Mindful Music Moments

4 minutes a day for a more calm, focused learning environment.

Imagine an entire school -- students, teachers, and administrators -- taking time each morning to turn inward together, listen to a brief mindful creativity and/or SEL prompt and world-class music. That's Mindful Music Moments (MMM), now in 300+ PreK-12 schools daily, often using the morning announcements as a delivery system, in partnership with world-class performing arts organizations.

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2016

Established

100K

Children

1

Countries

Target group

Other

Updated

April 2024

Teacher and student feedback tells us that the routine of MMM can shift school culture. Both students and staff are able to self-regulate their emotions in a positive way to create a more calm, focused school environment amidst a very chaotic and chronically stressed world.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

We had been working with youth since 2005. The number of students reporting anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation was increasing and impacting younger and younger students. While leading a daily mindfulness/SEL pilot with refugee and immigrant students, we heard the morning announcements and thought "could that be a bandwidth to help all students and staff practice self regulation?"

What does your innovation look like in practice?

We create daily guided audio and video journeys that include a mindful, creative prompt and a 3-minute piece of music. Each piece of music repeats for 5 days, yet the prompts vary to create new/renewed access points to regulation (breath or pulse noticing), creativity (if this music were a color, what color would it be?), emotions, and critical listening.

We partner with performing arts partners (symphonies, operas, new music creators) and/or commission music to create a 40+ week playlist for use in schools. Each year, our calming selections represent diverse musicians and composers to match our student demographics.

Content is available via password or integration into existing school portals for ease of use by one "owner" - over the announcements - or by individual teachers/students and parents. We work with the school to determine how they can maximize usage and match each unique school culture.

How has it been spreading?

We began with a single school pilot in 2016. We now reach more that 300 schools nationally with several playlists. Schools receive the program for free (assuming there is a local sponsor) or, at most, pay $1000 a year for the content, which is fundable via Title I/Title IV funds and/or other funds designated for SEL and mental and emotional wellbeing. We have never turned down a school that wants the content.

Our growth has been organic and supported by word-of-mouth, by being featured in platforms like Greater Good in Education and PBS NewsHour, and because of our partnerships with performing arts organizations in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and more.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

Reach out to us! We will set up a virtual call to learn about your school and how we can best assist you. Preview content is also available on our website at TheWell.World/MMM.

Implementation steps

Overview

MMM is innovative in that the mindfulness steps are built into the audio and video assets so that staff does not have to do any mindfulness or music education. The following steps outline how The Well works to connect, engage and inspire the gatekeepers in education to use this simple program.

Step 1: Connect

We love to connect with all of our schools using MMM. We meet with lead teams and entire staff to brainstorm ideas for how MMM can adapt to your unique needs and gain a deeper understanding of how the practices of mindfulness and music make a positive difference for youth brain development. We'll also help you through our easy subscription process and onboard key stakeholders and staff.

Step 2: Engage

MMM is most easily implemented for 4 minutes daily over the morning announcements to provide everyone in the school (including teachers and staff) a daily dose of calm that doesn't have to cut into academic time. The program can also be implemented throughout the day whenever a moment of calm and refocusing is needed, like after lunch, gym, or recess, or before a test.

Step 3: Inspire

We designed MMM as a resource for an entire school community. That includes teachers, students, staff, paraprofessionals, parents, and anyone else who could benefit from having a Mindful Moment in their day.
By sharing the login information with the entire school, appreciating music, and taking a brief moment each day to reflect, MMM can become a deeply loved part of coming to school and being ready to learn.

Step 4: Listen and Improve

Our program has evolved year after year based on direct feedback from educators in our yearly survey and open communication channels. Improvements include creating a Preschool-specific version of MMM, adding Spanish translations and weekly student worksheets, and innovating daily animated video content with two local Cincinnati animation firms.