TeachKind Resources to Enhance Well-Being in Students

If you are a teacher, parent, or caregiver who keeps up with educational trends, you’re likely aware of the mental health crisis affecting many young people today. The pressures of academic performance, social dynamics, and personal challenges have led to rising levels of anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues among K-12 students. Addressing this crisis is crucial for the well-being and future success of our children, and TeachKind is here to support you and your students by providing tools to foster empathy and compassion. These resources can be used to help students navigate their emotions and build healthier relationships with themselves and others while simultaneously promoting kindness towards animals.

Here are a few ways that TeachKind’s materials support various aspects of students’ mental health:

Building a Positive School Environment

TeachKind’s resources promote kindness and empathy, contributing to a more positive and inclusive school environment. A supportive and compassionate school culture can significantly impact students’ mental well-being, making them feel safer and more valued.

Kindness Pledge

TeachKind’s classroom kindness pledge will inspire students to share the world with animals and each other. The pledges, designed for elementary school-aged students, are the perfect way to get kids thinking about how to be kind, stop bullying, and help others (including animals).

Kindness Recognition Tags

When a student performs an act of kindness, fill out a tag with their name and check the box next to the corresponding action or write a custom action on the blank line. These tags are a practical tool for tangible, positive reinforcement for your classroom’s culture of kindness that will contribute to the overall positive atmosphere in your educational space.

Promoting Empathy and Compassion

Empathy and compassion have significant positive impacts on mental health. By understanding and sharing the feelings of others, empathy helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depression and creates a supportive environment where individuals feel understood and validated. This encourages them to open up about their feelings and experiences, which can lead to better communication and stronger relationships, both of which are crucial for emotional well-being. Research also shows that empathy is an essential contributor to prosocial behavior (Roberts and Strayer, 1996; McDonald and Messinger, 2011).

Empowering Affirmation Activities That Promote Empathy for All

You can use this fun and empowering affirmations activity with your students to help them practice empathy toward themselves and others. It can be used in a variety of ways, including setting up affirmation boards and mirrors, establishing morning routines, and creating desk reminders. As you download this activity, try out some affirmations of your own. Repeat after me: “I am a kind teacher. I care about my students. I will set an example of kindness and inclusion in my classroom.”

Be a Pal to Pigeons Activity Bundle

In our busy, modern world, it’s easy to overlook the feathered friends who share our urban spaces, and pigeons, in particular, are frequently viewed as a nuisance. But what many people don’t know is that these fascinating birds find partners for life, are loyal to their loved ones, have impeccable memories, and can recognize their reflection in a puddle or mirror. Like all animals, pigeons are individuals who deserve respect. You can use the items in this pigeon-themed pack to dispel misunderstandings about these complex birds while fostering empathy and compassion for all sentient beings.

Enhancing Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)

TeachKind resources, such as the ‘Share the World’ kit, are designed to integrate seamlessly into social-emotional learning (SEL) programs. They use engaging stories and videos about animals to foster empathy and compassion. By understanding and relating to animals’ experiences, children learn to recognize and respect the feelings of others, which is a crucial aspect of emotional intelligence. SEL is essential for children’s mental health as it helps them develop self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills. By encouraging students to reflect on their own emotions and behaviors, students gain a deeper understanding of themselves and others.

Share the World (K-2): Empathy-Building Curriculum Kit

TeachKind’s Share the World program kit is FREE to all teachers—but the lesson is invaluable. Using fun analogies, easy-to-understand values, cute and inspiring animal videos, and true stories of animals who overcame adversity, Share the World teaches students how similar we are to all the animals, large and small, with whom we share the world. This all-inclusive pack has everything that a teacher needs to implement lessons on empathy, kindness, and compassion in an accessible and fun way and can be used to meet Common Core Learning Standards.

Share the World (3-5): Empathy-Building Program Kit

Reducing Stress and Anxiety

Learning about animals and reading stories about them can have a calming effect on children. It can even help students with academic performance, as seen in the results of a first-of-its-kind study using TeachKind’s animal rescue stories. TeachKind’s use of inspiring animal stories and videos can provide a sense of comfort and connection. This can be particularly beneficial for children who may be dealing with difficult feelings or situations.

Animal ‘Rescue Stories’ K–2 Reading Passages Bundle

Animal ‘Rescue Stories’ Grades 3-5 Reading Passages Bundle

Animal ‘Rescue Stories’ Grades 6-8 Reading Passages Bundle

Animal ‘Rescue Stories’ Grades 9-12 Reading Passages Bundle

References

McDonald, N. and Messinger, D. (2011). “The Development of Empathy: How, When, and Why.” In A. Acerbi, J. A. Lombo, and J.J.Sanguineti (Eds.), Free Will, Emotions, and Moral Actions: Philosophy and Neuroscience in Dialogue. IF-Press.

Roberts, W. and Strayer, J. (1996). “Empathy, Emotional Expressiveness, and Prosocial Behavior.” Child Development, 67, 449‒470.

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