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After the last 18 months of uncertainty and change, this September brings a new set of challenges as we all grapple with what it means to be safe for ourselves and others during this phase of recovery. We hope the resources in this Snapshot will help schools acknowledge the complexities of the pandemic, reconnect with staff, families and students, and celebrate the resilience of our community as we move into our "newest normal".
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We know that many students have had varied experiences over the last 18 months. It is important to create space to acknowledge that time, and respect that there will be a wide range of stories and reactions. We need to reinforce to all youth that there was no "one way" to react to COVID and it is OK to acknowledge that there were positives as well as negatives. Please monitor students for signs of difficulty coping or responses that hint to more complicated, cumulative trauma. If you have concerns, please connect to school counsellors to allow for a more thorough debriefing and assessment of the youth; it is important that emotional safety in maintained for everyone.
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| Through school and classroom based activities, staff can support students' processing of the last 18 months and celebrate the move back to more consistent school community and culture, even as we develop additional safety protocols for our staff and students. The following suggestions may lead to increased discussion and ideas that support the unique school and class cultures in our district.
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Elementary School Community Educators can lead class discussions on what students know and don't know about COVID. What did they worry about? What do they wonder about now? What will they miss about last year? What are they looking forward to for this year?
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Middle School Community Students can identify what was different about last year during COVID and categorize those differences in terms of school, home, and community. What was positive and what was more negative? What do they predict will be different for the upcoming year?
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Secondary School Community Students can identify the positive and negative impacts of COVID from a local, provincial, national and international perspective. They can discuss what factors have contributed to this range of experience, and how it may play out over the next months and years.
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2 X 10 is a framework for staff to create intentional, targeted connections with youth. Educators work at creating 10 opportunities to interact with a student for approximately two minutes each time. The goal is to have a conversation that isn't connected to school performance or behaviour, but focuses on the youth's interests, values and world outside of school. For more direction watch the video to see how this simply strategy has worked for other educators in our District to create connections with students. More information included in Resources.
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What Educators say about 2 x 10 |
Student voice on connection with adults
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In January of 2021 SD 61 elementary (grade 4) and middle (grade 6) students participated in the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI). MDI is a self-report questionnaire that asks students how they think and feel about their experiences both inside and outside of school. The questions are related to the five areas of development that are strongly linked to well-being, health and academic achievement. Below are their aggregated responses regarding connection to adults. All elementary and middle schools have school level data. Please consult with your administrator to view school reports. You can access the District and Community MDI reports in the Resources
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| Excerpt from the BC School Recovery Plan Document: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities. Boards/authorities should identify Indigenous students whose educational outcomes may have been negatively impacted during the pandemic and make accommodations to ensure these students are supported. The needs of Indigenous students who require additional supports should be planned for and prioritized in partnership with parents/caregivers and communities.
Additional considerations for boards/authorities include:
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Collaboration between teachers and Indigenous support staff on the development of Indigenous students' learning plans, including ensuring the integration of language and culture into these plans.
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Awareness and sensitivity regarding the complex and devastating history that pandemics have had on many Indigenous communities.
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Understanding that some Indigenous families and communities may continue to take increased safety measures, which may mean that some students will not be able to attend in-person instruction in September.
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RECIPROCITY, RELEVANCE, RESPONSIBILITY, RESPECT, RELATIONSHIPS Dr. Shelly Niemi (District Administrator of Indigenous Education) has summarized the work by various Indigenous scholars in developing a response to institutional Western approaches towards Indigenous students. The paper identifies some key elements and considerations for educators to examine as we begin to weave Indigenous Education within and across public education.
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As we give space for acknowledging the impact of COVID, we also hope to provide direction and permission to focus on next steps and help our students feel confident that they have the tools to have a successful, memorable school year.
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Strengths-based and Coping Skills: By promoting resiliency and coping skills in the classroom, educators can help students manage triggers related to past experiences of trauma and support healing and self-advocacy.
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Trauma awareness: Being “trauma aware” means that educators understand that the pandemic may have increased in levels of trauma for students that can influence how they learn, socialize and experience emotions in the classroom.
