Mental well being is important for everyone. Just like everyone has physical health, everyone has mental health. As we live as a community in the midst of a pandemic and racial strife, we are facing mental well being obstacles that sometimes seem overwhelming. I think it's safe to say, 2020 is too much.
Oftentimes, teachers and other school staff come to school counselors to find out how to support student mental well being. I've recently discovered the WE Teachers hub that includes a module on mental well being. The module is BIG (the full PDF is 52 pages). Knowing that everyone is rather overwhelmed right now, I thought I would point out a few highlights.
Oftentimes, teachers and other school staff come to school counselors to find out how to support student mental well being. I've recently discovered the WE Teachers hub that includes a module on mental well being. The module is BIG (the full PDF is 52 pages). Knowing that everyone is rather overwhelmed right now, I thought I would point out a few highlights.
Healthy Mental and Emotional Development by Age
In this tool, healthy mental and emotional development by age gives tips on typical struggles and growth that are a part of human development. We all know that mood swings might be normal for 10-12 year olds but that doesn't mean it's not hard. This module gives tips on how to support children through the very normal struggles of growing up. I think this section would be even better if they also included a few bullets on when to seek help.
Classroom Best Practices
The best practices for supporting mental well being in the classroom include tips for reframing our own mindsets as educators to avoid stigmatizing students or pre-determining that students are going to have a hard time. I appreciate this focus on how the adult enters the educator-student relationship impacts the outcome for the student. As counselors, we need to own this too.
The best practices section continues to include ways to be supportive of students. There are also tips for working with students who may have mental health concerns like anxiety and ADHD. Seeking help from school counselors is mentioned throughout as a resource. I appreciate both the acknowledgement of what school counselors can do (and also the fact they don't say guidance counselor).
The best practices section continues to include ways to be supportive of students. There are also tips for working with students who may have mental health concerns like anxiety and ADHD. Seeking help from school counselors is mentioned throughout as a resource. I appreciate both the acknowledgement of what school counselors can do (and also the fact they don't say guidance counselor).
Teacher Well Being
More than ever, we need to be thinking about teacher's mental well being. This was already a hard job. A rewarding, meaningful, and amazing but super hard job. As our world has been flipped upside down, teachers (and counselors, and principals, and cafeteria staff, and custodians...) are being tasked with a way to do school that has never been done before. This is hard. We can't be the educators we want to be without taking care of ourselves and each other too. The guide includes self reflection questions that can be utilized by staff to consider the resiliency factors that support their stress management. I think this would be a great tool to use in staff meetings or PLCs.
You've got a lot on your to-do list right now. This is a resource that you can use to support yourself and your staff as we move in to the 20-21 school year.
This post is sponsored by WE Teachers. All opinions and 2020 bashing are my own.
You've got a lot on your to-do list right now. This is a resource that you can use to support yourself and your staff as we move in to the 20-21 school year.
This post is sponsored by WE Teachers. All opinions and 2020 bashing are my own.
