Blog – Page 88

May 21, 2019 Michelle Fenn Classroom Management, Constant Learning, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education, Mindfulness, Professional Learning and Growth, Wellness

Don’t Judge a Teacher By The Bulletin Board

I remember going to the Reading for the Love of It Conference in Toronto for the first time as a fairly new teacher. I heard Mary Bigler speak in a motivational keynote address. She told a story that has stuck through me through the years. It was about a brand new teacher who was full of energy, enthusiasm, great “new” ideas and some judgement about her “older” colleague across the hall that taught the next grade. This young teacher, (let’s call her Samantha), made sure that students were working in co-operative groups and made the learning exciting and engaging. The teacher across the hall (let’s call her Eunice) had a structured, desks-in-rows, routine program and a quiet classroom. Samantha often stayed after school into her evenings changing her bulletin boards and arranging desks into new formations. Eunice would often leave shortly after the bell and sometimes her bulletin board was empty! Throughout the year this Samantha considered her program to be superior. She had learned all of these “new” strategies in teacher’s college and looked upon the program of her colleague as being antiquated. She loved hearing that she was the “fun” and “best” teacher. However, no matter what Samantha tried there were students who she could not seem to reach. She tried all of the strategies that she had learned and she felt that she had given her all. When it was time to send her students on to the Eunice for the next grade, Samantha was distraught. Certainly the students would not do as well as they had in her engaging program. They would be bored and wouldn’t thrive within the rigid structure Eunice’s classroom. Would those “unreachable” students fall further behind?

Samantha was surprised by what she witnessed in the fall with “her” students. The students that had experienced her “exciting” program were also enjoying Eunice’s classroom. They talked with excitement about what they were reading and writing and referred to Eunice as being the “best” teacher. The few students who Samantha couldn’t seem to reach were thriving with the routine, quiet and structure of their new classroom. Samantha learned a few things during that first year experience:

1. You can’t judge a teacher by the bulletin board. The culture of a classroom can only be truly experienced by the students. We don’t really know what goes on behind the closed classroom door of a colleague.

2. Every teacher has a different skill set. Although Samantha was an engaging and exciting teacher, the students that she couldn’t reach thrived in a routine and structured environment.

3. Children can have short memories. In the primary grades, the “best” and “favourite” teacher often changes each year to their new classroom teacher. It isn’t personal. It is about the reference point of a six year old.

4. Comparing ourselves to other teachers doesn’t serve the students. Working longer hours doesn’t always mean that a teacher is more effective, it might mean that they are less efficient. Teachers with experience likely have a better understanding of the curriculum and can rely on lessons that they have previously prepared. Teachers who have an understanding of work-life balance also may have more energy to offer their students.

5. The experienced teacher across the hall has years of experience with strategies to serve the needs of students. Instead of judging; ask for their help. Most of them would be more than happy to share their strategies and wisdom with a colleague.

It isn’t about being “Teacher of the Year”. It is about being the teacher that your students need.

May 13, 2019May 13, 2019 Kelly.McLaughlin 21st Century Learning, Celebrating Success, Constant Learning, Curriculum Planning, Differentiated Instruction, Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Learning in a Real Life Context, Making a Difference Through Education, Professional Learning and Growth, Resources, self reflection, Technology in school, Use of Technology, Using technology well

Collaborative Inquiry Celebration

The other day, many teachers from across my school board gathered together to share with other educators how their year long inquiry project went. As I have mentioned in previous posts, mine was about starting our own business as a class and inspiring my students through leadership. I shared with the other educators these successful stories from our project “8A TREATS”:

how many of my less successful students with traditional subjects have been excelling during this project
the success my students had with gathering data from classes around the school
collecting permission forms from the entire school
advertising by making imovies, posters and using a dinosaur mascot to travel around with a fake smoothie
tallying the smoothie results for flavours and sizes with spreadsheets
counting and tracking the money with spreadsheets
find and then order paper straws from Amazon to be environmentally friendly
working with a budget that was donated from the student success foundation
designing logos as a class, voting on the best one and then collaborating with a clothing design company to recreate this on their products
painting and creating a wall in our classroom that will be the location behind our brand
creating a video to explain the project as well as talk about our favourite parts

(<<<our student create wall)

Our next steps with our project:

doing the math to find out how much of each ingredient we will now (plus extra) to make the smoothies
ordering the cups
setting up our classroom as a pop-up smoothie store
making 340+ smoothies on June 6th with our 22 students

It was very exciting sharing this project with my fellow educators. My students were very excited knowing that this project was shared with other teachers. They were proud when I told them how excited other teachers were to find out about this student centered initiative.

