Summit Schedule
Full List of Summit Sessions Below!
Patricia Jennings, PhD
Professor of Education, Curry School of Education, UVA
Mindfulness for Teachers: The Science and Practice
- Hear what’s new and exciting in the research around mindfulness in education and see how mindfulness-based curriculum supports initiatives such as social-emotional learning programs
- Learn the 3 critical elements you need in mindfulness training and explore the research findings on how classroom mindfulness leads to better learning and student engagement
- Follow along in a short practice you can do anywhere, at any time, alone or with your students, to cultivate calm and focus
Kevelin Jones
Principal, Doyle Ryder Elementary in Flint, Michigan
Creating a Mindful Culture
- Hear how the water crisis in Flint, Michigan set the stage for mindfulness to have huge impacts on students, schools, families, and the entire community
- Learn the steps that Doyle-Ryder Elementary took to introduce mindfulness school-wide, and learn how it’s empowered students to stay calm and take responsibility for themselves
- Understand the importance of creating a mindful environment over just “doing mindfulness”
Dan Siegel, PhD
Director, Mindsight Institute, NYT Best-selling Author
Beginning with an Integrative Classroom
- Learn practical tips for how you can communicate with students so that they feel heard and safe, even when a child is experiencing emotional disregulation
- Dive into what the mind and emotions actually are, and understand what you can do to help kids cultivate the 5 qualities of integration
- Explore the 3 components of mind training that can lead to longer, happier lives, and learn the benefits of starting mindfulness with yourself
Meena Srinivasan
Executive Director, Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL)
Justice, Mindfulness, and Interbeing
- Explore how justice, mindfulness, and "interbeing" create the groundwork for systemic transformation, and learn small shifts that you can make today to bring change in your life
- Understand the import role that mindful leadership plays in healthy systems, and learn the foundations of leading for belonging
- Follow along in a simple guided practice to connect with your body and become aware of your breath, and hear practical tips for bringing mindfulness into your school district
David Treleaven, PhD
Author, Leader, Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness Community
Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness in Education
- Hear 3 myths about the relationship between trauma and mindfulness, and learn what you can do avoid the common pitfalls of each
- Understand why it’s vital to present mindfulness to your students in a way that takes each child’s history and experiences into account
- Learn how to recognize non-verbal signs of trauma and take away modifications you can offer for those experiencing challenges in mindfulness
Linda Lantieri, MA
Author, Co-founder, Transformative Educational Leadership
Connecting SEL and Mindfulness
- Learn about the relationship between Social Emotional Learning and mindfulness and how the two can compliment and enhance each other and your work
- Understand the importance of adults embodying SEL and mindfulness skills before it can make a change with students
- Hear insights and practical tips from a longtime field leader on how to integrate mindfulness and SEL skillfully when bringing initiatives into a school setting
Amishi Jha, PhD
Director, Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative
The Science of Mindfulness and Attention
- Learn the 3 main systems of attention, and hear how the strengths and vulnerabilities of each show up in the modern learning environment
- Explore the common challenges to focused attention, and understand how mindfulness can be a consistent tool for combating them
- Follow along in a mindful breathing exercise and learn how this and other mindfulness practices train each system of attention
Alan Brown, Cornell Carelock, Kory O'Rourke, and Megan Sweet
Teachers Panel from Mindful Schools
What is a Mindful Classroom?