Safety and trustworthiness: Physical, emotional, spiritual, and cultural safety are important to trauma-informed practice. By creating a safe classroom, educators build strong and trustworthy relationships that can support students who are living with trauma.
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Choice, Collaboration and Connection: Educators can create opportunities for choice and connection within the classroom to support students’ strengths. The experience of choice, collaboration, and connection often involves educators to be active participants in the decisions that impact their student life.
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| Educators have long known that feeling safe and secure in school helps students focus their energy on learning. And the research bears that out:
A 2018 study found that when teachers deliberately foster a sense of belonging they see significant improvements in academic engaged time and reductions in disruptive behavior.
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Some of the activities below take less than five minutes. They are divided by levels, but many can apply across all levels K-12.
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Elementary School Community
Shout-Outs: This is a quick way for students to celebrate each other for doing a job well or for attempting something difficult. Shout-outs can be incorporated at any point in a class. A signal such as a chime can let the students know that they can share a shout-out.
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Friendly Fridays: a simple way for students to lift each other and themselves up. Have students write a friendly, anonymous note to a classmate, practicing using positive self-talk, or storytelling to give a peer a pep talk.
Sharing Acts of Kindness: students noticing others’ acts of kindness: When a student sees a peer tidying up in the classroom, for example, they can post a thank you note on a shared digital “kindness wall.” This coaches students to be kind to their peers in the hope that they’ll begin to practice kindness unprompted.
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| Middle School Community
Paper Tweets: Create a bulletin board modeled on Twitter. Students use a template to create a profile, and they enlist at least three followers—a friend, an acquaintance, and someone they don‘t interact with much.
Once this is set-up have them respond to prompts about their current mood or new things happening in their lives, and then their followers respond.
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Group Salutes: is a teacher-prompted interaction that is a quick, low-prep way to cultivate community. It is a moment shared between two or more students at the beginning or end of an activity. Group Salute can be physical—like a high five—or social—a teacher could ask students to express gratitude to their group members. There‘s some interesting data supporting this idea: Researchers found that NBA teams whose players touch the most early in the season—high fives, fist bumps, etc.—had the best records later for the season!
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Secondary School Community
Morning Meetings: Morning meetings have been a staple of elementary classrooms, but they can help students in all grades. You can use a version of morning meetings at every grade level as “a pure relationship-building time.” Bonding exercises led by teachers or students include physical or social and emotional activities, or discussions of sensitive topics like bullying.
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Snowball Toss: Students anonymously write down one of their stressors on a piece of paper, crumple it up, gather in a circle, and throw their paper balls in a mock snowball fight. When that‘s done, they pick up a snowball and read it aloud. The idea is that they are moving around, able to have fun, laugh, be loud, and then have a discussion about stress.
Appreciation, Apology, Aha: As a quick, daily closing activity, students gather in a circle and share an appreciation of one of their peers, an apology, or a light bulb moment. The teacher models the activity by sharing and then asks for volunteers to speak.
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Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, Dr. Linda O‘Neill and author Monique Gray Smith share their expertise on fostering wellness and compassion spaces for students, especially during times when the learning environment is ever-changing. The three presenters detail how innovative concepts and practical approaches can assist educational staff in building compassionate learning environments in which both students and educators can thrive.
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 Dr. Schonert-Reichl Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl titles her section, "A new Kind of Fitness" and it focuses on practical strategies for building reslience and well-being of students and educators.
|  Dr. O'Neill Dr. Linda O'Neill describes the attributes of a ACES - Informed school during COVID 19 and recovery, focusing on the development of intentional compassion, kindness & understanding.
|  Monique Gray Smith This section of the webinar is titled, "Love is Medicine" and highlights Monique Gray Smith's work delving into resilience and Indigenous lenses.
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| Kevin Cameron has created very comprehensive guidelines for schools in North America focusing on how to reconnect, assess and prepare for students re-engaging in schools. The entire document can be found in the link below, and we have highlighted a few key pieces that can be used by schools.
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Do you enjoy the monthly Snapshots?
Do you have suggestions on how to improve the Snapshots?
Do you have ideas for future topics?
Let us know!
We would love to hear from you!
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