Student Emotional Health During a Pandemic

Now, more than ever, we have been increasingly concerned about our health.  Amidst the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, people became frantic in an effort to preserve their own health and the health of those they love.  5 months later, and the concern is still very real, but now that some of the dust has settled, we are left in a battlefield of emotions, processing the events of our day. 

Something we need to think about as we approach the beginning of this very strange and different school year is: If we, as adults are having a hard time processing the complexities of this virus and what’s going on in the world because of it, how much more are our students going to be struggling with those same things?

This year, we have to focus more than ever on health.  Yes, we will need to sanitize everything 50 more times a day and do all the things if we are in-person in classrooms.  But I want to draw your attention instead to emotional health.  How are we going to care for our students’ emotional well-being?  This is an important question that I am going to try to begin answering with you.  

First, we need to be a safe space for our students to process their emotions.  They will be spending a lot of time with us, whether we are doing distance learning or in-person learning.  We should be intentional about asking questions to spark class discussion. 

That way we can moderate the conversation in a safe place and set expectations for how to listen well to each other and how to respond to other people’s concerns and emotions.  This teaches empathy to students, which is an important skill, whether we are in a pandemic or not.  Having these discussions is also a great time to teach norms and expectations to your students about active listening, building on others’ ideas, and responding with questions or comments that are thoughtful and kind.   

Next, we should be frequently checking in with our students’ emotional health.  One way I did this during distance learning was this Emotional Health Check-In Google Form I created. I would assign the Emotional Health Check-In through our Learning Management System (my school uses Canvas), and the students would answer 3 quick questions. The questions are designed to help them identify specific positive and negative emotions (they can choose as many as they felt). Students can add emotions that aren’t listed and there is also a place for students to articulate what they need in order to get help with their emotions. After the students complete the form, I can see everyone’s individual responses. For students who indicate they are having a rough time, I follow up with them in a private Zoom meeting to discuss their feelings and offer support. In whole-group Zoom meetings, I might remind the students that they are not alone in how they’re feeling.

I may also share with them that we have some classmates that have positive emotions and ask if anyone wants to share what they’re doing to stay positive.   If I notice trends of emotions that a large group in my class are feeling, I make a plan to address it, depending what the emotion is.  For example, many of my students reported that they were feeling “bored” during one of the emotional check-ins at the beginning of our Zoom meeting.  This indicated to me that I should make some changes on my end to make our meetings more engaging and fun for my students.  (Of course, I always weigh the “bored” feedback with a grain of salt because 4th graders at the end of the school year are often bored no matter what.  But seeing as last school year was a bit rough, I knew they needed some more fun.)

The emotional check-in Google Form is just one tool you can use.  If you are teaching in-person, it may be a matter of being intentional to ask targeted questions to some of your students each day to see how they are feeling and allow them time to share. I use these Emotional Health Check-In Cards in my class to check in on their emotional well-being. You can also assign journal topics that ask students to reflect on how they are feeling.  Or lead by example as the teacher and share some of your emotions to the class and show them how you are processing through them.  

Another huge factor in student emotional health is their home life.  This is where relationships with families become paramount.  Reach out to parents frequently just to check in.  You can begin the conversation in an email by just sending a short positive note about their child, and if you are seeing any behaviors that are concerning, you can include those as well. 

It’s always important to ask parents if they can meet with you to chat to provide an opportunity to discuss in-person, or over a video call, when there are concerns.  In that environment, parents are more likely to open up if they are seeing the same issues at home and share how they are handling things.  Or if there are any difficult things happening at home that are impacting their child, they are more likely to discuss them with you in-person or through video chat, rather than in an email. 

It's important to come from a place of genuine care for their child and express often that you want to support them and help them succeed.  This will help build trust with them and enable them to be more honest about any struggles they observe in their child.  You want to partner with them for their child’s growth and health, so you need to have a relationship in order to do that.  

As teachers, we have always held an important responsibility to support our students’ social-emotional growth.  Right now, we are needed in this arena in a massive way.  Just as we navigate the constantly changing landscape with support from each other, let’s be that support for our students and their families as well.