Imagine your classroom quiet, peaceful and relaxed.

Imagine your classroom as a place that cultivates a creative, friendly and a stress-free zone.

Imagine your classroom as a place where your students feel comfortable to learn, express their feelings and respond to other students in a positive way.

If you can imagine it, you can create it!

Below is an exercise you can start using today to make a positive change within your classroom environment to encourage social-emotional learning.

Here at Calm Classroom, we like to characterize mindfulness for when an individual pays full attention to the internal and external sensory, emotional and cognitive experiences that occur within each moment. When mindfulness is practiced, a non-judgmental orientation towards situations is adopted to whatever is experienced in that moment.

One simple exercise to bring self-awareness and calm to your classroom today

Our training manual includes different age appropriate and scripted exercises to use within your classroom. Below is an example directly from our early childhood and kindergarten manual, which can be purchased directly from the Calm Classroom store.

Belly breathing (Lying down)

Choose your favorite toy.

Who felt their belly go up and down?

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Interested in more exercises?

If you liked this exercise and want another one for free, sign up here.

Did you try this exercise with your classroom? How did it go? What did you think? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

On May 8, we welcomed three new schools to the Calm Classroom program: Frazier International, James Shields Middle School and Suder Montessori. Each school will be implementing Calm Classroom in the fall.

Don’t they have a great view of the Chicago skyline?

We are beyond thrilled to see the improvements made at Gompers Fine Arts Option School here in Chicago, which implemented the Calm Classroom program back in 2009. After four years of consistent practice of the Calm Classroom techniques, Gompers’ results are outstanding.

We had the pleasure of filming Gompers’ Principal, Security Officer and a student to hear firsthand how the experience with Calm Classroom has changed their school within the last four years.

Watch it here:

If you’re moved by the work we’re doing here at Calm Classroom, we encourage and deeply appreciate when you share our work with others who might benefit from knowing about us. We thank and appreciate you!

“It may not be ‘cool’, but I really enjoy doing Calm Classroom at school. Pritzker is a high stress environment for teachers and students and Calm Classroom is the only time I actually sit and relax at school…ever.” Teacher, Pritzker High School, Chicago.

Comer and Pritzker College Prep High Schools (both part of the Noble Network), were trained in Calm Classroom in the summer of 2012. The schools have implemented the program school-wide this year and have seen wonderful results. Listen to students, teachers and administrators talk about how the program has benefited them.

Were you moved? If so, please share this video with anyone you think could benefit from watching it.

“It is going to be so interesting to see what transformations occur when we help our children learn from “the inside out” as well as from the “outside in”. Our children’s emotional development/awareness is talked about, but not deeply addressed. I think Calm Classroom does that through teaching how to put life in balance through mindfulness. We are grateful to become part of your efforts to bring that mindfulness to our community and our world. Perhaps it will give the human race a better chance at creating a saner, more loving planet!”

– Nan Barrett, Director at Bright Beginnings Preschool, Lake Bluff

What is Calm Classroom?

Can you imagine a world where schools serve as institutional leaders to help our children develop into kind, responsible, creative and non-violent members of our communities and society as a whole?

Can you imagine a world where every student, faculty and staff member, regardless of race or socioeconomic background, has equal access to quality programs that promote non-violence, kindness, responsibility, emotional control, self-awareness, focus, leadership and academic excellence?

Can you imagine a world where students and parents have a lower risk of physical and mental disease, lead healthy adult lives, enjoy happy, supportive and loving family environments and live at their highest human potential?

This is what Calm Classroom strives to create – in Chicago and throughout the world.

Calm Classroom, created by the Luster Learning Institute, has been implemented in 110 schools to date, primarily serving students in the Chicagoland area.

As of 2013, the program has touched:

– 55,000 students and their families

– 4,000 teachers/school staff

– 1,000 administrators

And all of that was accomplished in only four years since the program was introduced! The regular practice of Calm Classroom techniques lead to positive changes in behavior, as individuals learn how to self-manage the stress and anxiety that is sometimes associated with challenges such as:

– bullying

– academic pressure

– peer group pressure

– underachievement

– violence

– community unrest

The Calm Classroom program helps promote peaceful human interactions and peaceful communities by incorporating breathing, focusing, relaxation and stretching techniques inside the classroom.

How does Calm Classroom work?