There were other educators who shared exciting inquiry projects:

My colleague Lydia shared about her “Community Helpers” project where her grade one students inquired in various ways about the many community helpers in our neighbourhood. She had a guest police officer come by as well as had the students use their hands to explore various jobs. They were able to build, play with food as well as research all of the jobs available to them. The final touch was when my grade eight class came to help them put their thoughts together in an inquiry package. It was great to see her students so passionate about their future. To find out about her project, you can visit her twitter account @AppolonialydiaL. You can also view her project on this link <iframe class=”wp-block-mexp-vimeo hwdsb-tv” src=”//hwdsb.tv/media/grade-one-collaborative-inquiry-2019/?embed=true” width=”560″ height=”315″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>
Teachers used a choice board to give students options when creating or completing tasks. These boards are made in collaboration with the teacher at the beginning of the year to go over all of the ways that presenting or completing every day tasks can be done that year. Apps are explored and used in new and innovative ways. I cannot wait to create a choice board in my literacy class next year. There was also a SAMR model student choice matrix that was introduced to us. It’s not the app that makes the project/task, it is how it’s used.
I also heard about makerspaces from one of my other colleagues Cara. She introduces these daily in her library and students are able to create very interesting projects from her instruction cards set up at the tables. They are always able to be creative, explore and build in her library. They also explore media literacy during these creative library sessions.

There were many other projects I could not get to since we only had a half hour to explore and the other half hour was to share about our own projects. Some other apps worth checking out are: seesaw, read&write, book creator, keynote, canva, geogebra, TC studio and pear deck.

May 12, 2019May 12, 2019 Deb Weston General

Emotional labour: What matters most to our students

As a mother of adult children, I find with every year they get older, I take on less physical labour and more emotional labour in supporting them through their life. It’s the heart breaks and the support in adult decision making that keeps me in the “mom loop”. There is also supporting my children with money and other resources but that’s a whole other discussion.

Emotional labour is the act of supporting a person who needs to suppress their emotions (Wilkinson, 2018). The term was first used in 1983 by American sociologist Arlie Hochschild.

In 2017, Harper’s Bazaar (Hartley, 2017) used the term in relation to being the manager of a household that remembers all the things that need to be done to keep a household and its occupants functioning. This includes putting stuff back where it is suppose to go and finding stuff that others have misplaced because they did not put it back. It also includes remembering birthdays, kids’ schedules, dietary guidelines for school lunches, school events, family member’s calendars and schedules, food and household item inventory, and organizing laundry and home repairs. So it’s not just about housework, its more work than house work … because housework ends.

My adult children do not live with me but I still take on many of these tasks keeping track of people’s stuff. In my current role of wife, I am the ultimate finder of all things in my house.

Given the above description, it sounds a lot like a teacher’s job too. As teachers, we need to keep track of everything … the location of every form, lunch bag, test, assignment, running shoe, gym bag, and anything else students brings to and from school. As teachers, we are also responsible for supporting students’ emotional needs and behaviours. I’ve personally noticed that my role as a supporter of emotional needs and behaviours has increased significantly. This makes teaching even more challenging.

As a teacher and a mom, I still spend most of my time listening to students and my own children and supporting them in their lives. It’s one of the most important jobs we can do as parents and as professionals. It matters most to our students.

