ClassDojo and Yale Join Forces to Bring Mindfulness to Millions of Kids Around the World
Previous Original Series on Growth Mindset, Empathy Seen by 1 in 3 Kids Under 14 in the U.S.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today ClassDojo and the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence announced a partnership to bring mindfulness to millions of kids around the world. Together, ClassDojo and Yale have created a set of activities related to 'Mindfulness' for home and school, to be made available to all ClassDojo teachers and parents over the coming weeks.
It has been shown that regular mindfulness practice – even just a few minutes per day – improves students' optimism, reduces stress, and increases students' ability to feel empathy for others.
"Practicing mindfulness helps to reduce stress and enhance attention – factors critical to a child's success, not only in school but later in life," says Marc Brackett Ph.D., Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and Professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University. "The challenge is ensuring that students, regardless of where their school is located, have the opportunity to benefit from mindfulness. ClassDojo provides an exciting opportunity to extend the powerful benefits of mindfulness to tens of millions of students."
ClassDojo also conducted a new, national survey which found that even though only 13% of teachers and parents report having a mindfulness practice at their school, 70% want one.
"Learning to center yourself, stay focused, and be aware of others' feelings are all things I know will benefit my students far into the future," said Cindy Price a first grade teacher in Delaware. "When my class found out the ClassDojo monsters would be talking about mindfulness, they were so excited they did research into it ahead of time and found some 'mindful yoga' poses to do in preparation!"
ClassDojo's previous activity series on Growth Mindset and Empathy have been seen by 1 in 3 kids under the age of 14 in the U.S.
"When ClassDojo's series on Growth Mindset and Empathy came out, my daughter insisted on having us watch the series and do the activities together at home," said Clarissa Miles a parent in Tennessee. "As a parent, knowing I can have these incredible memories and bonding moments with my daughter is really special."
As with ClassDojo's previous collaborations with Stanford (PERTS) and Harvard (Making Caring Common Project), the Mindfulness activities will be made available to all ClassDojo classrooms around the world.
"We believe that to help teachers create incredible classrooms at scale, classrooms need to have access to the best ideas in the world," said Chris Frank, head of research at ClassDojo. "In partnering with Yale, we have the ability to help millions of kids learn about mindfulness – from the US to Turkey to South Korea. For many of them, May will be the month of Mindfulness: we can't wait to see the reaction!"
ClassDojo now reaches 90% of K-8 schools in the U.S. as well as schools in over 180 countries.
"The companies that get my attention are the ones transforming education at an unprecedented scale. ClassDojo is that company," said Deborah Quazzo, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at GSV Acceleration. "This partnership with Yale is another step towards ClassDojo's vision of helping any teacher, anywhere, create an incredible, modern classroom."
ClassDojo: Mindfulness will begin on May 8, with activity guides and short videos for home and school released over the course of following two weeks.
For more information on ClassDojo's Mindfulness activities, please visit https://www.classdojo.com/ideas and https://www.classdojo.com/about.
About ClassDojo
ClassDojo's mission is to give teachers, parents, and students the power to create incredible classrooms. Founded in 2011 and based in San Francisco, California, ClassDojo is a communication platform that helps teachers, parents, and students share what's happening during the school day through photos, videos, and messages. It is helping teachers in every country in the world transform their students' educational experience by enabling them to create incredible, modern classrooms. Today, 90% of K-8 schools in the U.S., as well as a further 180 countries, have joined ClassDojo. To learn more, visit: https://www.classdojo.com/ or Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
About the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence
Emotions drive learning, decision making, creativity, relationships, and health. The Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence uses the power of emotions to create a healthier, and more equitable, productive, and compassionate society, today and for future generations. We conduct research and design educational approaches that support people of all ages in developing emotional intelligence and the skills to thrive and contribute to society. We do this work because the well-being and sustainability of our society depends on each of us using our emotions intelligently. To learn more, visit: http://ei.yale.edu/ or Facebook and Twitter.
SOURCE ClassDojo
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