Genius Hour Reflection #4: Strategies to Implement in the Classroom to Promote Mental Health and Wellness

Hello World and Welcome Back!

Since starting my Genius Hour Project and doing these weekly posts, we've now reached the final check-in! The time has gone by quickly and it's hard to believe that I've reached the end of this component. Throughout this research journey I've been able to expand my knowledge on both Mental Health and Wellness, but even found various strategies that I can use both in and outside of my class to promote Mental Wellness. I am now more confident in promoting and supporting not only my own mental health but also my peers and students too! But before I go I still have a little more information to tell you about and that is how we, as teachers, can create a classroom environment that promotes mental health and wellness. Keep on reading to find out! 🙂

Wiffle Gif. (N.D.). Encourage Yourself Positivity Gif. Retrieved from https://wifflegif.com/gifs/596267-encourageyourself-positivity-gif

     While my last posts were centered around different strategies that can be used to promote mental health and wellness for both students and teachers (including myself), I decided that for this post we are going to move into the classroom environment. In this case, the classroom climate is an area that is important to consider because this is the space where not only learning occurs, but it is also the space where students grow and succeed! To help lead students to reaching their full potential it is necessary that we are able to create a classroom that is an "open, accepting climate... where students know it is safe to talk about how they are feeling" ("Your Classroom Climate." N.D.). Since students are coming in and out of our classrooms everyday we aren't able to constantly watch over them and protect them from everything, so this only emphasizes the importance in how we structure our classroom climate. If students are coming into the classroom and are already struggling, it is important that we are able to help them as this not only impacts their mental health but it is also, Douce & Keeling (2014) state, "decrease[s] students' intellectual and emotional flexibility, weaken[s] their creativity, and undermine[s] their interest in new knowledge, ideas, and experiences" (p.1). As a result, the classroom environment and the teaching practices we bring into the classroom are meant to support student learning and most importantly, everyone "benefit[s] from a supportive classroom.. [and in] creating a classroom environment that supports mental wellbeing leads to more engaged and committed students, better relationships, and higher work quality" (Schwartz, M. N.D.). 

     While talking about mental health is often a topic that many struggle with, especially when working with children because of their vulnerability - it is still an important topic to discuss. There are several different ways in which we are able to bring this up within the classroom without causing discomfort - which is good news for educators, and even new teachers!

• Simon Fraser University has described some conditions that can be used to create wellbeing in the classroom and learning environment, and while these have been used at a Post-Secondary level it is easy to make changes to fit any age-group. The list of conditions are:
• Positive Classroom Culture - "Creating an enjoyable and welcoming classroom culture can enhance wellbeing of students and [teachers]. This can be accomplished through humour, inspiration, open-mindedness, connecting with students or deeply engaging them in their learning" 
• Optimal Challenge -"Students perform and feel their best when they are challenged" 
• Social Connection - "Facilitating interaction helps students build social networks which foster resilience and are an asset to wellbeing. [This creates] a sense of community and positive classroom culture" 
• Flexibility - "Providing students with some flexibility over their learning experiences helps them to feel empowered and supported" 
• Personal development - By providing opportunities for personal and professional growth in class you increase students' skills, resiliency and preparedness for the future"
• Inclusivity - "An inclusive learning environment demonstrates an intentional consideration for all students and in doing so, can enhance positive wellbeing"
• Services and Supports - "[Provide the] opportunity to connect students with resources that can support their personal wellbeing and readiness to learn"
• Instructor [or in an elementary school teacher] Support - "As a [teacher] you play an important role in setting a positive and supportive tone that can go a long way in helping students to feel welcome, at ease [and safe in the classroom. This encourages students to share how they are feeling]"

Check out this video to see more about how Simon Fraser University is promoting wellbeing in their learning environment! 

     Promoting these safe, inclusive and welcoming environments not only allows for students to feel as through they belong and have people they can talk to if something is going on, but it also supports the wellbeing of all! These conditions that promote the wellbeing of everyone, as Ontario's Well-Being Strategy for Education (2016) states, "help[s] them learn, grow and develop a positive sense of self" (p.1). As teachers, it is our role to ensure that we are assisting our students in reaching their full potential and this is done through the consideration of the learning environment and how we are treating our students. 

Listed below are some more strategies that we, as educators, can use: 

• The following are some strategies provided by the OTF Teachers' Gateway to Special Education:
• "Develop a positive rapport with students" 
• "Use active listening" 
• "Be empathetic and non-judgemental"
• "Directly teach lessons on social and emotional skills" 
• "Work to reduce stigma of mental health issues with all students"
• "Enlist school counseling supports (Child and Youth Worker, Social Worker, Counselor, etc.)"
• "In a private setting, discuss your concerns with the students in a supportive and non-punitive way. Ask the student for ways that you can help"
• "Provide choice in activities and use differentiated instruction" 
• "Provide opportunities for success and rewards for pro-social behaviours" 
• The following are some strategies provided by the Classroom Mental Health: 
• Communication
• Normalize the topic by bringing it into conversation or lessons
• Wellness
• Prioritize wellness 
• Know your limits and listen/watch for signs 
• Stress Reduction Techniques 
• Mindfulness 
• Breathing Activities 
• Meditation
• Yoga 
• "Visual (Guided) Imagery"
• Journalling
• Stigma 
• "Separate fact from fiction - a person is not weak or abnormal because they have diabetes of asthma. The same holds true for mental illnesses" 
• "Provide perspective"
• "Learn from others" 
• Looking out for Each Other 
• "Put your friend's illness in perspective"
• "Show your support"
• "Listen"
• "Keep your friend's trust" 
• "Ask what you can do to help"
• "Reassure your friend that you still care about him/her"
• "Educate yourself"
• "Support your friend's healthy behaviours, and take care of yourself, too" 