Happy Mother’s Day to All,

Collaboratively Yours,

Deb Weston

References

Hartley, G. (Sept, 27, 2017). Women aren’t nags, we’re just fed up: Emotional labor is the unpaid job men still don’t understand. Harper’s Bazaar. Downloaded from https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a12063822/emotional-labor-gender-equality/

Wilkinson, S. (December 24, 2018). Why was everyone talking about emotional labour in 2018? BBC. downloaded from https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/5ea9f140-f722-4214-bb57-8b84f9418a7e

May 3, 2019 Michelle Fenn 21st Century Learning, Advocacy for change, Building Inclusion, Coding, Constant Learning, Equity, Gender Equity, Gender stereotypes, General, Genius Hour, Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Integration, Learning in a Real Life Context, Making a Difference Through Education, Math, Mentorship, Modern Learning, Planning, Professional Learning and Growth, Resilience, Resources, Robotics, Technology, Technology in school, The Global Competencies, Use of Technology, Using technology well, Women at Work

The Gender Gap in Technology

According to a recent report* by ICTC (the Information and Technology Information Council) Canadian women represent about 50% of the overall workforce but represent only 25% of the technology industry workforce. Of the 100 major tech companies in Canada only 5 have female CEOs and 1 Co-CEO. 26% of the tech companies have no women in senior leadership at all. There is a gender wage gap in the industry of $7,000-$20,00 per year. When I read these statistics I wondered as educators, what can we do about the gender gap in technology? This is not an exhaustive list, but it is a place to begin:

1. Build her confidence in her abilities.

2. Cultivate a community of supportive peers.

3. Provide a STEM/STEAM club for girls.

4. Ensure that access to technology and computer experiences is encouraged and inclusive.

5. Foster interest in computing careers.

6. Be a role model as a LEARNER.

May 11th is National Girls Learning Code Day. If you are looking to encourage coders in your school, why not begin on May 11th? Below you will find links to resources for beginning coding. Many students code on their own at home and may appreciate the opportunity to mentor fellow students. The resources attached will get you started. There is no special equipment or robotics required. Teachers do not have to be expert coders to encourage their students. Teachers can be role models of resilience, risk taking and problem solving by learning alongside their students. Teachers only need to open the door and expose their students to the opportunities.

Girls Who Code Canada

National Girls Learn Code Day

*Cutean, A., Ivus, M. (2017). The Digital Talent Dividend: Shifting Gears in a Changing Economy. Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC). Ottawa, Canada.

Elaborated and written by Alexandra Cutean (Director, Digital Innovation Research and Policy). and Maryna Ivus (Senior Analyst, Research and Policy) with generous support from the ICTC Research and Policy Team.

May 1, 2019 Will Gourley Advocacy for change, Advocacy for public education, Challenging Topics, General, Making a Difference Through Education, Occasional Teachers, Occasional Teaching, solidarity, Why unions matter

Remember to breathe (as you continue to inspire others)

I checked in on a few of my former student teachers today. Each of whom are shining examples of professionalism, commitment, and creativity in their classrooms. They have been on my mind alot lately, as daily news of the government sponsored attrition games occupy headlines and conversations across the province. I am sure they represent the hundreds, even thousands of new educators who have recently joined our calling.

It’s rough out there right now, and for many new hires to school boards the uncertainties of the day are leaving many wondering what the future holds? For each one of these amazing educators, things are changing and there is not much they can do to about it until the facts and figures are finalized. It must be difficult to know that the educational landscape is shaking beneath so many feet. We all need something to hold on through the experience.

Sharing what we have in the emotional toolbox may be all that can be done for now. I encourage everyone to keep checking in on one another as we remain united and ride out the storm. A call, an email, or time for a cup of coffee could provide a little needed encouragement. I have noticed that even veteran teachers are feeling the tension of these days too. I have caught myself stress eating, acting a little more impatient than usual, and struggling for motivation. I’ve taken to breathing exercises to slow down my busy mind. Perhaps it’s the unknowns of it all that are keeping me off my game?

To get a sense of it all I have been turning to Andrew Campbell. He curates Ontario Education Cuts. This is a list of announcements and projections from school boards and grade panels that challenges the message being delivered by the province to the public and school boards about job losses, shrinking course offerings, expanding class sizes, and shifts to online instruction.

The information and numbers in this document seem to add up differently than political messages about job losses over time due to attrition and attrition alone. Maybe there is a Math Curriculum revision opportunity in the works here since such skewed accounting discrepancies exist?

What we all need is to have the complete set of numbers to work with before we can truly provide assurances to our new teachers that there will be jobs for them in education.

I remind myself that I am surrounded by incredibly dedicated and caring professionals whose lives are dedicated to making the world a better place. Stay informed. Stay encouraged. Be strong. We are all here to support and lift each other up when things get rough. Sometimes it might be a time for a cup of coffee and a conversation. Other times, it might be a simple reminder to breathe.

