Method

Data Collection

Data was collected through three methods, the first being a standardized assessment. The goal was to gain a picture of anxiety levels of students at the beginning and end of the project. This study utilized sections of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) which was developed by Spence (1997) and by Chorpita et al. (2000). The RCADS is a 47-item, youth self-report questionnaire with subscales including separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and major depressive disorder (Chorita et al. 2000). Items are rated on a 4-point Likert-scale from 0 (never) to 3 (always). There is also a parent version of the questionnaire where the parent responds to questions based on their observations of the child. The RCADS and the tool used to identify the responder's level of anxiety is available through Dr. Chorpita's UCLA resource page.

In the pre and post-assessment surveys, students received the Child Self-Reported "Generalized Anxiety" and "Panic Disorder" subscales. Parents were invited to fill out the parent version of these two subscales. We used these two subscales because they were the most suitable for the project. It was important to shorten the length of the assessment in order to accommodate students with attention challenges such as Attention Deficit Disorder, struggling readers, and non-readers. This is key because the initial intention was for students to complete the survey prior to the start of school; however the majority of surveys were completed once students arrived at school. Those that required assistance in reading were able to access the support of an educational assistant.

To ensure anonymity in a small class, the student and parent assessments were offered online and no name or gender were identified on the survey. Each report was scored using the RCADS scoring program. Each report was placed into a category based on the overall T-score. For example, Report 1 consisted of a T-score of 39 (female) or 42 (male) for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and a T-score of 45 (female) and 47 (male) for Panic Disorder. Because all of the numbers fell under 65, this report was identified as Below Borderline Clinical Threshold. If one or more assessments scored above a 65 then the report was placed in the next appropriate category.

A T-score of 65 means that the score is roughly in the top 7% of scores of un-referred young people of the same age (described as borderline clinical by the developer) and a score of 70 means that the score is roughly in the top 2% of scores of un-referred young people of the same age (described as the clinical threshold by the developer). T-scores above 80 only contain minor differences in percentile rankings and discriminations among such elevated T scores are not clinically meaningful (Chorpita et al. 2000).

The second and third method of data collection was through student journals and teacher observations. From the journals, key themes and repeated ideas were identified which helped to construct an idea of what students were feeling as the project progressed and to gauge any change. Students were given specific writing prompts and the journals proved a versatile tool for gathering information from students as well as a way of practicing mindfulness. From the observations, students provided immediate and direct feedback as to how they were feeling in general and about certain activities and practices. Students were provided opportunities to discuss how they felt time outside, mindfulness, and preparing for online learning were going. These conversations provided insight if changes needed to be made and if so possibilities as to how.

Weekly Debriefing

The researchers met once a week after school to discuss how the project was going and share ideas. It was also a time to reflect on themes that were arising from journal entries and teacher observations. During these sessions, concerns and challenges were also discussed.

Problems

Survey Uptake

The initial plan was to have parents and students complete the pre-assessment survey before starting school. The goal was to obtain possible anxiety levels that may or may not stem from the anticipation of starting school during the pandemic. Invitations and surveys were sent out, and this included Facebook announcements, text messages, and once school started, notes in agendas; however, few parents and students completed the survey at home. In the end, the student self-report assessments were completed at school. There was not enough data collected from parents to provide insight into what children were feeling prior to the start of school. Thus the parent survey results were excluded from the findings.

Absent Students

Students who did not have consistent attendance would have had to learn and re-learn classroom procedures. Procedures included transitions outside, mindfulness practices, and online learning. These students would not have had the same level of practice in mindfulness and thus would have not progressed as well as students with consistent attendance. These students would have missed out on shared experiences with their peers and teacher which would decrease their opportunities to reflect on their experiences and gauge the effectiveness of being outside and mindfulness practices.

Students' Writing Ability

Some students struggled with completing journal entries. Students with ADHD had to be explicitly told to get their journal out and struggled to remain focused long enough to write a complete entry. Some students received support from the teacher and educational assistant when completing a journal prompt.

Working Outdoors

Originally there were two purposes for going outdoors with students: spending time outdoors as a means of reducing virus transmission and reducing student stress. The relative importance of the purposes changed over the course of the study. The goal in September was to spend two of the five classes a day outside. Students were to work on the same assignments they would have in the classroom. This was not an attempt to incorporate new content or outdoor education.

More than one location was required for working outdoors. For example, warm sunny days required the availability of shade. Initially students used the school building for shade and for shelter from the wind. As the class ventured further from the school, they made use of trees and sheltered areas. The students became adept at finding spots that suited them.

