Brenda McKinney

Are you looking for a course that will inspire you with powerful scientific proof that gratefulness can change your life? Groundbreaking research on gratefulness has shown that people are better able to deal with everyday stress while building their resilience and satisfaction with life, improving relationships, and creating more powerful connections. This course is a perfect choice for all teachers experiencing stress while working to balance career and family life and for struggling students experiencing loneliness, social anxiety, and lack of motivation.  

The pressure to keep up with global events leads to feeling defeated and anxious. Over 77% of people experience stress, anxiety, and loneliness. Our minds begin to spin while coping with underlying anxiety and tension. This course will teach gratitude, mindfulness, stress reduction, and visualization strategies. You will be invited to leave behind your overthinking mind as you explore the reason behind the incessant chatter of our overcharged brain. 

According to the CDC, 27% of teachers reported symptoms of depression and anxiety during the pandemic, and the reports of teacher fatigue have been excessive. Although students have returned to the classroom, they continue to struggle, and educators feel overwhelmed with the workload and provide emotional support. 

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States. It is estimated that 18% of the population struggle with anxiety and depression. The course text by Dr. Drew Ramsey, Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety, aids us in establishing a path toward enhanced mental health through food.

Don’t lose heart when everything you do to help failing students doesn’t work, because this course will turn that around.  You don’t have to lose students through the cracks anymore, as research-supported strategies based on neuroscience and mindset can help inspire interventions for powerful change. Your instructor, Brenda McKinney, has spent her career teaching, creating programs, and developing curriculum for failing students. You will learn practical, data-driven strategies

Who could imagine that by being fully present the nature of our mind and life could improve so noticeably? You see, there is only this present moment. The past is gone and the future has not yet come. Being led around by an undisciplined mind, we are trapped in thoughts, old emotions, outmoded biases and wrong attitudes, all of which cause stress, fatigue, conflict and suffering over which we have seemingly little control.  Participants in this course will appreciate and benefit greatly from Jon Kabat Zinn’s ground-breaking book, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Daily Life, a best-seller that made mindfulness a household word. Through the reading accompanied by videos you will learn: 

• Various forms of meditation using the breath, including different postures (sitting, walking, lying down) 
• To use nature as an object of meditation, such as a mountain, lake tree or favorite area in your garden
• How to deal with common difficulties in meditation
• How to monitor and cultivate healthy attitudes and let go of unworkable ones
• The benefits and techniques of loving-kindness meditation
• Ways to bring mindful practices to your work with students  

Humans have an incredible capacity for happiness but many hold tight to negative thinking. This limits growth, an ability to find passion or motivation, and quite simply, an inability to see the opportunity in tomorrow. It’s important to understand the science behind your evolutionary bias for hanging on to negative experiences. Did you know, there is a specific part of your brain, the amygdala, that is responsible for how you respond to situations and experiences?? Neuroscience has shown our ability to concentrate on happy thoughts depends the amygdala response. The goal of this course is to teach you how to train your mind to cultivate happiness and recognize when the brain is lying to you.

Students see right through us when we are not being ourselves. Standing in our authentic self is the personal foundation of good K-12 teaching, no matter what grade level, subject or personality type. In this course, you will draw upon the work of noted educator and writer, Parker Palmer, and researcher-author, Brene Brown, to help explore what may be getting in the way of being fully yourself. You will learn the steps you can take to reclaim your personal power.

The great wisdom traditions well as our own life stories point to the virtue of adversity. The obstacles and difficulties in our lives test us and can bring forth our greatest potential, leading to self-knowledge, character, courage and great achievement. You will view two movies, several TED Talks, and read two books about overcoming adversity from an Amazon and/or Goodreads list. The material reflects on the trials and successes of each life, and explores K-12 application of these themes.

Why do some children succeed while others fail? Have you experienced burnout with certain students and are not sure where to turn? Let’s turn this around. When students believe that dedication and hard work can change their performance in school, they grow to become resilient, successful students. Mindsets in the Classroom provides educators with ideas and strategies to build and maintain a growth mindset culture. The focus is on how persistence, hard work and grit can change students’ school performance. All teachers are looking for tools that will ignite a love of learning while communicating that every student can succeed. Do you want to find out how to capture and identify that mindset? Are you ready to create successful and resilient learners? Are you interested in learning the new research on IQ and brain plasticity in order to motivate and engage all students? Then join me for this exciting and transformative course. I recommend this course to any teacher, student, administrator, parent or professional developer who is looking to up their game.