May 1, 2019 Will Gourley Advocacy for public education, Challenging Topics, General, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education, Social Justice, solidarity, Teaching as a public profession, Why unions matter

Bursting bubbles

POP!
What’s
that sound?
Fear and loss,
dreams – on hold,
watching, without a
voice as opportunity
is cut and cancelled.
For the people, or
for their bank
accounts?

Doubts – fill the staffroom.
Murmurs – echo down the halls.
Uncertainties – buzz through minds.

Bubbles – bursting before they are even formed.
Cuts like needles meant to pierce hearts and minds.

Are preparations being made for a classless class war?
Why has education been made the enemy in our province?

They say the bitter pills prescribed in government cuts must be taken or else there won’t be a future and that everyone must sacrifice because this mess is nobody’s and everybody’s fault. Yet, why aren’t elected officials in line for the same medicine that they’re prescribing? We hear tonnes of sound bites and sound bluffs. We see posturing on every stump, but where are the planters and peace makers after the forest that is public education has been razed?

We see fingers pointing in every direction because everyone is worried more about the colour of the ink on the spreadsheet than the lives that it will stain to change it.

What message is being sent to our youth by the adults, who cannot get along? The same adults making decisions about their futures? We ask our students to advocate, invest, and dedicate to their potential. We teach them to think critically, consider the facts, and make good choices. We expect students to buy into a better system, but it has already been sold out by the ones elected to take care of it.

Investing in our youth and their education should never come at a cost of denying them anything less than what their predecessors and parents had before them. Opportunity cost may be a term from an Economics textbook to understand the potential for a loss by doing something else. When we consider where things are heading in schools over the next few years, the money saved will never make up for the lost opportunity, innovation, and productivity, or the imminent financial and social costs.

Remember. Quality only hurts once. Our students are worth it. The work we provide prepares and protects them to possess a future. Our youth cannot be blamed for the mistakes of those who leveraged their futures before they were ever born. We cannot let another bubble burst and expect their children to pay for it.

April 30, 2019 Tammy Axt Special Education

Comments for Alternative IEPs

As we begin the final reporting process of the year, I thought it might be useful to share some of my comments that were written on my alternative IEPs at the end of term one. I borrowed a few of my colleagues reports in the fall to get me started and I used their model to help design clear language that addressed my students’ goals on their IEPs.

That is what we often need, isn’t it? Just an example to get us started. However, for many of us who have been given roles that are unique within our school context, it can be difficult to get examples from amazingly talented individuals with lots of experience.

I am not that amazingly talented person with lots of experience. Not yet anyway. But the comments below might just give you an idea for the perfect way to describe your students in your classroom.

Communication Comments:

_______ is adjusting well to his new classroom at __________. Throughout the day, __ initiates interaction with both staff and students by moving closer to them and making sounds with his voice. _______ is indicating his needs by motioning his hand in the direction of an object he wants. _____ does that frequently at snack time by motioning to his water bottle or during tech time when ___ would like to watch an iPad. _______will also communicate his frustration and dislike of an activity by crying or hitting others. _______ sometimes responds to his own name by making eye-contact especially when you are talking to him in a small group setting or singing him some of his favourite songs. _______________ will follow one step directions such as sit down, stand up and go to locker.

_______ communicates her needs and wants throughout the day at school to her teachers. _______ has good clarity when speaking and has made progress on her ability to speak slowly so that others can understand what she is trying to say. ________ often uses partial sentences and words to communicate with others and she will be encouraged in term two to add more detail to her sentences when speaking with others.

Life Skills Comments:

________ continues to require assistance to perform self care. He allows staff to brush his teeth and wash his face after lunch. ________ joins the class when we are pouring and stirring our ingredients in our cooking program.

______ continues to brush her teeth every day after lunch. She is really enjoying our cooking program and has helped prepare soup, sandwiches, stir ingredients and cutting vegetables. Now that her menstrual cycle has begun within the last few weeks, a focus will be placed in term two on helping _______ develop a routine where she can independently manage this new part of her life.

