Module 6, Session 8 focused on the importance of teacher wellness. Taking care of our own health as educators presents an opportunity to show our students what managing emotions, setting personal goals, and investing in healthy relationships look like in difficult circumstances. Do you have any examples of how you model this for your students, particularly in a remote or hybrid setting?
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My colleague and I held a month long workshop called the Power of Podcasting for teachers, one of weeks was a focus on personal growth and entertainment. They look an assessment Wheel of LifeĀ and ranked what was most important to them, personally. Following that they researched and shared out podcasts they found that they really connected with. It was so fun!
I once heard the phrase, "you can't drink from an empty cup". And I truly beleive in supporting teachers to fill up their cups. In order to do this, in team meetings (regardless of the learning environment in which they take place), we always follow the CASEL 3 Signature Practices (1)Warm Welcome (2)Interactive Activities (3)Optimistic Closure. Thus, at all of our meetings, we have time to connect and build relationships. Again, this happens if we on are Zoom or if we are in-person.
I love the idea of using music in the classroom! And as stated by other people it can most certainly be used across learning platforms! NYSUT has now offered the Calm app to all NYS teachers for free and our district is utilizing that as a form of teacher/staff wellness. We also have a family support center that offers free yoga, mediation, and other forms of wellness classes.
My school has a teacher-run club that focuses entirely on teacher wellness, motivation and support. Whether it's crafting condolence cards, setting up meal trains or holding celebrations for certain milestones, it provides a model so students can see examples of how the teacher community holds its members up in times of struggle.
I used to work in a school that was all girls grades 7-12. I was a permanent sub for the building, and I mainly taught science with some electives. All the young ladies that I taught came from broken homes or had traumatic events. Only 10 of them were bused in from their districts, and the rest lived on grounds. As a teacher we were given card that we kept on us. It listed 3 of OUR coping skills. There were times when one of the girls may start yelling throwing things, or their may be fights. I experienced a few in the 2 years I was there. My colleagues checked on me, and even took my card to make sure I was calm enough to help all the students. This card was modeled after something that was used for the students. It was something I thought was very powerful for the student and the teacher. I still have my card today, and I have a colleagued that had put me down as someone who was safe and they could talk to. To this day I still get texts and calls from them when they are struggling. It created self awareness and a community.
I was the Wellness coordinator for a large district and led many activities for staff that I talked about with students. Examples include a teacher bowling night to raise money for scholarships and participation in the Chase Corporate Challenge as a teacher team. These examples showed students how we could be physically and socially active with our peers which are two big parts of personal wellness.
My school district purchases a subscription to the "CALM" app for all employees each year. This app is a great resource in mindset, meditation, breathing, helping get enough sleep, etc. Our assistant superintendent sends us a weekly reminder about the app and features something from it to focus on. We are encouraged to share the app with our students and allow them to get the free version. When the students know we are caring for ourselves, we are leading by example and hopefully self-care will rub off on them.
I love to play music in my library. We always have instrumental music playing. I feel that when students walk into the classroom, and are welcomed with music, the worries melt away. Music can be played in hybrid or fully virtual settings. Especially, as you wait for students to enter a zoom or Google Meet, just having the music playing is welcoming. Sometimes we play a game. The first one to guess the instrumental song has to "raise their hand" and when called on can name that tune! My students like that. I also like to play bingo or have days with no technology.