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Mental Health Wellness in the Classroom-

Our learning pod decided to do a website about the benefits that technology can have in the classroom. We divided the topic of mental health into different topics: music, mindfulness, movement, adaptive learning, daily affirmations in the classroom, and digital journaling. Our website was called: Enhancing Mental Health Through Technology- Welcome to our website, where we explore how incorporating technology resources into the classroom can enhance mental health and wellbeing for students of all ages. Here is the link to our website:

https://kyby228.wixsite.com/tech-mentalhealth

I will go through each of the topics to review what our website entailed:

  1. Music: Using music in the classroom enhances the learning experience, boosts student engagement, fosters creativity, and supports mental health. Whether used as background music during work periods or to stimulate movement, music is a universal language that speaks to the mind and heart. The apps calm connect, spotify, and soundcloud are great resources for music.
  1. Movement: Sitting for long periods during the school day is tiring and elementary aged children have a lot of energy bottled up inside! Frequent movement breaks throughout the day will boost blood circulation, brain activity and emotional well being. Platforms such as GoNoodle, Just Dance, and kidsyogastories.com for seated chair yoga are wonderful resources for movement breaks in the classroom! There are pros and cons to each which you can read about on the website.

3. Mindfulness:

Mindfulness in the classroom can help students develop self-regulation skills, which can lead to improved behavior and aid in classroom management. Students who are aware of their emotions are better at self-control and more likely to participate in a cooperative learning environment. Two resources that are noted are Headspace, and Calm. Teachers can guide their students through these mindfulness audio clips to enhance social-emotional well-being, and focus. It can be a valuable tool for enhancing a positive and focused classroom environment.

4. Daily Affirmations– affirmations can help students have a positive mindset and promote a positive safe environment. They promote uplifting self talk and self esteem. An affirmation station was suggested to be used in the classroom.

5. Digital Journaling: Digital journaling is a great way to allow students to express themselves in a way that is secure and private. Expressing our feelings can be very therapeutic and relaxing. Recommended apps were Goodnotes, Clickup, Finch-A self care pet, Me-A Kids Diary, and Simple Diary-Journaling. The pros and cons, and costs were all outlined in this section.

6. Adaptive Learning: For learners with language barriers or varying learning differences, there are many technological resources available. Some apps that were suggested were class dojo, signschool, touchchat, and calm.