_____ actively participates in our cooking program in class. He loves making sandwiches, tacos, pouring ingredients and helping to stir ingredients. In January, he tried the food that we prepared for the first time. _______ continues to brush his teeth and wash his face after lunch with minimal prompting.

Functional Mathematics Comments:

______ is able to sort loonies, toonies and quarters with 100% accuracy but is unable to identify all the coins consistently. ______ can do single digit addition and subtraction using manipulatives and is able to tell time to the half hour. _______ can recognize numbers and use them in real life contexts within the classroom such as finding the date for a classmates birthday.

Personal and Social Development Comments:

______ has made gains in his positive interaction with his classmates this term. He enjoys eating his snack with his tablemates and will ask them for assistance if he needs help. He also enjoys telling his classmates when they are being kind to him and each other throughout the day. _______ happily enjoys the class and enjoys being part of our whole class activities. The dance routines he can do with four of his classmates are amazing! ________ needs encouragement to choose a friend to do a pair activity and he will continue to be supported with that skill in term two.

_______ is engaging with his peers and staff regularly throughout the day by moving closer to them and making sounds. He smiles when he sees familiar friends and staff. His frequency of hitting others has become much less since the beginning of the year and he seems generally more content with his classmates and new school. ______ will hit others if he is irritated or trying to get there attention since he is unable to speak with his classmates. He can locate the area of his locker in the morning, at snack time and at lunch time.

Fine Motor Comments:

______ continues to enjoy fine motor activities in the class. He enjoys completing puzzles, playing with lego and using Theraputty. He independently zips up his jacket and puts on his snowpants, hats and gloves. ______ has become more comfortable with writing tasks this term and enjoyed writing some of the cards for our Christmas gifts. He has made progress on his ability to open his food wrappers at snack time. Now that ______ has started wearing jeans to school, he will be working on using his fine motor skills to unfasten and fasten his top button in term two.

______ continues to carry his communication bag and lunch bag into the classroom throughout the day. ________ prefers gross motor activities over fine motor activites and will often show his displeasure to doing his fine motor work by sticking his finger in his nose. We have been providing ________ with motivators and rewards such as his favourite shows Toopy and Binoo and positive praise which sometimes motivates him to do his fine motor work.

April 30, 2019April 30, 2019 Tammy Axt General, Special Education

A Typical Day in a Class of Students with Developmental Disabilities

When I started my new role of supporting students with Developmental Disabilities this year, my biggest question really was about the structure of the day. Since it was my first time doing this role, I asked many other teachers who have been doing this role for a long time for advice. They shared with me how their day was structured and ideas for potential programming. I took many of their suggestions and paired them with ideas that met the needs of my students. Without the kindness of so many of my Peel colleagues, I would have been LOST! For those of you out there that will be taking on this new challenge in September, below is a typical day in our classroom to hopefully give you some ideas to get you started.

It is important to note that my schedule has changed at least 30 times since September as we worked towards the perfect fit for our students. All of our students and staff were new to our class this year and there were many things that impacted our schedule that I didn’t anticipate such as medical needs, busing schedules, integration opportunities, behavioural needs and student goals. The schedule is something that I am constantly reflecting on and am constantly tweaking as I observe my students and team in action.

A typical day in my class:

We enter the building and put our stuff in our lockers.

We have our morning meeting.

We do our morning work.

Snack time

Gym or art

Lunch/Life skills (Today was public transit training and eating in a restaurant)

Hygiene Routine (brushing teeth, brushing hair, washing face and putting on deodorant)

Afternoon work time/social skills

Pack up and get ready to go home

April 29, 2019 Arianna Lambert 21st Century Learning, Constant Learning, Design

Getting the User at the Center of User-Centered Design!

For years I’ve worked with students around designing solutions for real problems in the world around us. I’ve asked students to consider the problem from a variety of perspectives and as of late, I wonder if there’s more that can be done about solving these complex problems.

In my role at Future Design School, I’ve had the privilege of facilitating workshops for students. In working with students over the past few weeks, I’m learning more and more about the importance of having the opportunity to understand the problem from the user’s perspective as well. Now I know that this seems like something that I should have known or thought of more in depth before, but it’s something that I honestly hadn’t. When students are creating, it’s important for them to understand that what they create has an impact on those for whom they are creating. In order for students to really empathize with users, they have to first be able to understand the needs of their users. They have to really take the time to stop and hear their stories through the development of open questions. How might we help students to do this?

