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The Kenora Catholic District School Board has five classrooms participating in the MindUP™ pilot program this school year. Classes are at Pope John Paul II School, St. Louis School and École Ste-Marguerite Bourgeoys. There are approximately 100 students receiving the program.
Sue Devlin, Mental Health Leader talks about the program. "The MindUP™ curriculum is a universal program that teaches social and emotional learning skills that draw on cognitive neuroscience, positive psychology and mindful awareness training. The program is comprised of 15 lessons in which students are taught to self-regulate behavior and mindfully engage in focused concentration required for academic success."
MindUP™ is a mindfulness-based social and emotional learning curriculum program for educators and students that aims to help children:
* Improve focus, concentration, and academic performance
* Reduce stress and anxiety
* Handle peer-to-peer conflicts
* Manage emotions and reactions
* Develop greater empathy toward others
* Choose optimism
Personal Experiences
"A little Story: There was a time when I was mad. So, I used some of the strategies that I wrote down. Instead of yelling I took a deep breath and apologized for deciding to fight." - AW
"One day I had my own mindful experience. When I had a mindful experience it was when I was in my room and my mom would keep asking me what I wanted to eat. I was very frustrated and I wanted to yell and scream. But I took a deep breath and counted to ten to stop me from yelling." - AS
"My personal experience is once I was done gym with my class and my amygdala was going crazy from all the running and throwing basketballs. So when I entered Mrs. Gravelle's mediation class, we started to breath and I sat straight up and I took 3 long deep breaths. Then my amygdala was getting calm and I was relaxed." -JP
"I like the Mind Up program because my students find it engaging. It is well laid out and easy to teach. Belly breathing is especially useful for focusing the class and resetting the classroom atmosphere." - Sharon Remmerswaal, Grade 4/5 Teacher at Pope John Paul II School
The students are enjoying the program and learning about their brain and how it works. They are learning ways to relax and calm down their brain so they can access the thinking part of their brain to make better choices, listen more attentively in class and manage big emotions.