One S.M.a.r.t. teacher - NOV. '23

Our three day workshops are packed with information and we don’t expect you to remember it all! When you have a question, need clarification, or simply need help, please reach out like One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher from Hales Corner, WI, Diane Shippell, did. She attended a workshop with us a few years ago. Like many, Diane and her colleagues were excited about S.M.A.R.T. and went back to school prepared to begin implementation right away. Her school now boasts a motor lab and motor hallway. Diane reached out to us with a question regarding material for a vision activity. 
​
Tactile Trackers are an activity that aid in developing smooth eye movements. We have received so much feedback from educators that the hallway or just outside the bathrooms have been a very effective place for this activity. In Diane’s school, this activity is in the motor hallway.

Diane’s questions centered around where she could get more of these Tactile Trackers. While we do not provide templates for them, we did a little digging and found some options for you. In our chat with Diane, we discovered that her team used mindfulness mats as the mazes to trace in the hallway. Genius! This is a great way to make use of a resource in different ways. 
​
Mindfulness mats are used in childcare and classroom settings to help with emotional regulation and breathing techniques. If you have these kinds of mats, why not place them on the wall as a visual pursuit to encourage smooth eye movements? We couldn’t help but get excited at the idea of using the mats as a center activity one week for mindfulness and then having them hung up the next week as Tactile Trackers! Multi-purpose resources definitely feel like they fit into the “work S.M.A.R.T.er, not harder” category.

These kinds of mats are available from many sources but to make things easier, here are a few links to some we feel would make great Tactile Trackers. 
​

• WainboughCo on Etsy: /listing/967960309/finger-tracing-calming-cards-printable
• TPT - Gentle Observations: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mindfulness-Meditation-Breathing-Finger-Tracing-Calm-Down-Activity-Cards-8051341?st=6c72dff3499aec3b2e40d6c586caef6a
• TPT - Gentle Observations: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mindfulness-Meditation-Breathing-Finger-Tracing-Calm-Down-Activity-Cards-8051341?st=6c72dff3499aec3b2e40d6c586caef6a
• TPT - Project Based Primary LLC: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mindfulness-Mats-Social-Emotional-Learning-Bilingual-8486305

References: 

• ​Pre-K CORE guide: pg. 64
• Curriculum guide: pg. 148