Student Well-Being and SECD Resources

• Prioritizing Human Connection When Social Distancing is the New Norm – one-on-one check-ins, goal-setting via phone or video, embedding audio and video messages in communications, and being active in online discussions.

• Student reflection tools for emotional well-being and academic planning

• Flipgrid to engage and empower student voices and perspectives.

• Student Reflection, Journals & Relationship Building – Student Reflection: A Tool for Growth and Development; How Dialogue Journals Build Teacher-Student Relationships

• Letter writing and pen pals

• Middle/High School – Create a Toolbox of Care

• Elementary and older – Create a COVID-19 Time Capsule (search web for examples, or better yet – let students decide their format and medium)

• Virtual Postcards – Sample “postcards” that you can add messages to and send via e-mail to family and friends letting them know that you still think about them, and encourage them (AMLE).

• 5 Ways Teens Manage Anxiety about the Coronavirus (New York Times Article)

• 4-Step Process for Building Resilience

• The Kid-Grit Pandemic Crisis Guide – Wellness for Students, Educators & Families

• ChildMind Institute – Resources

• Ask a Psychologist: Helping Students Thrive Now – Angela Duckworth and other behavioral-science experts offer advice to teachers based on scientific research.

• Kindness by Random Acts of Kindness - K-8 CASEL-approved social-emotional learning curriculum. Includes a focus on equity, teacher self-care, and digital citizenship.

• Emotional ABCs - Classroom - Research-based Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum for K-3 teachers

• Teaching Tolerance: Digital Citizenship – K-2: Part of a Community Online; 3-5: Participating in Digital Communities; 6-8: Civic Engagement and Communication as Digital Community Members; 9-12: Constructively Engaging in Digital Communities

Parent Communication & Resources

• Parent COVID-19 Communication Log from the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) - A great way to ensure school staff are collecting vital information to both check-in on student well-being and identify those in need of additional support.

• CDC Center for Disease Control: Parent Resource on how to speak to your child about the COVID-9 virus.

• Mental Health America (MHA) – Mental Health and COVID-19: Information and Resources

• ChildMind Institute – Strategies for Supporting Learning at Home; Anxiety and Coping with the Coronavirus; Supporting Teenagers and Young Adults during the Coronavirus Crisis

• Family Coping during the Coronavirus – Usable Knowledge

• Helping Children Cope with Changes Resulting from COVID-19 – National Association of School Psychologists

• How to Talk to Kids about Coronavirus (New York Times Article)

• Cyberbullying and Digital Safety Resources for Parents: Stopbullying.gov, ConnectSafely.org, Family Online Safety Institute / Digital Reputation

• Brain-Based Learning: 7 Guiding Principles for Parents Teaching from Home

• This article from Teaching Tolerance, documents their review of 60 school districts’ websites across 30 states.

Apps to Help with Mental Health from Common Sense Media

There is no substitute for face-to-face intervention and professional help. However, since phones are tools most children and teens use, they can offer timely resources and help for those who need it. Aside from general health apps, these tools focus specifically on coping with anxiety, depression, and specific difficult circumstances via meditation, connection, and other techniques. While some are focused on an individual's experience, others offer chat and the option to find a therapist. Especially when used in conjunction with other approaches, these apps might offer teens a little peace of mind.

At Home BINGO Cards from Edmentum

GoNoodle GoSummer is specially developed for kids to play at home and includes an all-new How To! channel to keep kids learning all summer long. The new how-to videos are 2-7 minutes long and show kids how to do all sorts of things: from card tricks to making slime. Ranging in content and complexity, the videos appeal to kids’ varying interests and skills. With 2 new videos all summer long, there is always something new to try!