Being Conscious of Assumptions

In the past, I’ve asked students to be thinking about a variety of users as they solved problems. As such, they worked to create general and perhaps broad-sweeping solutions but what if they were empowered to create for a specific user? With a specific user’s needs and motivations in mind, might this impact the effectiveness of their potential solutions? When we think about user-centered design, that’s what it’s really about. The user. Without taking the time to consider a potential user, I’ve asked students to make big assumptions that we never had the opportunity to test. When we make these assumptions, especially without being explicit about the fact that we are making assumptions, we hinder the ability to create the most effective solution. This makes me think about students again creating for the teacher, rather than meeting the needs of the user, which is definitely the purpose of user-centered design. So how do we go about helping students to understand the needs of their users and move past assumption making and perhaps into assumption testing? I think it’s about interviews!

Interviews

When students are able to interact with real users and ask big questions about the problem they are hoping to solve, the have a real opportunity to have an impact. That being said, there’s a fine art to the interview. When thinking about learning more from our users, it’s important to not lead them with the types of questions that we may ask. By having open questions that really get the user talking about their experiences, you’re better able to understand the problem from their perspective. Often times, through listening, you’re also able to better understand how they feel about a situation based on what they aren’t saying. A great way to get users talking about their experiences is using the TED framework for questioning: Tell me…Explain…Describe. By starting off questions in this way, we empower the user to actually talk about the problem without leading them.

Helping students to craft interview questions that are open is a great start. Once they’ve crafted the question, it’s great to have them interview potential users in teams. One person can ask the questions while someone else can write. If there is a third person in the group, they might also make notes to capture their understanding of what the user is saying. Don’t have access to potential users? Sometimes you can use videos to help.

Watching Videos

Last year, I was working with grade 5 students on solutions to natural disasters. Because it was related to a real problem that was happening in the world, students were able to read articles that contained interviews as well as watch videos to be able to better understand their users. I used this video to help students understand the problem but it wasn’t until after, that I noticed how rich it could have been in helping students understand the problem from the perspectives of different users. Perhaps curating different videos or guiding students in finding their own might be a way to help them build empathy for a specific user. Again, this might be another time to discuss assumptions that might be made as we don’t have the chance to ask clarifying questions of the users.

I’m always looking for ways in which to make student learning meaningful and relevant. I’ve also always believed that design is a great tool for doing just that. Now my focus is shifting to empowering students to build deep empathy and truly making sure that their designs are user-centered.

April 29, 2019April 29, 2019 Arianna Lambert Mental Health, Mindfulness, Resources, wellness

Wellness in the Classroom

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a number of people reach out to ask about an activity that I did last year with junior students in our Wellness Club. I’ve been answering questions and sharing ideas and I thought perhaps this might be of benefit to more people so for this post, I’m sharing some of the work that I did with my colleague, Cynthia Wan at Shaughnessy Public School.

Over the last number of years, I’ve personally realized the benefits of incorporating elements of wellness into my daily routine. When working with students, I always saw great value in helping them to develop their own “wellness toolkit”. Through activities and conversations, students were given the opportunity to understand and express how different situations or experiences made them feel. In being more self-aware, students were then able to determine strategies that worked best for them when they were experiencing times of stress. We all think it would be ideal to not have any stresses but in reality, stress will always be around and we sometimes need those challenges to help us grow. The difficulty becomes when we can’t manage the amount of stress that experience. While much of the activities and ideas below are things that I’ve incorporated in my classroom with all students, last year, Cynthia and I thought about trying to take it a little further with a small group of students who were willing to dig in with us and really spend some time thinking about their own wellbeing and worked to create their own physical tool kits filled with strategies and tools. Below, I’m outlining some of the tools that I’ve used in the hopes that it might help if you’re thinking of starting your own wellness club or thinking of trying some of these activities in your class with students.

Meditation Apps

Stop, Breathe & Think is an app that I’ve used with students centred around meditation. In the past, there was only one version but in the past couple of years, they also have an app specifically geared towards children. Students particularly enjoyed meditations connected to their breathing as well as the Body Scan. It offered them a chance to just pause and reset if needed. We also took the mindful walking meditation outdoors with speakers and students considered ways in which they might utilize mindful walking as they travelled from one pace to the next. There is a link to some of the resources that they have but I haven’t used any of them with students.

