Wellness Check In's

Hey, friends. I hope you are well and took some time for self care this weekend. I enjoyed indoor camping and lots of baking. I hope to top off the weekend with reading. I am currently reading EQ Intervention and it is so good! 

Today I wanted to talk about wellness check in's. With what we are all facing right now, wellness check in's are so vital. Checking on our students, teammates/co-workers, family members, and friends is key to supporting each other socially/emotionally. I recently created a wellness check in to utilize in Zoom meetings. Many times in our meetings, we are very focused on the tasks at hand. However, we can't give our best if we are struggling emotionally. We know we can't get to Bloom's without meeting Maslow with our students. This is the same with adults, too. We can't be a highly effective team if we aren't taking care of our people. 

Many of you reached out through Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook asking for the link to get your own copy!! Details on how to access your own, FREE copy is at the end of this post. 

Ways to Utilize the Wellness Check In:

1. You can print the check in and use when we are all back to face to face settings. It can be used at the start of counseling sessions or even be used in a classroom cool off area. 

2. You can use these in a Google Classroom. You can post it under Assignments with Wellness Check In as the Topic. You can set it up where students just respond privately to you to give their number/check in.

3. You can use it as a form. You can use it as a picture in a form and have students submit their info to you. You can either have them enter their name or set the form to where it collects their email address. I would suggest names because their emails may not match up. Example below:

4. You can use it in Zoom meetings. You can do wellness check ins and you can have people enter their number in chat or privately message it (whatever you are all comfortable with). To show it in the meeting, just have it pulled up and share screen.

Keys to Using Wellness/Check In:

1. Keep it confidential. I think we all know this one but we want to ensure we are keeping people's check in confidential and not share with others.

2. Follow Up!! We have to make sure if someone says that they are a 3, 4, or 5 that we individually check in on them. Check in's are great but not if we aren't truly using them for the purpose they were created for...and that is to provide support. 

3. Remind everyone it's okay to not be okay. Discuss that it is okay if you're a 4 or 5. Sometimes people are afraid to be open with this. Let them know the purpose of this is to check on them and see how you can help. 

I hope this is helpful for all of you. You can get your own free copy below. The only disclaimer for copyright is that you keep my blog/name information at the bottom of the product. If you use the Google slide version and make a copy, please ensure that the copyright/info is not taken off. Other than that, it is all yours to print or use however needed.

Google Version

PDF Version

I would love for you to share how you are using it!! 

Please feel free to tag me on the following social media accounts (please just make sure you are following your district/business policies)

Twitter @melroseacker

Facebook: The Stylish School Counselor    (PS I am working at changing everything Stylish School Counselor to Counseling_and_Confetti)

Instagram (where I am the most active): Counseling_and_Confetti

Have a great week. Remember, there are positives each day, sometimes we just have to look for them! 

Throwing confetti your way,

Melanie

FREE Activities for HOME

With many schools closing around the country, educators and parents are working so hard to ensure they are taking care of kids! I can personally speak to how hard it can be to juggle working from home and "homeschooling" your own kids. I can't even imagine for parents who are having to work outside the home, as well....I am thinking of you all and sending positive vibes your way. 

I think we can all agree that staying connected to our students and providing easy to use activities is our goal. It is has been so heartwarming seeing the joy on students' faces talking to their teachers. I think the silver lining in all of this is how everyone realizes how vital our education system is. 

Today, I wanted to share some FREE resources with all of you. My husband and I write books over at Ackers Books. One way we wanted to share during this difficult times is to record videos reading our books. I am not sure if you knew this but there are copyright issues if you read a book and record it so we wanted to take that worry out of the way! Below are links to some of our recordings that you can use at home or to share with students (you have our permission)! We are also linking some FREE activities that you can share/use at home or school. 

The first video is from the book My PE Teacher is a Ninja. You can access the video below. 

The second video is My Counselor is a Princess. You can access the video below.

The third video is Hootie Lou (one of my favorite books). You can access the video below:

We also have FREE Activities linked on our website over at Ackers' Books. 

I hope these resources are helpful as we all navigate these new challenges. I hope you're all staying healthy, practicing self care, and are well. I am SO excited about the next blog post and a freebie that I can't wait to share!!!

Melanie