratitude-398582

Motzkin, J. C., Philippi, C. L., Wolf, R. C., Baskaya, M. K., & Koenigs, M. (2015). Ventromedial prefrontal cortex is critical for the regulation of amygdala activity in humans. Biological Psychiatry, 77(3), 276-284. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.02.014

Purcell, M. (2015). The Health Benefits of Journaling. Psych Central. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/lib/the-health-benefits-of-journaling/

Williams, R. (2013, May 5). Do self-affirmations work? A revisit. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201305/do-selfaffirmations-work-revisit

This program is a modification of the www.jesselewischooselove.org

This foundation was created by the mother of a child killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting.

Mindful Minute Meditations to help relieve stress

Day 1. Let it go https://soundcloud.com/stations/track/david-yeah-dave-romanelli/mindful-minute-1

Day 2. Breathe https://soundcloud.com/david-yeah-dave-romanelli/mindful-minute-2/s-f2t4L

Day 3. Smile https://soundcloud.com/david-yeah-dave-romanelli/mindful-minute-3/s-Yf0nw

Day 4. Ride the Wave https://soundcloud.com/david-yeah-dave-romanelli/mindful-minute-4/s-54eAY

Day 5. Bounce Back https://soundcloud.com/david-yeah-dave-romanelli/mindful-minute-5/s-jKakC

Day 6. Loving Kindness https://soundcloud.com/david-yeah-dave-romanelli/mindful-minute-6/s-E3Ykp

Day 7. Grateful Me https://soundcloud.com/david-yeah-dave-romanelli/mindful-minute-7-final/s-DbFcG

BENEFITS OF MEDITATION AND MINDFULNESS:
• Lowers cortisol levels (cortisol causes stress)
• Decreases the sympathetic nervous system (which causes the fight,
flight or freeze mode when you are angry, scared, or anxious)
• Increases your immune system function (which boosts your health)
• Increases connections in the brain
• Improves your concentration
• Improves attention span
• Increases activity in the pre-frontal cortex of the brain
(the place in charge of planning and judgment)
• Improved cognitive function
• Reduces depression
• Reduces anxiety and nervousness
• Reduces self-doubt
• Increases happiness
• Increases compassion