Practicing Presence

Most teachers enter the field of education to make a difference in children’s lives. But often they end up feeling tired, wired, and running in circles. However, there is another way. When teachers care for themselves deeply and deliberately, they are able to care for the people that matter the most in their lives: their students, friends, and families. Discover what research says about the positive impact teacher self-care, self-compassion, and stress reduction has on student learning. Participants learn self-care strategies to explore how to self-regulate, nurture self-acceptance, and practice self- compassion. Phase I of the course explores how to develop routines so that educators can not only deal with being overwhelmed, but rise above it. Phase 2 provides participants with the opportunity to integrate the strategies against the backdrop of PLN’s Four Lenses of Learning and The Five Reading, Writing and Talking Processes to facilitate compassionate, caring classrooms.

Participants need to read "The Plainer Truths of Teaching, Learning and Literacy" 2016, by Dr. Morton Botel and Lara Paparo before the course begins. That text serves as a backdrop throughout the course as it relates to the core text for PLN 42- "Practicing Presence: Simple Self-Care Strategies for Teachers" by Dr. Lisa J. Lucas. Participants can purchase both texts on Amazon.