Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Teletherapy Support Sessions for Students

The response to the COVID-19 virus is unprecedented. Global Teletherapy services K-12 schools virtually with therapeutic services. Because of our unique role in children’s education, Global Teletherapy would like to support the thousands of children with new anxieties over being quarantined by many U.S. school districts.  We feel a responsibility to do what we can to assist schools, therapists and students with this transition to online learning and seclusion.

As the number of homebound students grows exponentially every day, we want to ensure that students remain engaged and healthy. Our therapists will be providing complimentary “Support Sessions” to the country’s youth. The current school mental health programs may not have the capacity to adequately serve the students who may be uncertain or anxious. The online formats may also be hard to navigate for current school therapists.

Starting March 23rd, these ½ hour Support Sessions will be held daily through June. They will range in age formats to discuss specific concerns. The group sessions will focus on keeping the students calm and engaged while homebound due to the current situation.…Read More

3 no-cost ways to support mental health in schools

Mental illness is on the rise in schools. As mental-health advocates fight to remove the stigma associated with mental illness, more clinical diagnoses are made. Twenty-five years ago, anxiety and depression were two illnesses barely discussed and rarely diagnosed. Now, they are flooding public school classrooms.

A survey conducted in February by the Pew Research Center found that 70 percent of teenagers identified mental health as a major issue among their peers—a number higher than bullying, drug addiction, or gangs. So with numbers that high, it should be assumed that public school funding would be prioritizing student mental health, but that’s not the case. In fact, too often, it’s our support staff who bears the weight of the financial crises facing public education.

I’ve spent 16 years as a teacher and educational leader. In that time, I’ve seen teaching go from a profession tasked with guiding children and young adults through academic curriculum to one of social and emotional teaching and learning. Twenty years ago, students were concerned with time management and quadratic equations; today they are overwhelmed by social media and stories of school violence.…Read More

4 apps for students’ personal growth and mental health

Apps can be a valuable resource for educators who have access to mobile devices and who want to engage students with digital resources.

While they’re a fun resource, teachers don’t always have time to search through apps and ensure they’re appropriate for students; this means everyone misses out on what could be a memorable learning activity.

The editors of Common Sense Education review and rate apps for students of all ages. Common Sense Education helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.…Read More

How schools can address mental health to reduce school violence

With another school shooting just down the road from me last month, it was sobering to see parents and community members leaving positive Post-it notes and sidewalk chalk messages to encourage children to walk into schools. We have been told school violence is caused by loss of civility in society, video games, pornography, and guns themselves. Without arguing the pros and cons of the Second Amendment, it is clear to me that people shooting into schools have mental health issues. Adding additional law enforcement presence tends to provide a better reaction in the case of crisis, but educators would generally avoid the crisis by proactively addressing the needs of the children.

Mental health and childhood trauma
Addressing the socio-emotional or mental health issues of children continues to be the one thing many agree can help curb violence in schools. We believe it is essential to address the needs of the entire family. More children are entering the schoolhouse as survivors of some level of trauma due to everything from substance abuse in the household to being the child of a veteran still coping with the aftereffects of deployment.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network provides an excellent overview of the populations most at risk as well as resources for educators to address the impact of trauma among their students. The concept of trauma-informed teaching is expanding in a range of academic circles.…Read More