Teachers' Zone 16
Dear Teachers,
The incredible year 2021 is almost over. December is the time when we tend to summarise and try to draw conclusions, put everything in order and make our personal lists of our most and least favourite things that have happened to us for the last 50 something weeks and appreciate each and every of them.
Regardless of what the media say when it comes to the word of 2021- to me the word that I have heard more often than others is wellbeing. For that reason I would like to focus on its meaning to us- English teachers and how we can make the most of it.
Wellbeing, as everyone knows is the most desirable condition we can think of as it is connected with us being mentally and physically healthy, happy, satisfied, feeling meanigfull and well. It is equally important to us- teachers as well as to our students. The end of the year seems to be a very convenient time to stop for a while and think what helps us feel that way. We can incorporate exercises that emphasize the importance of wellbeing in our lessons. How? Here come the ideas.
We can start a lesson with brainstorming the idea of what wellbeing means to students, how they understand the very concept of gratitude, mindfulness and being well as well as the connection between each other. We can ask students to think what they are grateful for and to what extent they are able to appreciate the miracles of everyday life. In many cases it will be our job to help students notice the things we much too often take for granted, which at the same time can contribute or already contribute to our overall feeling of wellbeing. During such a lesson we can draw students’ attention to the importance of mental health- I recommend using the video with Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton Talking Mental Health https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hVAPFyukvY , which simply yet vividly stresses out how important it is to be aware of one’s own feelings. The short video can be used as an excuse to hold a group discussion on how to name emotions and how to deal with them. Before we finish the lesson we can make a list of all the elements that wellbeing consists of.
There are also ready made materials that can be used in the lesson. The articles listed below may serve as a text to be read and analysed in terms of lexical and grammar items but also as a source of ideas to be discussed in the lesson in the context of wellbeing.
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/can-birdsong-make-you-happier-/5867098
The lesson plan below allows students to attend their wellbeing, which is especially important these days when still so many of us are forced to stay at home because of COVID-19. It is well worth being tried out to help students realise how important it is to take care of themselves.
So, I hope I have managed to convince you that wellbeing is not only a fad- it is definitely a must that must not be omitted in our lessons.
Be well and see you next time
Katarzyna Nowak