In-service Lesson Plan: Mindfulness in Schools

Presented by Justine Coranto, Jonathan Kendall, and Haydee Lemus

Target audience
This in-service lesson is intended for school psychologists and counselors. It may be useful to
parents as many practical skills are emphasized.

Introductory Set: A hook, objectives, defining mindfulness, video presentation

A Hook
The presentation will begin with a mindfulness activity. This will take 1 minute. Participants
will be seated with their feet on the floor, hands on their legs, and with a straight back to begin
practicing mindful breathing as the video plays. Instructions on how to “hold” body are shown
below the statement “We’re going to try this”. No verbal explanation necessary.

Objectives
Presenter will read objectives.
By the end of this lesson participants will be able to define mindfulness, speak to the benefits of
mindfulness in schools, reflect on various mindfulness practices and reflect on their potential
applicability in classrooms at their respective sites, and demonstrate awareness of the existing
mindfulness programs for schools.

Defining mindfulness
Presenter will explain mindfulness with a definition, the three traits, and a Jon Kabat-Zinn quote.
Presenter will then discuss the two components of mindfulness and a useful tip.

Direct content: Benefits of mindfulness, call to action, mindfulness on bullying, mindfulness

and behavior
Benefits
6 specific benefits to mindfulness will be presented. Each will be explained.

Call to action
Presenter will read over a compelling quote about the role that counselors and psychologists can
take in making mindfulness a bigger part of schools.
Activity: Participants are asked to list times they’ve seen bullying, rate how week they thought
their own intervention was for the debrief process, and consider the ways that mindfulness could
help with the debrief process.

Mindfulness on bullying/ mindfulness on behavior

Presenter will discuss how mindfulness can be used to address bullying as well as behavior
Activity: Participants will share reflections with their elbow partner. No paper/pencils
necessary.

Identifying examples: Schools using mindfulness, practical examples

Schools using mindfulness
Presenter will discuss various schools that use mindfulness strategies and why they adopted
them.

Practical examples
Presenter will discuss examples of mindfulness activities that can be used in the classroom:
Yoga, the Body Scan, and the Mindfulness Jar.

Closing: Next Steps…

Next Steps
The presenter will talk about the usefulness of both practical skills and school-wide programs.