4 Powerful Ways To Immediately Boost Student Emotional Well-Being
Share This:
Teaching is hard… Being an adult is hard… And you know what? Being a kid is hard too!
While you shouldn’t overlook your own mental and emotional health, it is vital to focus on the emotional well-being of your students too.
Find what works for YOU to address your and your family’s emotional well-being, and then shift the focus to your students.
4 Strategies to Boost Student Emotional Well-Being
Use these 4 really powerful strategies to boost student emotional well-being in your classroom each day. They are simple, easy, and have an immediate impact!
- Pledge to self
- Feelings check-in
- Worry jar
- “What are you proud of?”
PLEDGE TO SELF
Start every day with the Pledge to the Flag then follow that with a Pledge to Yourselves. A favorite option for this pledge is I Am Somebody by Andreal Davis.
Explain that a pledge is a promise and that when saying these words each day, your students are making a promise to themselves to be the best that they can be.
Teach your kids that you recite the pledge and make the promise daily because they are worth it!
Refer back to the pledge often during the day to remind students of how they are exhibiting evidence of fulfilling their promise to themselves.
For example, you might say, “Wow Michael, I love how you are not wasting any time getting started on your work! You promised yourself this morning that you wouldn’t waste time, and you are sticking to it! I bet you feel so proud!”
Or you might say, “You have gotten so much better at writing! Every morning you stand up and say ‘I can do anything when I try’, and WOW you are really making that promise come true!”
Your students will become so invested in this daily self-pledge! They will likely even quote parts of it to each other as reinforcement or motivation during the school day.
Grab your FREE I Am Somebody Pledge Poster above!
FEELINGS CHECK-IN
After you’ve completed the daily pledges with your class, it’s time for the feelings check-in!
Incorporate this Feelings Check-in into your daily attendance routine. (This is a nice way to include the emotional well-being of your school secretary as well by not requiring her to call your room ON THE DAILY to ask you to submit attendance!) #worksmarternotharder
“Good Morning Emily. How are you feeling today?”
This feelings check-in gives students a chance to reflect upon their current emotional situation and take ownership of their actions. It’s important for kids to understand why they are feeling the way they are. Once they are able to put a name to it, they are often able to then talk through and problem-solve ways to get themselves to a place where they are feeling positive, healthy emotions.
It also allows you to get a quick sense of where everyone is emotionally, and who may need a little extra support during the day. It is important at this stage for the students to recognize the feelings their peers are experiencing as well, so they can begin to strengthen their sense of empathy and understanding toward each other.
Teaching Emotions
Help your students be more aware of how to discuss their emotions by reviewing the meaning of the various emotions in depth. It’s important to talk about how one can feel more than one emotion at any given time of the day too.
Hang feelings posters in your room for easy reference. Give each student a personal emotions strip as well to help them monitor and better describe their emotions throughout the day.
Find the emotion posters in this Feelings Resource, and get the personal emotion strips for FREE to use with your students too!
Read more about the process of teaching emotions to your students here.
WORRY JAR
Set up a worry jar in your classroom to help students release the burdens they carry each day.
“grandma is in the hospital”….“my hamster died”…“my dad didn’t come home last night”
Have pages available for students to privately write their worries (BIG or small!). They can take a worry paper for the jar at any time during the day when they feel the need to release a worry from their mind and heart.
*With the understanding that their work needs to also be completed during the day. Filling out a worry paper does not give them a free pass to skip all their work for the day!
They can draw or write their worry on paper and choose to color it or not. They can put their name on it or not. The purpose is not to be evaluated in any way, but to just allow them to “give their worry to the jar” so that they can carry on with their day. Let your students know that their worries are private, however, they can share their worries with you anytime if they want to.
Empty the jar every night, so symbolically, when your kids return to school the next day, their worries are gone.
TEACHER TIP: Read the worries each night just in case there is an indication of someone needing immediate help with a situation.
WHAT ARE YOU PROUD OF?
This “What Did You Do Today That You Are Proud Of?” poster is another great way to boost student emotional well-being.
Hang it on the wall in your classroom. As you navigate through daily lessons, give students the opportunity to add a post-it note to the chart telling when they do something they are particularly proud of.
Throughout the day, you can periodically add things that you are proud of students for, as well.
Hang your chart hangs right next to your classroom door for an easy opportunity to read, reflect, and return the post-it notes at dismissal each day.
It’s so powerful to end the day on a good note!
This board gives a voice to ALL the students– not just the students who got called on during the lessons or who had a particularly impressive day.
Every student has reasons to be proud, and they get their chance to share those with the class. No accomplishment is too small; celebrate them all!
Grab your copy of the I Am Proud Classroom Poster by signing up above.
Your students are so fortunate to be learning from someone who cares about their emotional well-being. I cannot wait to hear about what you are doing to support your students emotionally, and how these activities go for you in your classroom if you give them a try! I am looking forward to hearing from you!
Pin this post for later!
Other posts you might enjoy:
No Fail Tricks For Getting Hallway Behaviors On Track
Successful Tips on How to Improve Student Behavior at Assemblies
GUIDE STUDENTS IN DEVELOPING A GROWTH MINDSET WITH THESE
Free Growth Mindset Punch Cards
The perfect way to start meaningful habits and conversations with your students!
Diane Romo
Thank you for being here! I love sharing ideas with other teachers! If you are looking to enhance your teaching and build a positive classroom community, you have come to the right place!
