A new adventure begins. I am now an officially retired Chicago Public School teacher. In a lot of ways, not much will change except that I will start to draw my pension. It most certainly doesn’t mean I’m retired. I’m still tutoring my handful of students. I may still substitute teach at Murphy because those kiddos feed my soul and those teachers are my community.
What I am focusing on now is sharing how mindfulness supports children’s inner beings. This is my passion. I have two ways I am moving forward with this.
The first is to have monthly family mindfulness workshops. I’m working on building a curriculum of cool and fun topics, and finding a location. I’ll let you know when and where. I’m shooting to start in April. Parents and grandparents, let me know what you’d like to learn. I have lots of ideas but I would love even more.
Even closer to my heart is working with schools to recognize how students, teachers, and staff benefit from adding mindfulness techniques to their day. My experience is that as mindfulness is incorporated into a classroom culture, it benefits the whole class’s outlook. It is also an astonishing management tool, helping with shifting behavior, smoothing transitions, and reducing conflicts. How beautiful is that?
I have now released nine YouTube videos on mindfulness for the classroom and home. It has been fun and, at times, a straight up silly experience. We are filming the next bunch with more techniques and ideas to come.
It is proof that old dogs -- Nope – not a dog. Strike that. Instead let’s say: It’s proof that life is pretty stinking amazing.
I’ll keep you posted with all my love,
Lee-Ann