     The most important takeaway I believe that I have learned throughout this process is that no matter what there are so many different ways that you can be there for someone, as well there is an abundance of resources and strategies made available. While there is a lot to do, there is so many different resources and even support systems in place that helps in feeling as though you are not alone - there is always something or someone there by your side. Genius Hour has not only allowed for me to learn more and develop my toolkit to use both inside and outside of the classroom, but it has allowed for me to consider things and find material that I might not have found if I didn't have this opportunity to involve myself in this research project.

     Below you will find an Infograph that I have made to summarize some of the important information that I have uncovered throughout this research. I actually created this using the website Piktochart, which was extremely easy to use! This website provides you with templates to help structuring out infographs, slideshows and posters, but it also gives you the opportunity to be creative. I personally enjoyed how I was able to create something to summarize my learning. As well, this is something I can see myself encouraging my students to use because of how easy and fun it was to create this! It is a perfect tool to summarize notes or lessons (especially for your visual learners), but it also allows for you to create various visuals to help with presenting - for example you can make an advertisement on here if you are doing a language assignment. The possibilities are endless and because of this it is the perfect tool for both students and teachers to use. To stop myself from rambling, here is the infograph that I made for Promoting Mental Health and Wellness, enjoy! 🙂

The Biggest Healthcare Questions of the 21st Century. (6 November 2018). Retrieved from https://about.futurelearn.com/blog/the-biggest-healthcare-questions-of-the-21st-century

     

     Before I go, I do want to have a discussion about Genius Hour. As you can probably assume I definitely support the use of Genius Hour because not only has it allowed for me to involve myself in a research and inquiry based project that will benefits myself and my peers and students, but it ultimately allowed for me to be fully engaged in my own learning. I was the one who was directly my learning and pushing myself to explore more because this is all student-driven - this project allows for your own interests to be the spearhead and guide you on this journey! Who wouldn't be excited to take part in this learning experience that is guided by your own passions, and interests - it builds meaning in the learning process because we are researching topics that we are interested in. 

     The question is, will I be bringing this into my own classroom? 100%! Why wouldn't I want to take the opportunity to engage my students in a passion and inquiry based learning that is all self-directed. This learning encourages them to learn about topics that are meaningful and interesting to them. In order to bring this into the classroom, I can already picture several ways in how I can do this - some of it being based around dedicating the last period of the day on Fridays! Taking this last period would provide students the opportunity to expand their learning, while feeling as if they are having fun. These periods would be used to have students research their area of focus, and eventually after sometime we would regroup as a class to present our findings. This not only encourages students to be the 'expert' in their topic and teach their peers, but it would also function as a tool to inspire their peers as some may even find themselves being interested in researching these topics during the next round of Genius Hour research.

     I do recognize that there might be some students who would struggle with this sense of 'freedom' as it is student-directed learning, and for those students I would have a jar of possible topics that they could pull from and use to encourage their research. It is important to recognize that not everyone will enjoy having complete freedom, while some might, there will be those who need some form of guidance and through providing different prompts could assist in sparking that interest and excitement in this form of learning! By providing both freedom and guidance, when needed, will encourage all students to "explore their own curiosity through this self-manifested sense of purpose and study" (Heick, T. 2018).

     Lastly, I have created a Pros and Cons list of the Genius Hour Project for those of you who are contemplating using this in your own classroom! Below you will seen a note that I created on my iPad using the app NoteShelf 2 (highly recommend this if you are interested in taking notes using your Apple Pencil!). This app encourages creative freedom as it offers various style notebooks, cover pages (which helps with differentiating your notes), and even various writing tools - this gives you full control of your note taking experience! 

Be sure to check out my next post to see my TEDTalk Style Video! 

Logging off for now!

- Miss. Wighton

Everything Mental Health. (N.D.). Retrieved from https://everythingmentalhealth.com/

"It is okay to admit that your wounds are still open. That you are still healing. It takes time." - Anonymous

Resources

Douce, L. A., & Keeling, R. P. (2014). A strategic primer on college student mental health. Retrieved from https://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/main/Campus_Mental_Health_Primer_web_final.pdf

Heick, T. (2018). 6 Principles of Genius Hour in the Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.teachthought.com/learning/6-principles-of-genius-hour-in-the-classroom/

Mental Health Strategies. (N.D.). Retrieved from https://www.teachspeced.ca/mental-healthstrategies

Ontario's Well-Being Strategy for Education. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/about/wbdiscussiondocument.pdf

Schwartz, M. (N.D.). Mental Wellbeing in the Classroom - Ryerson University. Retrieved from https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/lt/resources/handouts/mental_wellbeing_classroom.pdf

Student Services, Simon Fraser University. (2014). Well-being in learning environments. Retrieved from http://www.sfu.ca/healthycampuscommunity/learningenvironments/WLE.html

Your Classroom Climate. (N.D.). Retrieved from https://classroommentalhealth.org/in-class/classroom-climate/