Frequently Asked Question
1. Are there any schools around here that have done this workshop and do they have reviews of the workshop?
Yes, we have had repeated sessions in each school listed below. We can provide you with contact information upon request, if you would like to hear their feedback and classroom experience with Shine Bright Workshops.
Downey Elementary School, Westwood
Sheehan Elementary School, Westwood
Bennet-Hemmenway, Natick
Memorial Spaulding, Newton
Oldham Elementary School, Norwood
Callahan Elementary School, Norwood
Balch Elementary School, Norwood
Cleveland Elementary School, Norwood
McKinley School, Boston
DAle Street School, Medfield
Private Workshops:
Grades 1-5 at the Center of Westwoods
Walpole Recreation Department - Summer Camp
Nobles And Greenough Summer Camp - Mindfulness Workshops with Jane
Norwood Girl Scouts
Mass Motion Dance - The Girls Academy Workshop
2. Do the teachers stay with the kids during the workshop or are the teachers brought out for their session at the same time?
Yes, the teachers will stay with the students during the workshop. During our school workshops, we find it most powerful to present in the classroom so children learn calming techniques in the setting they will be using them in.
During Covid, we are presenting these workshops remote online.
3. Do any of the workshop leaders have psychological background?
No, we do not have psychological backgrounds but collectively we have certifications in yoga, meditation, energy healing, and education. You can read our individual credentials listed in our bios here.
4. How does this relate to the educational atmosphere?
We teach specific physical, mental, and emotional exercises, to help children manage their feelings in the classroom and in daily life.
We show the students how to use their body, breath and mind to regulate anxiety, over- whelm, and fear, around test taking, social situations and more. This relates to the educational atmosphere by teaching children where their feelings live inside their bodies so they can access positive feelings about themselves and have more room in their mind and bodies to focus on learning and retaining information.
There is science based research showing how mindfulness is helping children tune into the learning process, assisting them with emotional and self regulation, focus, decision making and more.
We usually can’t control the stress that comes our way, but we can control how we respond to it.
Through self acceptance tools, yoga, meditation, breath work, and props, we provide a solid foundation of simple calming techniques children can understand and implement in any situation, at any time day.
Teacher Feedback
What do you remember most from our workshop?
*The various tapping and breathing strategies to promote calming.
*Learning lots of different calming techniques - shoulder and temple tapping
*Starfish breathing
*Colorful rocks and dark rocks to illustrate positive and negative thoughts
*Singing bowl
*Dream catcher worksheet, which was great because it was interactive and could be easily applied to the upcoming MCAS. The glitter jar, which kids were mesmerized by. And all the positive affirmations for the kids. It was such a fun, engaging, and helpful experience. We loved it!
*I-am-so-___ confidence booster and other strategies for self-calming/boosting
What do you see easily integrating into you classroom routines from the workshop? (language, phrases, methods, etc)
*The calming glitter jar & various tapping/breathing strategies. *Positive thought, self-calming techniques
*Everything! This is everything we are practicing every day! Centering our thoughts, being proactive instead of reactive, tapping into our inner strength etc etc
*Some of the different taping exercises with fingers ("I am confident," etc.)
*Body tapping to revive/relax, and other strategies for being mindful phrases and language
Did/do the children have any feedback to share with us?
*They absolutely loved it!
*"I liked the glitter jar because it helped people relax when they had a problem."
*"I thought that the dream catchers were really creative in the way that they did it."
*Yes! They love realizing their potential and having real strategies to use when tricky situations arise!
*The kids LOVED the jar with the glitter in it. Certain kids especially gravitated toward it for days and found it really calming.
What improvements can we make to the workshop? (teaching,strategies, content, length of program, etc)
*It was great, just the way it was. If possible, I'd love to have a series of the Shine Bright workshops leading up to MCAS next year. If kids could learn about and practice the strategies multiple times, I think it would help them incorporate those strategies during testing, and everyday events.
*I think having this session before MCAS was helpful, but perhaps even better to have it mul- tiple times throughout the year to allow time to develop those good routines/use of the strategies before getting to the end of year testing.