- Hear from 4 different educators from Mindful Schools about the power in resourcing themselves with a strong mindfulness practice
- Learn simple practices that you can bring into any classroom, and explore the differences between “doing mindfulness” and “being mindful”
- Hear practical advice for approaching the biggest challenges you might face as you introduce mindfulness to students
Bidyut Bose, PhD
Founder and Executive Director, Niroga Institute
Developing Trauma-Informed Schools with Dynamic Mindfulness
- Learn the 3 elements and benefits of dynamic mindfulness in contrast to a static mindfulness practice
- Hear the impacts of stress, trauma, and trauma-informed mindfulness on teaching, learning, attention, and the brain
- Explore mindful movement as an integrated, whole-being practice for healing and learn a simple embodied practice that you and your students can do today
Caverly Morgan
Founder and Guiding Teacher, Peace in Schools
Peace in Schools: Creating Supportive Spaces for High School Students
- Hear about the components, challenges, and successes of the country’s first semester-long for-credit mindfulness course for high school students through Peace in Schools
- Learn what the initial research and experiential accounts are saying about teenagers who are being exposed to 70+ hours of mindfulness training during the school year
- Understand the importance of facilitator and teacher training and when creating supportive educational spaces for young people
Vicki Zakrzewski, PhD
Education Director, Greater Good Science Center
Developing the Whole Person with Mindfulness
- Learn how Social-Emotional Learning, mindfulness, and ethical development all work together to encourage prosocial, whole-person development in young people
- Understand why we need to bring a cultural lens to mindfulness initiatives in classrooms, and learn practical ways to build relationships with the parents and community in your school network
- Discover the new resources that Greater Good Science Center is bringing to education professionals and what you can get started with now
Richard Davidson, PhD
Founder, Center for Healthy Minds
The Science of Resilience
- Explore the 4 pillars of well-being, and hear how a mindfulness practice can help you be more resilient and effective in the classroom
- Learn about the unique qualities of the adolescent brain, and understand how mindfulness can have a positive impact on a child's development when its taught at an early age
- Follow along in a guided practice to anchor yourself in the present moment and regulate your emotions in a healthier way
Crystal McCreary
Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher for Youth
Starting with You: Mindfulness for Teacher Self-Care
- Learn why the best thing you can do to support your students is to take care of yourself first
- Hear how classrooms that foster compassion and inquiry lead to more academic learning
- Follow along in an embodied mindfulness practice to bring you to the moment right now
Kristin Neff, PhD
Pioneering Self-Compassion Researcher, Author, Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself
Building Resilience with Self-Compassion
- Learn the 3 components of self-compassion, and how treating yourself with warmth models it for students
- Hear practical tips and tools for teaching self-compassion and learn how that strengthens resilience
- Explore the connection between compassion, interpersonal relationships, and social-emotional learning, and follow along in a self-compassion practice to experience it in this moment
Patrick Tolan, PhD
Lead Researcher, Compassionate Schools Project
Compassionate Schools Project: Research for Student Well-Being
- Learn how the Compassionate Schools Project is testing out a curriculum that focuses on a child’s whole being, from mindfulness and compassion to physical health and wellbeing, and see how it’s affecting the students
- Hear about the ripple effect that happens when even a single person begins a mindfulness practice
- Explore some of the biggest resistance points for many teachers and parents when it comes to mindfulness in education, and how to work with them to build a community that’s ready for mindfulness
Kathy Flynn-Somerville, EdD
Teacher on Special Assignment, SEL and Mindfulness in Pittsburgh Public Schools
Classroom Mindfulness in Action
- Learn how Kathy is implementing mindfulness programming throughout her district of 50+ schools, and hear about the students feedback
- Understand the ground-level challenges of introducing mindfulness to public schools, and hear practical advice for overcoming them
- Take away a short and simple guided practice that you can use today to help you and your students pause and arrive in the classroom
Ali Smith
Co-founder of Holistic Life Foundation
Mindfulness for Transformative School Culture
- Discover how mindfulness practice can serve as an alternative to discipline in schools, and the incredible impacts its having on suspension rates in Baltimore schools
- Learn practical insights for bringing mindfulness, movement, and self-care into schools, and why connection and compassion are keys to making it stick