Do you find yourself searching for happiness and never quite reaching it? Have you come to the realization that your health is not what it should be: extra pounds, fast food, and health implications? Healthy living is being offered to help you unleash your own power to recover and harness your energy for full health benefits. Uncover the surprising way in which your body is connected to the afflictions of civilization. Investigate the power of living in a more healthful way through your diet exercise, sleep, reactions to stress, mindfulness, and more. If your goal is to live a long and healthy life to the fullest, then you don’t want to miss this course. This course will highlight how the current pressure and stress in modern life have removed us from our biological needs and are making us ill. It is also about how to avoid this distress and find a way to happiness. This course is practical, disarming, loaded with research, and will ignite and inspire you to change and Go Wild. If you are looking to manage your stress levels, find more energy, improve your sleep, and sharpen your mental skills, join me for an experience that will help you secure a healthier, happier future. Healthy Living NOW! This course is appropriate for grades K-12 instructors, administrators, and parents.

The bad news is that poverty can create chronic, devastating changes in the brain. It would be easy to look at the statistics and want to give up. The good news is that there are powerful solutions to boost attendance, lessen behavior issues and turn your classroom into a high performance success, BUT you need the engagement strategies to help you do your job well. High performing students need high performing teachers. Every student deserves a caring engaging teacher. Attitudes and the strategies of yesterday are not enough. Join me to upgrade your teaching skills. Make it a priority to engage far more students every day. Fasten your seatbelt: These strategies work for all kids across the grade and content levels. Sign up NOW for an engaging, fast moving, practical experience. Appropriate for all educators and administrators K-12.

A good working memory is crucial to becoming a successful leaner. Mounting evidence links literacy and numeracy to strong working memory. This course will provide a coherent overview of the role played by working memory in learning and its development during the school years. It will offer teachers/counselors strategies for supporting working memory in students at all ages, especially those who are underperforming. You will receive hands-on support for utilizing numerous techniques including: chunking, organization, keywords, peg words, loci, mnemonics and many more. Don’t miss this opportunity ....

Emerging neuroscience and nutrition research show that a healthy diet improves mental and emotional well-being. Learn how to make better food choices, how so many unhappy meals are reaching us, what foods are really good and review research to not only change your body but your brain. For K-12 teachers, coaches, and parents. Our text "The Happiness Diet" clearly links food and mood.

Today's students differ greatly from each other and their learning needs vary more dramatically than ever! These differences are wide ranging and are being identified earlier. Such classroom disparities require all educators to think differently about teaching and learning; educators have been differentiating for ages. This class is intended to move you from where you are now (beginner, proficient, advanced) in the process of differentiation, to the next level essential for success.

Every single day we are bombarded with decisions. Do we choose the less enjoyable, better-for-me option or the more pleasurable alternative? Do students choose to turn in homework or do activities of their own choosing? A startling discovery is that willpower is depleted by usage.

Scientists now know so much more about how our students learn than thirty years ago and it is time to upgrade your learning. Did you know that our brains are not really designed for thinking? Did you know that most of what we learn is forgotten immediately?

If you are looking for a refreshing change of pace, this course is for you! Written by psychologist, Carol Dweck, Mindset, focuses on research that shows the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you live your life.

Teenagers can be mystifying to educators and parents. This course teaches you the biological and neurological changes taking place in the teen brain and how to navigate the abrupt shifts in emotion and behavior. You will have a chance to read the current research which will dispel commonly held myths about teens but also yield practical suggestions for adeducators who are negotiating the mysterious and magical world of adolescent biology. We all know about teens in the classroom, difficulty paying attention, drama, moodiness, and risky behaviors.  Educators can use these insights developed from current research to help students achieve their full potential both in and out of the classroom. This exciting course provides practical strategies for creating a more academically and emotionally productive classroomm providing the skills and understanding you need to be successful, no matter what you face with the teens in your classroom.

The evidence is incontrovertible: Aerobic exercise can physically remodel your brain for peak performance. Our text, SPARK presents startling research proving that exercise truly defends against ADD, depression, and aggression. Learn about amazing case studies: the revolutionary fitness program in Naperville, Illinois that made this school district's 19,000 kids #1 in science test scores in the world!