During the ten years I spent in the classroom, I taught AP® Psychology all of those years. I attended numerous content-specific professional development opportunities, flipped the entire curriculum that is readily available for free on my YouTube channel, as well as built resources that many teachers find helpful in my Teachers Pay Teachers store or in our Sustainable Psych Teacher membership. I’m sharing all of this to say that I became, and hopefully remain, well versed in the AP® Psychology curriculum - I would even venture to say I’ve got my 10,000 hours Malcolm Gladwell teaches about as indicating expertise, at least in the curriculum that is… but certainly not in the field of psychology.
So as much as I know and love psychology, I am by no stretch of the imagination a psychologist, psychiatrist (shout out to my psych nerds who know the difference), or a mental health professional. No advice I give today in this episode is advice for handling mental health. No. Instead it is advice on building a classroom culture that helps students feel welcome at the core of who they are, not because of their facade, and that they feel comfortable to be vulnerable enough with you or another adult so they can seek help if and when they need it.
So I’ll say it again - I am not giving mental health advice or recommendations on how to go about handling a mental health situation for yourself or for that of your student.
However, my hope is that after listening to this episode you will have a clear vision of a balanced message to send and classroom culture to create around mental health.
It is NOT news to educators today that our students' mental health is different than it was ten or even five years ago. And then you throw into the mix this whole pandemic, not just the potential and reality for some of getting sick or caring for our sick loved ones, but more prominently impactful, the social distancing, total wrench thrown in young people’s lives, routines, and futures that absolutely changed everything for them, or at least for some. I would venture to say the impact is and will be immeasurable, never quite completely quantifiable. But teachers know. We see it, and, if you’re anything like me and the many teachers I work with, as educators are convicted of sending a welcoming message to all students, but also a message that empowers our students no matter their state of mental health.
In this episode I’ll be talking to the teacher in the room, I bet that’s you, on the topic of taking care of yourself so you can care for others, what recent research is showing us about our students’ mental state, and finally three messages you want to be sending to your students everyday when it comes to their emotional and mental health.
So if you’re ready to talk about this hot button issue like a professional, while keeping it real amongst colleagues with the perspective of wanting to make an impact with your kids, then this episode is for you. Here we go.
SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/classroom-culture-and-mental-health
SUSTAINABLE TEACHER FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainableteacher
FLIPPED CLASSROOM WEBINAR: https://www.teachonamission.com/flippingwebinar