This event is open to GGC faculty and staff only. Please register with your GGC e-mail address. Mindful Mondays Do you typically feel like you’re being pulled in a dozen different directions at once, with no time or energy to find your balance? Make a small (but potentially rewarding) investment in yourself this year and join us in the Center for Teaching Excellence for Mindful Mondays. These weekly mindfulness sessions are intended to give you a chance to just sit still and breathe for awhile – to relax, de-stress, and re-center yourself. We will have two sessions each Monday, one from 9:30 – 10:30 am and another from 1:30 – 2:30 pm. Each hour will be broken into two half-hour periods, in which a half-hour introductory session will be followed by a half-hour of silent meditation. You do not have to stay for the full hour, or even for a full half-hour. Come for ten or fifteen minutes, or for however long you are able to stay. If you have already participated in the introductory session and would like more time to meditate, you’re welcome to come and sit through the entire session. Complete beginners are welcome, as are experienced practitioners. For more information, go to this website. If you have any questions about Mindful Mondays, please contact the CTE. Schedule: 1:30 – 1:40 pm: Introduction / instruction 1:40 – 1:50 pm: Guided meditation 1:50 – 1:55 pm: Silent meditation 1:55 – 2:00 pm: Reflection / comments / Q&A 2:00 – 2:30 pm: Silent meditation Facilitator: Mr. Michael D. Smith – Digital Learning Specialist Michael D. Smith is the Digital Learning Specialist for the Center for Teaching Excellence. He holds an M.Ed. in Learning, Design, and Technology (with an emphasis on Instructional Design and Development) from the University of Georgia. Michael spent over twenty years working with information / academic technology at Emory University before completing his Master’s degree and moving to Gwinnett Technical College, where he worked as an instructional designer / LMS administrator. Michael is particularly interested in student engagement and motivation, the development of learning communities, blended / online learning, gamification and game-based learning, augmented reality, and virtual worlds and immersive 3D learning environments.