Tools for Well-being in the Classroom: Fall 2021 Highlight

Fall 2021 Highlight is a Well-being in Learning Environments initiative that builds on the work that faculty members and other instructors are already doing to support student learning and well-being.

We are inviting faculty to be part of this by drawing on what we already know to try out quick strategies to support well-being in their own classes, and have their students participate in a survey to evaluate its impact. An additional goal of this initiative is to expand the network of faculty and instructors interested in exploring strategies that support well-being in learning environments.

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Sign up

Get access to a toolkit of activities and templates that you can use right away

coming soon (August 2021)

Implement the well-being check in

Do what works best with your class and schedule. Try out a well-being activity at any time in the term.

Send out a survey to your students

Be part of a shared assessment process to help us assess the impact these activities have on student well-being

Bonus

Choose to attend optional drop-in chats or other opportunities to connect with participating faculty members and instructors

Everyone’s well-being has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and each person has and continues to experience this differently. The pandemic has exacerbated mental health stressors. Youth aged 18-30 have been particularly likely to report increased anxiety and stress in 2020 (Samji et al., 2021). Students at post-secondary institutions also reported increased stress as we all navigated the switch from in-person to remote teaching, along with other pandemic-related educational complications (Rashid & Di Genova, 2020). We will face additional challenges as we return to campus this Fall. Instructors and faculty can play an important role in creating conditions that support student well-being, and with that student learning, engagement, and retention.

For more information about the impact of well-being on student success, and ways that instructors can affect both, see this project rationale.

What’s in it for you?

• resume for faculty advancement/line for CV
• improved classroom environment and student learning
• be part of a support network of faculty and instructors
• access resources and learn with and from other faculty/instructors on what they are doing to contribute to well-being and student academic success
• opportunities for personal and professional growth

• Fostering connection and practicing kindness
• Students appreciation every little thing we do that shows that we care
• Embracing a flexible approach 
• Instructors who are trying out different well-being strategies