The Importance of Mental Health

This past Thursday in Adolescent Development we spent most of our class outside eating cookies, blowing bubbles, making balloon hats, and learning to double dutch. This hour was dedicated to maintaining a healthy mind by taking a break to relax and have some fun. Professor Doyle has been emphasizing to our class that as teachers we must care for our students and provide them with unconditional support when they need us. The mental health of our students should be the most important thing to us as teachers, as we have have the ability to make such a huge impact on youth of our society. Emotions are unsteady in adolescence, as several aspect of students' lives are changing during this time, and above all else, students need support and someone who they can go to for help.

During class it became evident to me that it is crucial to be aware of the mental health of our students. I was on the student end of this during class, and my professor recognized that our class needed a break, so she got us outside having fun and bonding with one another. This was not only a wonderful way to help us reset ourselves at such a busy time of the year, but also a great way to create a stronger community of students within our class. 

After class, I realized that this is something we needed to pass this along to W, especially after he dealt with such a hardship from home. My fellow tutor brought his HAPI drum, we spoke with W's teacher to gain permission to bring him outside, and we had some fun with our student. W has previously indicated to us that he’s fascinated that my fellow tutor plays the drums, and he wanted to learn how to play. So this past Thursday during tutoring we brought W outside, sat in the grass, played the drums, and blew bubbles. This was not only relaxing for our student who had such a tough time recently, but it was also a learning opportunity, as my fellow tutor taught W how to play the HAPI drum. It was so wonderful to spend some time with our student in a context free from traditional academics and get to see him enjoying learning the drums. We strongly emphasized to him that we recognize he has been through such hardship recently, and that we are so proud of how well he is doing in school. We felt that it was so important for W to understand that we are always there for him and that we care for him. Overall, we had such a wonderful time spent relaxing and learning something new with W. It truly showed us the true importance of caring for the mental health of our students.

My  Adolescent Development Class                       My placement partner and ELL student