- Hear how Holistic Life Foundation is empowering students from elementary to undergraduate, and the impacts mindfulness can have as it ripples out to communities
Kim Schonert-Reichl, PhD
Developmental Psychologist, Expert, SEL research for children and adolescents
Educating the Heart: Social Emotional Learning for Creating Connection
- Learn what the 5 competencies of Social Emotional Learning are and how they can be intentionally incorporated into educational curriculum
- Hear why SEL is necessary to promote positive qualities like empathy, compassion and resilience, and why it belongs in schools as secular characteristics to develop in every student
- Understand how mindfulness can mitigate stress in learning environments and grow compassion and connection among students and staff
Eve Ekman, PhD, MSW
Director of Training, Greater Good Science Center
Flourishing Empathy: Fostering Empathy that Leads to Compassion
- Learn the importance of introducing compassion early on into the lives of young people, and more importantly the necessity of having compassion for yourself in a serving role for kids
- Understand what empathy fatigue is and how to cultivate a well of compassion to prevent burnout
- Go beyond labeling emotions as "positive" or "negative" and explore emotion as a process that helps us do what we need to do next
Sam Himelstein, PhD
Psychologist, Author, President, Center for Adolescent Studies
Compassion, Connection, and Trauma-Informed Mindfulness for Adolescents
- Learn how mindfulness helps adolescents access their inner wisdom as they are transitioning from childhood to adulthood
- Take away 4 intentional practices that you can use to build open, trusting, and authentic relationships with any teenager you work with, and hear the most common pitfalls to avoid when presenting mindfulness to youth who have experienced trauma
- Learn the TAP practice, a tool you can use in situations with difficult teen so that you can stay present and be of service to them
Jill Merolla
Educator and District Administrator
Social-Emotional Learning in Action
- Hear how Jill’s school district has been implementing a mindfulness and social-emotional learning program system-wide for 10 years ago and learn the impacts its having now
- Explore mindfulness and social-emotional learning as tools to bring humanity back into data-driven education
- Learn how students who are trained in mindfulness and social-emotional learning are setting a precedent for their entire community
Lisa Flook, PhD, MA
Researcher, Children's Stress and Mindfulness Interventions
Mindfulness and Equity in Schools
- Learn why schools are like an ecosystem, and know the importance of community participation when it comes to mindfulness initiatives in schools
- Hear ideas for creating equitable, accessible, and culturally responsive mindfulness programs for young people
- Learn the relational aspects of the classroom that schools can cultivate so that they can develop the “whole child” who thrives in academics and beyond
Argos S. González
Teacher, Educational Consultant, Mindfulness and Yoga Instructor
Mindfulness as the Foundation for Change
- Learn simple practices that you can use to teach kids of different ages
- Hear small things that you can do to make your mindful teaching more culturally-responsive and representative, and understand how to set the stage for real transformation
- Follow along in a guided practice to simply be where you are and stay present for difficult and important conversations
Oscar Medina
Meditation Educator, Purpose Guide, Somatic Counselor
Integrating Mind and Body for Youth
- Explore some of the biggest challenges to mindful education and what you can do to be a more skillful facilitator
- Learn the impact of mind-body awareness practices for youth and how to make them accessible for all students
- Learn what culturally-informed mindfulness is, and understand why it’s important to start with a deep understanding of those who you are trying to serve
Barnaby Spring
Director of Mindfulness in Education, New York City Department of Education
Breathing, Feeling, Healing
- Learn the components of system-wide mindfulness in schools from the Director of Mindfulness in Education at the New York City Department of Education, and hear practical “north stars” to follow when developing your mindful education program
- Understand the importance of leadership buy-in and a culturally responsive approach when introducing new programs and trainings into schools
- Hear how practicing mindfulness together creates a space for colleagues to have an authentic dialogue around challenging systemic issues
Jessica Morey
Executive Director, Inward Bound Mindfulness Education
Accessible Mindfulness for Teens
- Hear from IBME’s executive director on the the impact of deep dive meditation retreats for teens, and learn the biggest challenges to adolescent buy-in to mindfulness practice
- Learn the practical benefits of developing insights around common humanity and self-acceptance
- Explore diversity, justice, and accessibility in mindfulness and meditation, and think about the dialogues that can happen when each person feels safe
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