Restore the Emotional Health of Your Students and Teachers

First Presenter's Institution

Gifts of Joy

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Jewelisa lived for the opportunity to teach and impact children. So, when she had to make the difficult decision to step away from the classroom, she was left feeling as if she had abandoned her students and colleagues. She questioned if the decision she made was the right one. Nevertheless, she ended up here, the founder of Gifts of Joy, a company built to restore emotional health for students and teachers. Jewelisa Blanks studied Human Development and family science as an undergraduate and earned a master's degree in Middle Childhood Education. She was a recipient of a fellowship that added 15 hours to her weekly graduate program but focused on the needs of schools facing the toughest challenges. Jewelisa taught high school and middle school as a general education math teacher and finished her last year in the classroom as a special education elementary teacher. After teaching in general and special education programs, Jewelisa struggled with teacher burnout and compassion fatigue and observed an undeniable gap that needed a bridge. Jewelisa witnessed the lack of access to practical yet impactful tools, resources, and strategies for personal and educational development for all students she had served. In addition, she observed countless students and teachers alike who were trying to navigate emotions of distress and social anxiety. A voice was needed to empower those hurting, whether for the teachers themselves or the students. Jewelisa stepped away from teaching in 2019 and started Gifts of Joy because she wanted to encourage more teachers and administrators to normalize special education strategies for preserving and developing students' and teachers' psychological and emotional health in ALL classrooms. Jewelisa could not have anticipated that the world would be in crisis the following year, but since the pandemic, She has appreciated the importance of Gifts of Joy's existence more than ever. Jewelisa wants to support teachers like herself who inspire to create healthy, calm, and joyful environments for their students. Her mission is to encourage compassion, inclusive strategies for all students, and create a meaningful connection in our classrooms, homes, and ourselves.

Document Type

Event

Primary Strand

Mindfulness and Wellbeing

Relevance to Primary Strand

The proposal of “Restoring the Emotional health of students and teachers” relates to The Mindfulness and Wellbeing strand by focusing on practical yet scientifically proven strategies that can be implemented for daily use within every classroom schoolwide. These empowering strategies help to teach compassion, inclusive strategies, and restore the gift of connection.

Brief Program Description

Learn five easy-to-follow steps that empower teachers to restore and sustain the emotional health of students and teachers through inclusiveness, connection, and compassion.

Summary

The “Restore the Emotional Health of Your Teachers and Students” proposal will be structured as a “modeling method.” This method will allow modeling while presenting. Participants will have the opportunity to see the different strategies in action, thus making it easier for them to envision themselves implementing the strategies in their classrooms and with their students and staff members. Within the presentation, I will be modeling the following classroom connection strategies: “Highs, Lows, and In-Betweens,” “Journal prompts,” “Post-it note thoughts,” and “real thoughts.” These connection strategies will demonstrate to participants the various degrees of vulnerability and the importance of cultivating a classroom climate of connection. These fundamental elements are pivotal when building and restoring safe spaces for emotional connections in classrooms and creating an inclusive and trusted classroom community.

Participants will also engage in interactive activities and group discussions such as table talks and easy-to-implement sensory exploration activities that can be duplicated with everyday objects and materials in their classrooms. Participants will be able to see the significance of our senses and how our individual experiences can play a significant role in our self-regulation methods. Quick, sensory-friendly activities will allow students and teachers to discuss and explore sensory strategies such as incorporating sensory breaks and sensory tools daily within the classroom.

Participants will see recent data that illuminates the importance of addressing focus, stress, and anxiety within the classroom setting. Lastly, participants will practice deep breathing techniques and practice “real thoughts,” which represents a space within the instructional setting that allows for transparent and impactful conversations around their true thoughts on various exercises before learning the science behind the exercises they just practiced.

Evidence

The proposal "Restore the Emotional Health of Your Students and Teachers" uses scientifically proven techniques such as deep breathing. Evidence has shown that deep breathing directly impacts our brain, digestive health, and central nervous system. Other embedded methods within our approach to a calm classroom are self-regulation and self-management techniques aligned to the CASEL SEL framework highlighting the importance and direct impact that an improvement of Emotional Intelligence has on our abilities to make responsible decisions, establish and sustain positive relationships, and maintain healthy self-images.

Learning Objective 1

Understand Emotional Health through a sensory lens.

Learning Objective 2

5 practical steps to a CALM classroom.

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Restore the Emotional Health of Your Students and Teachers

The “Restore the Emotional Health of Your Teachers and Students” proposal will be structured as a “modeling method.” This method will allow modeling while presenting. Participants will have the opportunity to see the different strategies in action, thus making it easier for them to envision themselves implementing the strategies in their classrooms and with their students and staff members. Within the presentation, I will be modeling the following classroom connection strategies: “Highs, Lows, and In-Betweens,” “Journal prompts,” “Post-it note thoughts,” and “real thoughts.” These connection strategies will demonstrate to participants the various degrees of vulnerability and the importance of cultivating a classroom climate of connection. These fundamental elements are pivotal when building and restoring safe spaces for emotional connections in classrooms and creating an inclusive and trusted classroom community.

Participants will also engage in interactive activities and group discussions such as table talks and easy-to-implement sensory exploration activities that can be duplicated with everyday objects and materials in their classrooms. Participants will be able to see the significance of our senses and how our individual experiences can play a significant role in our self-regulation methods. Quick, sensory-friendly activities will allow students and teachers to discuss and explore sensory strategies such as incorporating sensory breaks and sensory tools daily within the classroom.

Participants will see recent data that illuminates the importance of addressing focus, stress, and anxiety within the classroom setting. Lastly, participants will practice deep breathing techniques and practice “real thoughts,” which represents a space within the instructional setting that allows for transparent and impactful conversations around their true thoughts on various exercises before learning the science behind the exercises they just practiced.