Sitting Still Like a Frog is another meditation tool that has a book with activities. Visualization was another tool that I used with students and the A Safe Place meditation was one that students quite enjoyed.

Resources

Zones of Regulation was also a resource that I used in my classroom. I found it super helpful for getting students to identify what they are feeling and consider their own triggers and strategies for what they might do to move back to the green zone. The language is great in not valuing one zone over the other but thinking about how we can get back to being optimal if and when we identify that what we are feeling is impacting what we are doing and our interactions with others.

The Mindup Curriculum is also a great resource that I have used in the past with my whole class. I like that it starts off with talking about the science behind what we might be feeling and our responses to stressful situations.

I found this great book list with some mindfulness books that I’ve used to talk about mindful eating and some of the other activities that I have done with students. Your Fantastic Elastic Brain is also a great resource.

Just Breathe is a great video for opening up the conversation about naming what we are feeling as being a powerful part of being able to determine steps to change the feeling if things are not where we would like them to be.

Wellness Toolkits

Screenshot 2019-04-29 at 4.49.31 PM When building out toolkits, students used ideas from our discussions and activities from our sessions together to help build their own physical kits. We started off with ziploc bags and students decorated them with duct tape. This really was an idea from one of the students who had used it in the past to create her own pencil cases and she thought it would be a great – and inexpensive – way to personalize our own toolkits. Once the toolkits were designed, it was time to think about the items that they wanted to include.

Some of the items included:

Mindfulness colouring – We picked up a few from Dollarama. Some students also worked to create their own doodle books when given a blank scrapbook.

Inspirational quote books – We also found a few at Dollarama but some students were given their own scrapbooks as well to gather their own book of quotes that served to uplift them when needed an extra bit of encouragement.

Mindfulness Jars – A quick and easy visual for helping students to be able to understand that sometimes we have a lot swirling around in our minds and that by taking some time to be mindful of this fact, we can work towards calming some of those thoughts. Some students even like using them as a way to regain focus as they watch the sparkles settle. We used this recipe but there are so many more. I like the explanation on this one but didn’t like the idea of using glue.

Stress Balls & Slime – One student lead 2 sessions for our Wellness Club around using stress balls or slime as something tactile that sometimes help to manage stress. We did have conversations around making sure that it was something that was needed vs. something that we just enjoyed playing with in the classroom.

Wellness Journal – Students had their own journals – simple notebooks that they decorate the front of after we covered them with construction paper. We used these as a check-ins for themselves or prompts that they could use to write about how they were feeling.

Some of the prompts included:

Today I feel… because…
I’m grateful for…because…
One thing that I can do today to make it fantastic is…
Draw yourself as a superhero. What powers do you have? What powers might you like to work on further developing?
3 ways in which I can help make someone’s day great are…
Write down three I am statements that define who you are. Take a few minutes to think about each one. Which quality feels the best? Why?
When you’re feeling confident, what emotions do you experience?
Who can you compliment today? Why? Find the time to make sure that the person hears what you have to say today.
Write three things that make you happy. How can you spend more time on these things each day?
The best day ever would be…
One thing that I learned about myself this week is…

Other Mindfulness Activities

Nature walks – Quiet walks in a small group in the neighbourhood to just take some time to notice. Some students captured items along the ground that they wanted to include in their journals. Some focused on sounds that they heard when they took the time to stop and truly just be in the moment.

Music – Sometimes having the opportunity to select the type of music or having ambient noise was helpful for some students as they worked and also to change their mood.

Yoga/Mindful movements – Cynthia was great in leading us in Yoga or mindful movements. A few years back, a colleague had the Yoga 4 Classrooms resource which we sometimes used to get us moving and stretching when we needed it. I also had students lead the Circle of Joy, which is also a mindful movement activity that is easy to learn and just helps to refocus.

These are just some of the tools I found useful when helping students to create their own toolkits of wellness strategies. As I mentioned before, stress is all around us. I think that helping our students determine which strategies work best to help them manage the stresses is an important part of helping them to be successful.