Happy Classrooms
Happy Classrooms 😁😄(Aulas Felices) is an educational program based on the positive psychology and it
is aimed to children of primary and secondary education. The goal of this
project is to enhance the personal and social development of the students as
well as to promote happiness, to lower anxiety and to create a relaxed environment
in schools. It also fosters the learning of basic competences integrated in the
curriculum.
This program owns two main components: mindfulness and the education of the 24 character strengths.
The
reinforcement of these personal strengths from an integrative model will help
our students learn to be a person, to live together and to think 💭👫👭👬. When we talk about these strengths, we refer to the followings features of personality:
We can also implement activities to lower anxiety and
engage strategic investment (Edutopia):
💚Deep Breathing exercise: students practice deep breathing techniques
to reduce stress. The teacher introduces the concept of deep breathing as a way
to low stress that can be used in the present moment. The students should stand
with comfortable space between each other or seated in a chair. Then, the teacher provides the students with
some instructions such as:
- Stand straight up with feet shoulder-width apart
- Arms and hands are relaxed downward
- Body is relaxed
- Eyes closed
- Focus on lower abdomen (belly) and imagine a small balloon in that space
- Breath in slowly and deeply through nostrils, imagining the balloon inflating (getting bigger/larger/growing) slowly, hold a few seconds
- Slowly exhale through the mouth, imagining the balloon gently deflating (getting smaller, shrinking); blow out of the mouth as if blowing out a candle
- Tip: Place a hand over the lower abdomen to feel it go up and down, and make sure you’re not breathing with the chest
- Repeat at least 10 times
💙Animal Charades: students pick a paper from the hat
and figure out how to present their animal charade. Since charades is a
non-verbal activity, playing music in the background can add to the fun of
“acting out” the animals. Instructions:
- Depending on class size, break class into groups of 2, 3 or 4 students.
- Write several different names of animals on paper; one name per folded up piece of paper (students may help with this as part of the activity).
- Put names in the hat.
- Each group picks a name and figures out how to present their charade to the class.
- Each group takes a turn presenting their charade, while the “audience” guesses the animals presented.
- Depending on time, number of groups and number of folded papers, teacher determines how many rounds of charades each group presents.
- OPTIONAL: At the end of the activity, distribute paper, pencils, and crayons/markers for students to draw and color their favorite animal.
💛Visual imagery: the students learn the process of
visual imagery as a technique to help themselves to calm down. The teacher
leads students through the process of visual imagery. Instructions:
- Students sit comfortably for this activity
- Use a calm, low, slow voice and give sufficient time between each visual suggestion for students to “ease” into the vision and “see” each step
- Create your own visual scenario appropriate to students’ age, experience and interest.
- Practice this imagery in class for 10-20 minutes, depending on grade level.
- Allow time for students to debrief and share about where they went in their visualization and what they felt about the experience/technique. This can be done in pairs, small groups or sharing with whole class.
Do you want to know more about the program? 👀📹
What do you think about this program? Comment below!👇🙊
What do you think about this program? Comment below!👇🙊
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