From the Cutting Mat

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From the cutting mat: even cutting paper for my lesson with middle schoolers is a production~ I made a quick jig to help cut a whole stack of paper for origami. Never underestimate the power of some duct tape and chip board!

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Today I visited Providence Community Prep to continue to work on developing my ideas for my mindfulness studio project.

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an infographic I made detailing my design process

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Over the weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Nashua, NH to attend the NODA region IX conference. NODA is an organization that focuses on Orientation, transition, and retention in higher education. As an orientation leader for the past couple of years, this was a great experience and gave me lots of ideas for the upcoming orientation this fall. One of the highlights of the conference was Sam Killermann's talk about social justice and diversity. Check out his website here.

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From the cutting mat: Just made a game to try out with the middle schoolers at PCD. Here's hoping it makes them a little more mindful.

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Ken Robinson: 10 talks on education

Education legend Sir Ken Robinson picked the talks he loves, all full of insight, bright ideas and, of course, creativity.

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Made by the Games Learning Society, the games Tenacity and Crystals of Kaydor investigate how mindfulness practices effect the ways that students think and work. What are violent and pointless video games doing to our children?

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"Skills of mindfulness and kindness are very important for college readiness… Mindfulness, because it cultivates the capacity to regulate attention, which is the building block for all kinds of learning; and kindness, because the ability to cooperate is important for everything that has to do with success in life, team-building, leadership, and so forth."

Richard Davidson, the William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at UW-Madison

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Serious meditation practice is not effective on children under the ages of 9 or 10

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Our initial experiment with Providence Country Day School students focusing on their perception of sound through touch.

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By the time they reach the eighth grade, virtually every middle-class child in the Western world is playing smartphone apps, video games, computer games... Our hope is that we can use some of that time for constructive purposes and take advantage of the natural inclination of children of that age to want to spend time with this kind of technology.

Richard Davidson, the William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at UW-Madison

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My Goal:

I hope to work with middle school students to help them to develop their ability to think critically, focus on the tasks they are presented with, and prioritize the work that they need to get done. As they transition into adulthood, I hope to help them develop these skills in order to manage stress and remove unnecessary distractions from their daily lives. 

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About my Current Studio:

Creativity as a Catalyst for Mindfulness: Designing for Art Educators

Students will work with local art teachers and their students to develop mindfulness-inspiring objects, games, and experiences for use by art educators, by creating and testing prototypes in actual middle school and early learning classroom environments.   

  There will also be workshops designed to familiarize ID students with the experience of meditation/mindfulness, both as design research, and as an inspirational component of the students' own creativity. 

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Spotted some #baboons running along the ocean yesterday. #southafrica #capetown (at Cape Point)

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The #sunset from our first night. Its totally surreal that I'm here right now. #capetown #southafrica (at UCT Lower Campus)

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#southafrica #capetown