Students, school staff and parents are trained to teach and practice breathing, focusing and relaxation techniques, which are lead in the classroom daily and at home. The program has yielded astounding outcomes in preschool through 12th grade students that include:

– self-aware, focused and emotionally calm and happy students and teachers

– decreased school violence and suspensions

– increased academic achievement

The Calm Classroom curriculum is so simple and easy to incorporate into already existing lesson plans, because it consists of short and scripted 30 second to 3 minute long exercises, which are practiced 4 times daily.

“When people mess with me, Calm Classroom makes me feel better. It calms you down when you say the words, ‘take a deep breath in, take a deep breath out.’ You get to close your eyes and think about good things.” Chiniya, 2nd Grader at Woodson Elementary School, Chicago.

Do You Want To Create A Calm Classroom?

Are you interested in learning more about how you can incorporate Calm Classroom within your schools? Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email or phone: support@lusterlearning.com, (847) 748-7482.

Sign up to receive a free lesson plan to implement into your school tomorrow, which you can download immediately from your email.

Wow – what a great way to start a Monday morning! The Calm Classroom Team just received an awesome teacher testimonial from one of our partner schools, Uno Charter – Esmeralda Santiago Elementary! Here is what one teacher shared with us:

“I LOVE Calm Classroom! My boyfriend came to visit my classroom and help out for a day, and all he could talk about was how awesome Calm Classroom was. I would not be the same teacher without it! Students ask for it all the time…thank you for this resource.” Teacher, Esmeralda Santiago Elementary School

We are so happy to know that the Calm Classroom program really is making a difference in the lives of both students and teachers!

Happy Monday to all!

The Calm Classroom Team

Teaching mindfulness and emotional control to youngsters can be quite tricky. In addition to our Calm Classroom early childhood book, there are many resources out there to help teach these skills. Below is one fun way to teach belly (deep) breathing.

On Sesame Street, Common, Colbie Caillat and Elmo sang a song called, “Belly Breathe.” We think this is a super cute way to introduce inner thoughts and breathing as a way to self-regulate. Check out the video and the adorable lyrics below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mZbzDOpylA


Belly Breathe
By Common & Colbie Caillat

Breathe.

Sometimes the monster that’s inside you
Is a monster that is mad
It’s a monster who is angry
It’s a monster who feels bad.
When your monster wants to grow things
And your monster wants to shout
There’s a way to calm your monster and chill your inner monster out.

Belly breathe gonna breathe right through it
Belly breathe this is how you do it.
Belly breathe gonna breathe right through it
Belly breathe this is how you do it .

Put your hands on your tummy now you’re ready to begin
Put your hands on your belly and you slowly breathe in.

Ba ba breathe belly belly
Ba ba ba ba breathe belly belly breathe.

Feel your belly go out and in and in and out
And you start to calm down without a doubt
Feel your belly go in and out and out and in
Now Elmo feels like himself again.

Belly breathe gonna breathe right through it
Belly breathe this is how you do it.
Ba ba breathe belly belly
Ba ba ba ba breathe belly belly breathe.

Your mad monster may appear at any time and any place
And that mad monster will make you make a mad monster face.
He makes you want to push he makes you want to shove
There’s a way to calm that monster bring out the monster love!

Belly breathe gonna breathe right through it
Belly breathe this is how you do it.
Belly breathe gonna breathe right through it
Belly breathe this is how you do it.

Feel your belly go out and in and in and out
That’s what belly breathing is all about!

Feel your belly go in and out and out and in
And now I feel like myself again!

Belly breathe gonna breathe right through it
Belly breathe this is how you do it
Belly belly breathe
Belly belly breathe
Everybody just breathe!

On Saturday September 29th, the Luster Learning Team had the honor to present to a group of new Northwestern University Kellogg MBA students. The group of 86 students worked for several hours brainstorming ideas, suggestions and recommendations to help LLI grow. Groups shared wonderful, applicable insight on marketing, sales and outreach. The LLI team met passionate, giving students, some of which who have continued to consult with our organization over the last several months. We thank Kellogg for lending us their time and energy!

In early September, we had the pleasure of training the staff at Bright Beginnings Early Childhood Center in Lake Bluff, Illinois. Program Director, Nan Barrett, wrote us shortly after our initial staff training and shared the following, which warmed our hearts and reinforced that by sharing Calm Classroom, we are serving humanity in such a high way:

“I really appreciated our training with you. Very well done!