Nurturing Mental & emotional Health


Manage Your Mental Health with These Tips and Tools | Chicago Association of REALTORS®        

    As discussed previously on my blog, mental health is something almost everyone deals will in some way, shape or form. Mental and emotional health are two big concerns for people everywhere, but as teachers, discussing and being able to help students who may deal with any problems like this is very important. Students go through a lot of stressful situations, between schoolwork, friendships, relationships, family and just being a kid or teen can be hard. Creating mindful activities for students to use to help them with any struggles they may be having is something all teachers should carry. 

A scale showing 1 through 10

    This lesson plan focuses on practicing healthy coping activities for students suffering with mental and emotional health issues. It allows students to sit back and think about how they are feeling and why they may be feeling the way they are. In the lesson, students are asked to rate their stress levels on the scale from 1-10 shown above. This gives student the opportunity to reflect on their feelings. This lesson plan also gives suggested activities for students to take part in for about 10 minutes. Examples like drawing a picture of a memory or favorite place, breathing exercises, reading, listen to music, exercise, and writing/journaling. These are important activities that students could really gain from using in the classroom. "It’s important to find activities that support your mental health. If what you tried today didn’t help you feel less stressed, consider trying another option from the list. It may take a few tries to find what works best for you. What works for your family members or friends might not work for you."

 Teenage girl listening to music

https://teens.drugabuse.gov/teachers/lessonplans/nurturing-my-mental-emotional-health

    I think Mental health is something very important to talk about and work through at times in the classroom. In my future classroom, I want to make sure my students are feeling okay and if they are not to be able to express those feelings and work through them. I struggle with mental health as many do, and I believe if activities like this were presented to me in school, it would have been very beneficial for me and helped. I had 1 teacher in high school who noticed I was struggling and was unhappy. She talked to me about it and made me feel less alone. I would spend most of my lunch periods in her classroom just talking about how I was doing and everything. She was there for me and that is exactly what I want to do for a student in my future. 


References

Nurturing My Mental & Emotional Health. (2021) National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://teens.drugabuse.gov/teachers/lessonplans/nurturing-my-mental-emotional-health



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