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The Importance of Mindful Self-Care

Mindful Teachers, Mindful Students

Why did you enter the field of education? Many educators will tell you that they wanted to make a difference in children’s lives. It could also be because the educator had an inspiring teacher during their childhood that motivated them, and they want to be this same guiding force to someone else. Regardless of how you got here, you are still driven to create a safe and engaging learning experience for all. But what happens when you start to feel drained of energy?

How can you maintain this drive and passion for teaching when you start to feel overwhelmed, stressed, or burned out? Teachers and administrators live in a world of demands and requirements to advance their students’ academic performance and support their student’s emotional and social well-being. With all of this giving, teachers need to be able to find effective ways to recharge and refill their depleted resources to keep doing what they love. Fortunately, there are tools and techniques that you can easily practice to get back on the right track.

 

The Importance of Mindful Self-Care

If you have flown on an airplane at some point in your life, you probably remember the safety briefing that directed you to put your mask on before helping others. This direction is given because you are not able to help anyone if you are struggling to breathe. The same is true for your effectiveness in your profession. If you are stressed and overwhelmed, you cannot help your students or colleagues in a manner that allows for a thriving environment. Self-care and stress-reducing strategies are a critical component to teach effectively. Furthermore, mindful practices are an investment into your well-being, and the resulting mindset benefits everyone that interacts with you.

In the course Mindful Teachers, Mindful Students offered by Professional Development Courses at the University of La Verne, teachers and administrators will learn skills to cope with their busy schedules through mindfulness techniques. These forms of self-care lead to a better focus on the vital parts of their job, which allows these education professionals to engage their students more successfully. Now is the time to understand, and put into practice, that self-care is not an indulgence but a necessary step in becoming the best K-12 teacher or school administrator possible. Get ready because this course will give you the essential steps to self-regulate, nurture your whole-self, and promote compassion!

 

Benefits of the Course Mindful Teachers, Mindful Students

In the course, Mindful Teachers, Mindful Students, K-12 teachers, and administrators will learn how to apply and practice mindfulness to contribute to a positive mindset that will alleviate the impact of stress. 

Through engaging approaches to learning and teaching mindfulness, here are some other topics you can expect to find in this relevant and timely course.

Topics include:

• Mindsets that will set the tone for the day, ease transitions from subject to subject, and provide a safe and predictable pattern that will help students concentrate.
• Learn research-based mindfulness practices such as breathing techniques, yoga, and meditation.
• Understand the effects trauma and adverse childhood experiences have on student behavior and learning and create safe and predictable patterns to help alleviate these stresses.
• Reignite your passion for education and learn how to prioritize self-care for yourself and your students.
• Evaluate your values and goals and use them to guide your choices.
• Learn decision-making tools that guide when to say ‘yes’ and when (and how) to say ‘no.’

 

Mindful Teachers, Mindful Students Course Contents

Successful completion of Mindful Teachers, Mindful Students will lead to long-lasting benefits for yourself and your students. It may also impact your professional career by allowing you to leverage your new skills towards salary advancement, license renewal, or recertification. Students are encouraged to seek approval from their district or state before enrolling. 

Contents include:

• Practicing presence.
• Responding rather than reacting.
• Simple self-care.
• Noticing the negativity bias.
• Epigenetics.
• Mindful and compassionate classrooms and school communities.

Through Mindful Teachers, Mindful Students, you will develop the tools necessary to harness and adapt these mindfulness strategies through a curriculum explicitly made for busy K-12 educators and administrators. All content is self-paced, written in a user-friendly format, and accessible online 24/7 or via PDF format delivered directly to your email inbox.

This three-credit course, Mindful Teachers, Mindful Students, can be applied toward the Motivation and Classroom Management certificate offered by Professional Development Courses at the University of La Verne. Other popular course options for this timely certificate include:

• Motivating Students Who Don’t Care
• Coaching a Growth Mindset: Unleashing Student Potential
• Effective Classroom Management Strategies for the 21st Century Classroom
• The Flipped Classroom
• The Differentiated Classroom
• Making Connections for Engaged Learning
• Cognitive Approaches to Learning and Teaching
• Personalized Learning: A Powerful Solution to an Urgent Need for Change
• Effective Feedback to Improve Student Achievement

Note, the University of La Verne is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Since requirements may vary, students should check with their school district or state department of education before enrolling in a course. 

 

How to Register

The course, Mindful Teachers, Mindful Students, is completed online or via an emailed PDF format. All books and materials are mailed to the student regardless of the format selected. Featuring online chat support and quick grading turnaround times, the course is open for registration at any time during a semester. Upon completion, students receive graduate, non-degree semester credit on official transcripts from the University of La Verne, an accredited university in La Verne, California. 

Registration is simple and can be done online or over the phone. Courses are offered on a rolling basis during three standard semesters, and you can begin whenever you are ready! Courses are offered ongoing during three semesters. Students may enroll in up to a maximum of 15-semester credits at any time during each semester.

The registration dates are:

Fall: September 1 – January 31

Spring: February 1 – May 31

Summer: June 1 – August 31

Our course, Mindful Teachers, Mindful Students, offers such a wide range of tools to help you reignite your passion for your profession that we are sure you are eager to get started! Now is the time to learn how to prioritize self-care for yourself so you can model this for your students and watch them excel in any learning environment!