Staff
Languages
About MPS
District Calendar
Newsrooms
Referendum
Offices & Departments
Vendors & Contractors
School Board
School Board Members
Meetings, Agendas & Minutes
Livestream: Boardcast
Policies & Procedures
Office of Board Governance
Office of Accountability & Efficiency
MPS Fraud Hotline
Office of the Superintendent
Dr. Posley's Blog
Feedback
Biography
Budget & Financial Planning
Initiatives & Strategic Planning
M3
Turnaround Arts
Long Range Facilities Master Plan
Early Childhood 1,825 Initiative
Why MPS?
Student Achievement
Promoting Excellence in Teaching
Curriculum & Common Core
How to Select a School
School Types
Transportation
Visit a School
Out of District & Moving
School Directory
Enroll Now
Head Start
Immediate Enrollment
Middle/High School Early Enrollment
Kindergarten Enrollment
Fall Registration
Summer Academy
Find a School
Academics & Curriculum
Advanced Placement
Bilingual & Multicultural
Early Childhood
Fine Arts
Gifted & Talented
Health & Wellness
International Baccalaureate
Language Immersion
Literacy
Mathematics
Montessori
Science
Social Studies
College & Career Readiness
Career & Tech Ed
School Counseling
College And Career Centers
Additional Programs & Services
Athletics
Before & After School Care
ProStart Culinary Arts
RtI & PBIS
Specialized Services
Tools
Student Toolbox
Digital Resource Menu
Campus Student Portal
Student Email
District Events Calendar
Student Days Off
Path to Success
Elementary School
Middle School
High School
Graduation Requirements
Resources
Superintendent's Student Advisory Council
Student Handbook
Transcripts
Uniform Policy & Guidelines
Parent Portal
Forms
Bell Schedule
Supply Lists
Parent/Student Handbooks
Parent Guides
Standards-Based Report Cards
MPS Reads
Hardship School Transfers
Social, Emotional and Mental Health
Nursing & Health Services
School Nutrition & Lunch Menus
Safe Haven Resources
See It, Say It
School Safety & Discipline
Family Involvement
District Advisory Council
School Governance Councils
PTA
Volunteer
Get Involved
Alumni Hub
MPS Foundation
Partnerships
Sponsorship Opportunities
News & Resources
Branding/Logo Guidelines
Directory
Request Information
Report to the Community
Community Resources
Building Use Permits
Recreation Activities
Grants Development
How are we doing?
Take the Customer Service Survey!
Current Staff
Office 365
mConnect
Employee Self Service
Infinite Campus
Teacher Toolbox
Resources & Quick Links
Smartsheet
Branding Guidelines
Marketing Toolkit
School-Based Onboarding Dashboard
Retirement & Pensions
Employee Benefits Summary
Employment Relations
Employee Rights Administration
Employment Opportunities
Job Openings
Passion for Education
Hiring Process
Milwaukee Public Schools University
Substitute Teaching
Project Metro
What is mindfulness? In MPS, we are defining mindfulness as the "purposeful awareness of our thoughts, emotions, physical feelings, and environment in the present moment, without judgment."
Mindfulness is a research-based practice that has shown positive outcomes of improved academic performance, improved academic task completion, reduction in externalizing behavior, decreased anxiety, increased pro-social behavior, improved self-efficacy, and increased persistence.
There are two areas of mindfulness. First is the informal practice, which is the daily practice in all that you engage in. This involves focusing on being in the moment with everyday activities, including driving to work, answering emails, taking a test, lining up to go to recess, etc. You want to focus your mind on being mindful in the moment and building a resistance to the stresses that are involved in these everyday practices. Being mindful in the everyday moments can help you avoid becoming overstressed. The other area of mindfulness is the formal practice, which is taking specific time to engage in a mindfulness activity, including breathing exercises, morning meetings with students, meditation practice, internal body scans, yoga, and others.
In Milwaukee Public Schools, we are implementing mindful practices within our multi-tiered system of support (which in MPS is PBIS) as a trauma-sensitive practice. A multi-tiered system of support traditionally has three tiers or levels of layered supports. First you have the supports that are offered to all students, called Tier 1. For mindfulness, these supports include morning meetings, visuals throughout the school, mindful lessons for all students, and integration of mindful practices and mindful language throughout the day. After that, you layer on top the supports that some students receive, called Tier 2. These supports are for those students who have already received Tier 1 supports and are in need of greater support. For mindfulness, these can include integrating a mindful practice such as a morning breathing in check-in/check-out (CICO) or social academic instructional groups (SAIG). Finally, each school has supports that are for a few students, called Tier 3. These are for the students who have already received the supports at Tier 1 and Tier 2 but are still in need of greater support. These are the most intense supports and are usually provided one-on-one and can include Educational Wraparound and RENEW with individualized student action plans having mindful practices incorporated throughout. All of these supports along the continuum are layered on top of each other to ensure that all students receive the full support they need.
Mindfulness looks different in all schools and even in individual settings and classrooms. There are a variety of mindful practices that can be incorporated within the classroom that align with the PBIS classroom best practices of building relationships; setting expectations, rules, and procedures; teaching expectations, rules, and procedures; redirection/setting consequences; and acknowledging students. Some of the mindfulness practices that can be incorporated within the classroom as part of regular routines include breathing, listening, awareness, appreciation, journaling, compassion, perspective taking, sitting, standing, and walking, along with others.
Here is common mindful language you will hear when using mindfulness resources or taking a mindfulness course.
Breathing Exercise Cards (from Childhood 101.com)
Conscious Kids
8 Mindful Coloring Sheets (free for use from Teachers Pay Teachers)
Starfish Breathing Coloring Sheet
Free use Mandalas Coloring Sheets
THINK Free Printable Coloring Sheets
Free Mindful Coloring Sheets from Miss Caly
Free Mindful Coloring Sheets from Pooky Nightsmith
Hand Breathing (from Childhood101.com)
Mindful Flower Breathing
Quick Sanity Breaks Poster for Busy Teachers
The Worry Tree
Quick Sanity Breaks for Mindful (but Busy!) Teachers
Exercises to Increase Self-Compassion (by Kristin Neff)
Self-Compassion Guided Meditations
Self-Compassion Break
Self-Compassion Break (from Gratitude Revealed)
10 Lessons in Self-Care
Self-Care Resources (from Mindful Teachers)
Building a Self-Care Toolkit
Gratitude Journal
Milwaukee Public Schools 5225 W. Vliet Street Milwaukee, WI 53208 Switchboard: (414) 475-8393
If you are having difficulty accessing information on our website due to a disability, please contact us at comm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us and provide the URL of the material you tried to access, the problem you experienced, and your contact information (including your name and phone number), so that we may accommodate your needs.
District Partners Program