Materials: Materials for working outside were minimal. Students received a clipboard and a groundsheet. The clipboard was to provide a writing surface. The ground sheet was a 1 meter long and 2 meter-wide sheet of poly plastic that could be rolled or folded for easy storage. The groundsheet provided a dry surface for students to sit or lie on when working. It could also be used to keep off rain.

Cold weather: With the sudden onset of cold weather in early October the amount of class time outside was reduced. This reduced the effectiveness of using the outdoors as a means of limiting virus spread. The class went from twice a day to once a day and activities needed to be more active to keep students warm. Students, especially students with limited resources, had difficulty dealing with the cold. Providing coats, mittens, and other cold weather clothing to outfit them was a challenge. Fortunately, Turtleford School is a community school and has experience dealing with this issue. The transition period to adjust to the cold weather lasted between over three weeks before the last of the students were once again physically comfortable with going outside for extended periods of time.

Transitions: Going outside required different transition time for different students. Some of the students take a long time to dress to go outside. There are great differences in mobility. Some students were in excellent shape and able to run to the work area. Other students, because of difficulty staying on task, or physical condition move at a much slower pace. If an educational assistant was available to assist or stay with slower students, the class could go to the work area each at their own pace. Without the assistance the students would need to gather first in a staging area by the school before moving on to more distant work areas.

Work areas: Work areas away from the school were carefully defined. Students were often out of line of sight from the teacher so there needed to be a high degree of confidence that they were always in earshot and that teacher and students could find each other easily. Where the students chose to work might change depending on wind, or other conditions. Communication about where students planned to work was important, but when communication failed having a defined space meant students were still easily accessible. There are reported benefits of allowing students this degree of independence from direct supervision. “When children are closely supervised outside, they are less active.” (Tremblay et al. 2015 p,6486)

Washroom Usage: Student access to washroom facilities was a consideration for working outdoors. With the furthest work area 500 meters from the school it is difficult to quickly access a washroom. The issue was mostly dealt with by encouraging students to use washrooms before going outside. From September to mid-January students have gone outside daily and only three students needed to return to the school for the washroom.

Self-Regulation and Mindfulness

Throughout the study period, students practiced mindfulness. The content was largely based on material developed by Mindful Schools. Mindful Schools provides a workbook for students as well as instructional videos. Both researchers working on the project have taken Mindful Schools courses.

From the first day of school students practiced mindfulness. Practice took several forms such as meditation, guided visualization, and journal writing. Each morning students spent time in meditation. While there were many different ways this was practiced the essentials consisted of assuming a mindful posture, bringing awareness to their bodies, and bringing attention to their breathing. The focus of the meditation varied, but the time, around 9:00 am, and the length, four to five minutes, remained constant. Occasionally the class attempted to meditate outdoors at different times. Guided visualizations were usually used ahead of events like tests, or to supplement the Mindful Schools material. Journal writing began with the intention of having students record what they were grateful for several times a week. The focus shifted from having them write about what they were grateful for, which often proved to be an abstract concept, to selecting something good from their day to write about in their journal.

Preparing for Online Learning

The goal of teaching students to work online was to make a seamless transition from attending school to online learning, should the need arise. Teaching students how to work online while they were at school meant they were supported both by teachers and other students. This would avoid the added stress of trying to learn to work online during the stress of a school closure.

The Northwest School Division uses Microsoft Teams for elementary online learning. Students can access assignments, submit them, chat, and make audio and video calls. Teams was not initially designed for elementary education. For many students using Teams is not intuitive as they have not been exposed to programs for working online. Having a safe environment for them to explore the features makes them much more likely to use it later.

The school has sets of laptops that can be signed out for one period at a time. The laptops were used in class during the first period. A short assignment was shared with students. Ideally, the assignment took no more than ten minutes to complete and submit. For example, a lesson on nouns might have a short section explaining what nouns are. The assignment would be to highlight the nouns in five sentences then submit the assignment for marking. Once completed the student had the option of working on other assignments or using other online learning programs like Mathletics, RAZ Kids, or Epic Books. Assignments were typically corrected and returned or reviewed by the class together. Once the assignments were finished students were permitted to use the chat feature.

Students who were absent from school for a few days were invited to take part in some activities using Teams. Students who did some schoolwork using Teams worked with a teacher, educational assistant, and other students attending school in person. It provided students in school with practice using Teams and, for the absent student, maintained connection with the school and classmates.