Week 11 AssignmentMindfulness

We live in a busy society - life has changed and we all need to find a way of destressing and being “in the moment”.

There are lots of theories/practices out there that promote a connection between mind and body and using this connection to find stress relief. This week, you are going to research some strategies to help you with this!

Your assignment this week has three parts:

Part One:A. You will need to go to mindfulnessforteens.com - once there, follow the instructions below.

When you get to the website you will see a scrolling top picture. One of those scrolling pictures has the caption “Why Mindfulness?” and under it “watch mindfulness:youth voices”Click on “Watch Mindfulness Youth Video” and watch it.

When you finish the video click on the Header Titled “What is Mindfulness Anyway?” - a drop menu will appear. Select - “About MIndfulness”. In a few sentences (and in your own words!), define mindfulness:

Mindfulness is:

Answer:

Go back to the header - “What is Mindfulness Anyway?”. This time, select - “Try This! Mindful Breathing” - read the section on what mindful breathing is - if you’re brave - try it!

Now go back to the Header “What is Mindfulness Anyway?”, watch for the drop down menu and select “Try this Informal Mindfulness” - you will see a list of mindful practices that are everyday activities. How do you change these into mindful practices? List what you must do to make it a mindful practice:

To make an everyday activity a mindful practice you must:

You may also do additional “google research” on mindfulness techniques to support what you have found at this point.

You are once again going to use an infographic to show your research and understanding of what mindfulness is and the techniques that you have chosen. (Use the information that you found for the questions above!)

B. You are to pretend that you are a graphic designer who has been hired by the Ministry of Health to promote healthy living amongst teens AND they want your infographic to focus on mindfulness. Their goal is to reduce stress amongst teens. YOUR goal is to prove to me that you have researched mindfulness, understand it AND have tried it at least once. Good luck!

C. Questions the Ministry of Health (i.e. your teacher!) need to see answered on your infographic in order for your graphic design team to be paid: (There are 4 questions - make sure all of them are answered on your infographic)

1. What is mindfulness?2. What makes an activity a mindful activity?3. What are some everyday activities that you can turn into a

mindful activity? How do you ensure that it is mindful?

4. How can mindfulness reduce stress?

Answers to all 4 questions will be on the infograph!

Part Two- A. Trying out a mindful strategy.

1. On the website, click on guided meditations. This week, spend time trying out at least 2 different meditations. Then answer the following questions -

Describe the strategy/meditation that you tried

How did you feel? (Silly? Bored? Energized? Relaxed? Combination of multiple feelings?)

Do you think this is a useful strategies for relieving stress (for you)? Why or why not? Would you try it again? HOW COULD MINDFULNESS HELP YOU LEARN???

Strategies I tried were: I felt (link it to the strategy as you may have felt differently with each strategy):

Useful for relieving stress for you?

Why or why not?

Mindfulness can help me learn because:

Part Three - Why Mindfulness?Go to the website: http://www.fosteringresilience.com/what_is_stress.php Stress is a part of everyone’s life but too much can have very negative consequences - impacting our physical, emotional and mental health. But, not all stress is bad! MIndfulness is one way of controlling stress rather than having stress control you. Read the article at the website. Now answer the following questions:

1. When are some times when stress is “good”?

Answer:

2. Stress was a survival tool so why does it make us feel so awful?

Answer:

3. Stress can certainly impact school performance (sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a negative way).

a. Explain how (or when) it can make you do better in school

Answer:

b. Explain how (or when) it can make you do worse in school

Answer:

4. Besides stress, what other internal and external factors can impact your ability to do well in school (give at least 4 examples)?

Answer (at least 4 examples!):

5. Maybe mindfulness isn’t for you (try it a number of times first though before dismissing it!). However, it can be helpful when trying to do well in school. Using your knowledge of stress and your answer from #4, explain how mindfulness can help you do well in school.

Answer:

RUBRICS Part One Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 / R

KU- use appropriate forms of writing to suit audience and purpose;

COM - demonstrate effective use of technology (e.g., CD-ROMs, the Internet, word processors) to enhance research, learning, and presentation skills.

Student thoroughly covers the topic and strategies in their infographic and does so in a manner that is highly appealing to the target audience.

Student covers the topic and strategies in their infographic and does so in a manner that is appealing to the target audience.

Student covers some material in their infographic and/or does so in a manner that has limited appeal to the target audience.

Answers are incomplete or insufficient or the infographic is presented in a manner that has no appeal.

Part Two: Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 / R

TI - identify and describe personal lifestyle strategies that enhance health and wellness and improve one’s readiness to learn

Student thoroughly answers the questions/table in part B especially in regards to the relationship between their wellness theory and their ability to learn. They have made several, well-thought out connections between the two.

Student answers the questions/table in part B especially in regards to the relationship between their wellness theory and their ability to learn. They have made several connections between the two.

Student somewhat answers the questions/table in part B especially in regards to the relationship between their wellness theory and their ability to learn. They have made at least one connection between the two.

Answers to the questions and or table is incomplete or insufficient.

RUBRICS Grade 9/10Part Three: Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 / R

App - explain how stress can positively and negatively affect learning performance and demonstrate effective use of stress-management techniques to maximize performance

App - – identify internal and external factors that affect behaviour and school performance and identify strategies for improving behaviour to enhance learning;

Student thoroughly answers all 5 questions in part 3. - Fully explains when stress can be good- Explains thoroughly why stress can make us feel so awful- Fully explains why stress can make us do better (and worse) in school - Describes at least 4 other factors that impact school performance- Explains thoroughly how mindfulness can support school performance

Student fully answers all 5 questions in part 3. - Explains when stress can be good- Explains why stress can make us feel so awful- Explains why stress can make us do better (and worse) in school - Describes at least 4 other factors that impact school performance- Explains how mindfulness can support school performance

Student answers at least 4 questions in part 3. - Explains somewhat when stress can be good- Explains to a small degree why stress can make us feel so awful- Explains somewhat why stress can make us do better (and worse) in school - Describes at least 3 other factors that impact school performance- Explains somewhat how mindfulness can support school performance

Student answers 3 or fewer questions in part 3.

Answers are incomplete or insufficient