Thank you for trusting us with your time and energy. We know you’re busy and work hard as a teacher. But as one of our workshop attendees once said, “What do I teach? I teach students. I teach children.” We hope this workshop and these resources help your students, but even more, help you create space for SEL in your own life!
How do I sign up?
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If you have any questions, comments, or ideas/resources to share, please reach out:
NarwhalsandWaterfalls@gmail.com
Additional Resources
Below is a collection of resources, links, and ideas we’ve collected from past workshops and professional developments. We’d love to keep growing this list, so if you have any success stories or “learning opportunities” from your own classroom, we’d love to share them. Feel free to reach out at any time.
Jump to: BOOKS | NOTES | SEL RESOURCES | PARTNERS | SELF-CARE
Book Recommendations
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Self-Care Resources
Secondary Traumatic Stress – it can be subconscious, so strive to understand the signs
Counseling Resources
Find out how to get six free counseling sessions.
Partner Exercises
In middle school, songs and dances in different cultures
are a great way to work on relationship building and respect.
Have a teacher or staff member the students connect
with help introduce the dance (via prerecorded video?).
Demonstrate the “wrong” way to do it or what not to do humorously.
Alternate the number of partners in group dances so no one feels left out.
Notes from Fellow Teachers
As we get more great ideas and advice from other teachers, we’ll keep collecting it here.
Using clips from Naruto or other shows popular with your students
is a great way to discuss emotions, color, or musical terms. After
a scene discuss the connections between what’s happening
and the music and why they might have chosen that.
The “Shut It Down Zone” – a place to recreate the “coming home ritual” of pre-covid, providing the physical and routine triggers that the work day is over.
Ideas to help with Morning Greetings:
- Have students take turns being the greeter
- Establish clear transitions into the start of class
- Have a video or activity for kids already in the classroom
Ideas for Virtual Learning
- “If my students can’t find scarves, we use their socks!”
- Ensure they have enough “Mindful Minutes or Mindful Moments” each class. Make it part of the schedule and provide options for how they use them.
Ideas for the Calming Corner
- “I set up my own PERSONAL ZEN ZONE IN THE CLASSROOM. Seeing how I handle myself when I’m overwhelmed gives my students permission to do the same.”
- Create multiple calming corners (possibly color coded)
- Use sheet dividers and dry erase markers with your Feelings Journal to save on paper
“Establishing BOUNDARIES is self-care”
“What do you teach?” “I teach students. I TEACH CHILDREN. That’s the correct answer.”
“When I have to discipline a student, I always make sure I say ‘I STILL LIKE YOU.'”
“I keep a ‘SHARE BUCKET‘ where students can write down and share problems anonymously and/or personally. This helps me be more aware of what might be distracting them emotionally.”
If you have any questions, comments, or ideas/resources to share, please reach out:
NarwhalsandWaterfalls@gmail.com