Annette Idler A Few Things About Me Oregon Episcopal School, Class - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Annette Idler

A Few Things About Me

Oregon Episcopal School, Class of 1992

Oregon State University, Class of 1996 B.S. in Psychology, Minor in Neuropsychology

Boys Farm Home

• -Long hours
• -Supervision role
• - Learned a lot!

With my initial degree, I worked at...

CARDV Center Against Rape & Domestic Violence

• - Really Scary Situations
• - Long Hours
• - High Burnout
• - Learned alot!

Central Washington University, Class of 1998

• M. Ed. in School Psychology, NCSP

Full Year Internship in Puyallup, Washington 1999

Career Path

1. School Psychologist, a. Puyallup SD b. 2000-2004 2. School Psychologist a. Vancouver SD b. 2007-2014 3. School Psychologist/Counselor a. Portland Public Schools b. 2014-2016 4. Counselor a. Reynolds SD b. 2016-present

At elementary school in Vancouver, began working with a grant through Harvard Innovations and the impact of mindfulness on preschool children experiencing gang life & high levels of early trauma.

My Work Space Called the Dragon Den Trauma Intentional Space Focus on Mindfulness

Teacher Pay Scale Start Higher since have higher degree $53,000 - $88,000 ( + or -)

When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it’s our job to share our CALM, not join their chaos. ~L.R. Knost

Times Have changed

Distractions 60,000 thoughts a day

186 newspapers full of info

nervous system activation

• pportunities for quiet and calm

Technology

Pandemic

Solve the Riddle

What do we do ALL the time, without thinking, even when we are asleep?

Breathe

Mindfulness: paying attention to your thoughts, feelings and physical sensations in the present moment

I Focus on Teaching Children:

• Breathing Techniques
• Neuroscience
• Empathy
• Problem Solving

During the Pandemic, I Focus on Checking in with Families & Supporting their needs, getting them access to mental health services

Brain stem: REPTILIAN BRAIN- fully developed at birth and handles basic instincts/functions (sleep, hunger, breathing - SURVIVAL Limbic System: EMOTIONAL BRAIN - where emotions

and memories are created and processed

AMYGDALA: responds to stress Amygdala in action: HIPPOCAMPUS: storage vault of memory and previous learning PFC: Prefrontal Cortex: THE THINKING BRAIN AKA: “CEO”, “Yoda”, “The Control Center”

• The ability to: focus on a specific task, tune out the stimuli that

are not relevant to our task. temporarily hold information needed for decision-making and reasoning, curb impulses and adapt when rules or circumstances change

• This part of our brain allows us to think logically, act with

kindness and empathy, and it houses our reasoning and problem-solving abilities

REPTILIAN BRAIN EMOTIONAL BRAIN

THINKING BRAIN

HAND MODEL IS FROM DANIEL SIEGEL’S “THE WHOLE BRAIN CHILD”

The Amygdala in action…..

Pausing practices:

• increase awareness - challenge the

negativity bias

• creates opportunities to “pump the

brakes”

• Helps us respond vs. react
• Brain Integration!

Just breathe…….

What we look for we will find…...

You can’t stop the storm...so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.

• --timber hawkeye

Take-aways:

• Make space for just being, every day
• Mindfully manage your stress -

respond vs. react

• Quiet the inner critic
• breathe

Questions?

Trust your Journey.