July 31, 2020, 9 a.m.
Volume 1, Resources 13: Breathing Techniques & More Antiracist Resources
Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice
Hi friends! How’s it going? There are a few things that have been keeping me going and bringing me joy lately and I want to share them. The first is that my plumeria has finally bloomed and she is beautiful:
<image of a cluster of plumeria flowers which are yellow with pink edges>
The second is, still, baking. Recently I baked brown sugar cookies made with browned butter from America’s Test Kitchen Perfect Cookie Book.
<image of nine brown sugar cookies on a baking tray>
I also tweaked a chocolate tea cake recipe from a vintage Hershey’s cookbook that I got from my aunt and baked it in this loaf pan that I recently got. Which, that’s definitely one of my not-so-secret baking tricks: get an elaborate baking receptacle (bundt pan, loaf pan, etc.) and then even if you make something really basic, it still looks stunning.
<image of chocolate loaf cake baked in a pan that gives it a bit of a swirly design>
Today is a resource day! I’ve got a couple great things to share, so let’s get to it.
Resource #1: Antiracist Resources for Teachers by Teachers
Yes, this says it is “for teachers” but honestly, there are things here for everyone: parents, librarians, people who don’t even know any children. Everyone. The site was created by three elementary school teachers, Chiaka Chuks, Jasmine Azimi, and Rachel Caldwell in Albemarle County, Virginia. One of the things I like about this page, aside from the great layout, is the variety of accessible resources. You’ll recognize a lot of the resources from my absolutely massive list of antiracist resources and they even include the implicit bias test I had mentioned back in May.
The categories of resources are great:
Picture Books
Book for Personal Growth
Articles
Who to Follow
Podcasts
Movies/Documentaries
Young Adult Literature
And a special section on Culturally Responsive Teaching with its own resources
See the site here: Antiracist Resources for Teachers by Teachers
Resource #2: Box Breathing & Five Finger Breathing
Three weeks ago I mentioned an anxiety countdown tool and shortly after that I came across the Five Finger Breathing technique to help quell anxiety. I watched a video on it and the person in the video mentioned the Box Breathing technique and they made a video for that so then I went and found THAT video and I want to share them both because I find them both useful. The Box Breathing video has a bit of information on why we’re even doing this so I’ll put that one first below. It’s about 6 ½ minutes long. The Five Finger Breathing video is only about 2 minutes long. Note that in the Box Breathing video at around the 4:40 mark, the person does the exercise without narrating verbally and instead relies on text. This is not helpful for folks who are unable to read or see the text, but know that in the first portion of the video they do describe the exercise in detail.
Also, the video says that the Five Finger Breathing is for kids. It is not just for kids. If you are breathing, then it is for you regardless of age.
That’s it for this week! If you enjoy this newsletter, feel free to subscribe, forward it to a friend, and/or give me a tip!