TEACHERS- Take good care of yourselves at first

As we are aware, we teachers have faced some emotive and difficult content in this Covid-19 social distancing. So, I encourage you to ‘check in’ with yourselves and be aware of how these may have affected you. After all, we have to be fine to help our students and families.

When thinking teachers well-being and support, there is a range of materials where we can find support. If you or others have been affected by the issues , here are a few links that you might find helpful:

• Yoga: https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene
• NHS apps library: https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/ and select the ‘Mental health’ filter.
• My possible self https://www.good-thinking.uk/resources/my-possible-self/
• Recovery College: https://lms.recoverycollegeonline.co.uk/course/index.php
• FutureLearn: https://www.futurelearn.com/search?q=wellbeing
• The free mindfulness project: http://www.freemindfulness.org/covid19
• Self compassion.org: https://self-compassion.org/category/exercises/
• MS Trust: https://www.mstrust.org.uk/a-z/relaxation
• Sleep: https://www.sleepio.com/
• Self-care: https://tinybuddha.com/blog/45-simple-self-care-practices-for-a-healthy-mind-body-and-soul/
• NHS Helplines
• Mental health Support
• Samaritans
• MIND
• Checkpoint

Hope it can help you and count on me

The new teacher's role during social distancing. Part I

During social distancing, we need to rethink teaching and learning philosophy and how to prioritize our relationship with students. More than ever, they need coaching and support to understand anxiety and fear. Planning, teaching, assessments and marking paper will always be important but now there's a call for teachers as life coaches.

Here I suggest one thing you can do to support and coach them. On the following 2 weeks I will share more ideas.

1. Hold reading conferences by video or phone

So little has felt normal about this new version of school.  Schedule one conference a week with some students class via Zoom, FaceTime, or an old-school phone call. They choose a story in English they have at home and read you a few pages. Give them a compliment and something to work on and I ask them some comprehension questions about what they have just read. It also provides a way to do a little teaching tailored to each individual child—reminding them to look for little words inside hard big words, or to remember that the author's lesson is usually something more widely applicable than the specific plot of the book.

The conferences will provide a time for each child to tell you how they're doing, what's on their mind, and what they've been up to during the odd days of this new reality we're all living from home. Here's a foundational truth of teaching: One-on-one time with a student deepens your relationship with that child. The pandemic hasn't changed that truth.

I hope you enjoy the idea. Next week, more hints...

Stay safe and take care of youtselves