This week in class we did something a little bit different. As a class, we got to pick topics that were interesting to us for discussions. We were able to pick which topic we would like to discuss, but were encouraged to move around to discuss multiple of the topics.

I knew immediately the topic I wanted to discuss was mental health in the classroom. I have always been fascinated by mental health and how to help students of all ages better their mental health. As a group, we discussed multiple strategies for how to promote a positive environment as well as how to check in with students to see how they were. Our group took notes on our conversations along with guiding questions we were given. Here are the ideas we collectively came up with:

Mental health in the classroom:

What is the topic of interest and what experience or ideas do you bring to the table?

  • Mentor teacher does a check in when doing attendance. Or you could  do little slips of paper form anonymous → ask “what is something you wish your teacher knew about you” 
  • Send a questionnaire home weekly or monthly to parents for guardians to fill out just to give extra information. 
  • It is important to build a healthy relationship between you and your students.
  • Mental health education falls under physical education → this shouldn’t be under this category as it takes away from physical activities and doesn’t focus enough on mental health.  
  • SEL (social emotional learning) → classroom program
  • Alternative seating 

What questions do you have about the topic of interest? 

  • Should we do anonymous check-ins or non-anonymous? 
  • Can we integrate mental health into community based physical education? 
  • How do you make it so that they pay attention and get the activity they need when learning about mental health in a physical ed class? 
  • How much information should they be learning about at a certain age?
  • How can we make the classroom still feel comforting and warm for students during Covid times? 
  • How can we comfort younger kids without physical touch? 

What resources do you have or can you find about the topic of interest?

  • Teacher store for stop signs and colour indicating emotions
  • Doing survey at the beginning of the year with guardians and students
  • Musical outlets
  • Spaces like a calming corner, a stuffed animal, a I need some space corner, I need to be alone, etc… 
  • Have a sharing game (2 truths and a lie) → a way for kids to verbally check in in a non time consuming manner. 
  • Have a quiet time after recess → . Allows for kids to calm down. (heads on desk) 
  • Pay attention to IEP plans. 
  • Tell them comforting things → we are safe, we are okay. 

Things we can do with the kids to help:

  • Do a seniors night (have Elderly come in and do a tea night with the class)
  • Have a way for students to communicate with us
  • Have students draw a picture of how they are feeling (for younger grades)
  • Play music (get kids to choose what songs represent how they are feeling) → younger grades. 
  • Stickers with sad, medium, happy feelings (younger grades)
  • Using “inside out” character colours to represent feelings → kids can put on their desk what they are feeling today. 
  • Or have a traffic light set of colours and kids can put their sticker or colour that represents it on their desk and they can put what they are feeling today. (stop – not good, yellow – could be better, green- I am great). 

Unfortunately, I did not get to discuss any of the other topics available because I was so into the mental health discussion. The other topics included incorporating physical health into the classroom, disrupting the gender binary in classrooms, the teacher career path, and inquiry-based learning. Luckily, each group took notes on their topic and each of us have access to them, so I am still able to see the great ideas my classmates came up with. Overall I really enjoyed this class and the idea of EdCamp. Having the opportunity to discuss important topics with people who feel just as passionately as you is a really special experience. I heard ideas and perspectives that I had never thought before, but I think would be extremely beneficial. I hope that we are given another opportunity to partake in an EdCamp because I think it generates some really interesting and important discussions. Next time I definitely want to try to visit more than one room to get even more out of the experience!