Tag Archives: COVID-19

Mindfulness and Arts Education: A Path to Healing and Expression for Trauma-Affected Students in the Post-COVID Era

Instruction, Professional Learning, Research, , , , ,

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on our world, impacting individuals and communities in profound ways. Beyond the physical health concerns, the pandemic has also exacerbated mental health issues, particularly among children and adolescents, many of whom have experienced trauma and loss. As educators and arts professionals, we face the challenge of supporting these students and creating nurturing environments that foster healing, resilience, and self-expression.

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One of my art students creates artwork that delves into the theme of overcoming trauma and examines the concept of taking charge of one’s destiny. This work was produced in the year 2020; Photo credit: Melissa Williams.
A student creates a powerful artwork that delves into the theme of overcoming trauma and learning to love oneself, even in the face of challenging life experiences. This thought-provoking piece serves as a testament to resilience and self-discovery. It was produced in the year 2020. Photo credit: Melissa Williams.

In my own teaching experience and work as the founder of a nonprofit performing arts organization, I have witnessed the transformative power of mindfulness practices and arts education in supporting students who have been through trauma. Mindfulness, the practice of non-judgmental awareness of the present moment, offers a range of benefits for these individuals, including:

  • Reduced stress and anxiety: Mindfulness cultivates a sense of calm and inner peace, helping students manage the overwhelming emotions that often accompany trauma.
  • Improved emotional regulation: Mindfulness teaches students to observe and accept their emotions without getting caught up in them, enabling them to respond more effectively to challenging situations.
  • Enhanced self-awareness: Mindfulness fosters a deeper understanding of one’s thoughts, feelings, and sensations, empowering students to make conscious choices about their reactions and behaviors.
  • Increased empathy and compassion: Mindfulness cultivates a sense of connectedness with others, enabling students to develop empathy and compassion for themselves and others.

Arts education, on the other hand, provides a unique platform for trauma-affected students to express their emotions, explore their experiences, and develop coping mechanisms. Through various art forms, such as visual arts, music, dance, and creative writing, students can:

Crafting art with mindfulness at the street art festival, where creativity meets tranquility, and every brushstroke becomes a mindful journey of self-expression. Photo credit: Melissa Williams.
  • Process their emotions and experiences in a safe and non-threatening environment.
  • Develop self-awareness and self-expression skills.
  • Explore and communicate their inner world in a way that words alone may not allow.
  • Build self-esteem and confidence.
  • Connect with others who share similar experiences.

The integration of mindfulness and arts education into the learning environment has been particularly valuable in the post-COVID era, where many students are grappling with the aftermath of the pandemic’s disruptions and uncertainties. These combined practices can provide a holistic approach to supporting trauma-affected students, fostering healing, resilience, and self-expression.

Here are some specific examples of how mindfulness and arts education can be incorporated into the classroom and beyond:

  • Mindful breathing exercises and guided meditations can be integrated into arts classes to help students manage stress and anxiety before or during creative activities
  • Mindful journaling prompts can be used to encourage students to reflect on their thoughts and feelings while creating art.
  • Art therapy sessions can be offered to provide students with a safe space to process their emotions and experiences through art-making.
  • Mindful movement practices can be incorporated into art classes to help students connect with their bodies and reduce stress.
  • Art exhibitions and performances can provide opportunities for students to share their work with others and build a sense of community.
Enthusiastic students immerse themselves in the practice of mindfulness through invigorating yoga sessions; Photo credit: Melissa Williams.

In my work with my nonprofit organization, I have seen firsthand the positive impact of mindfulness and arts education on trauma-affected students. I’ve have seen them become more confident, expressive, and resilient. I’ve have seen them develop a deeper understanding of themselves and their emotions. And I have seen them build strong connections with others.

I believe that mindfulness and arts education are powerful tools that can be used to help trauma-affected students heal and thrive. By integrating these practices into our work, we can create a more nurturing and supportive world for all.

Additional Resources

I hope this blog post has been helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Let’s Talk About COVID-19 and Why Teachers Are Important During Times of Uncertainty

Instruction, Leadership, Professional Learning, School Improvement, Uncategorized, , ,

Let’s Talk About Sex COVID-19 and Why Is Sex Education Still Taboo in the U.S.? Teachers Are Important During Times of Uncertainty by Angela Holliday My dissertation topic is Let’s Talk About Sex! Why Is Sex Education Still Taboo in the U.S.? Considering what’s going on in the world however, it doesn’t really seem important right now. COVID-19 has caused job loss, supply shortage, fear, anger, hoarding, and death. With this grim picture though, there have also been acts of kindness, generosity, sharing, and dedication by many, including teachers. Therefore, I’d like to focus on the importance of teachers during times of uncertainty, and why we need them now more than ever. Ava Parker, President of Palm Beach State College, said at the 2017 LCAN Achieve Palm Beach County Florida Chamber Learners to Earners Summit “education is everybody’s business” and as such, I have made it mine.

I still remember the names of the teachers who made a difference in my life. Two teachers, Mr. Norde and Mr. Sweeney, were huge in helping me understand Algebra I. Mr. Norde and Mr. Sweeney left an indelible mark even though I’m sure I didn’t show my appreciation at the time. Their words of encouragement allowed me to believe I could do it. They found ways, where my parents had failed, to explain math problems in a way that made sense. I still appreciate their time and ingenuity to this day. A perfect example of this was when “a student who faced hardships told a researcher that the greatest thing a teacher can do is to care and to understand” (Zakrzewski, 2012). If not, “the kid will say, ‘Oh, they’re giving up on me, so I might as well give up on myself’ (Zakrzewski, 2012).”

I mention my teachers because in times of uncertainty or self-doubt, seeing a familiar face or hearing encouraging words from a teacher, even if virtually, can offer stability and encouragement. The students need their teachers to be the faces and voices they knew in school. The students need their teachers to have expectations of them while also understanding things are different now. The students need their teachers to push them but also to pause when they see them struggling. The students need their teachers to laugh with them but also to allow them time for silence when there’s nothing left to give. Recently, a student asked their teacher if she thought they’d see one another in August. She was honest and said she didn’t know, but she couldn’t wait for the day she sees them again.

What does education look like moving forward? In their article, 3 Ways the Coronavirus Pandemic Could Reshape Education, Gloria Tam and Gloria El-Azar examined how education changed very quickly, with its first change being how millions around the world are educated. The old, lecture-based approach to education was ushered out by COVID-19 which became a catalyst for educational institutions around the globe to search for “innovative solutions in a relatively short period of time” (Tam et. al, 2020). Second, the rapid change prompted much needed innovation to the educational system. Within the past few weeks, there have been a multitude of stakeholders coming “together to utilize digital platforms as a temporary solution to the crisis” (Tam et. al, 2020). Lastly and probably the most unfortunate change, with the digital divide, the equality gap could widen. In Palm Beach County alone, the school district needed as many as 11,000 laptops for students to learn at home during the coronavirus pandemic (Palmbeachpost.com, 2020).

Time takes time and we will wait to see what changes continue to take place in education.

Parker, Ava (2017). Local College Access Networks Achieve Palm Beach County. Florida Chamber Learners to Earners Summit, 2017. Retrieved from: http://floridacollegeaccess.org/local-college-access-networks/

Isger, Sona (2020, March 3). Coronavirus Florida: 11,000 Laptops Sought for PBC Students to Study from Home. Palm Beach Post, 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20200323/coronavirus-florida-11000-laptops-sought-for-pbc-students-to-study-from-home

Tam, Gloria & El-Azar, D. (2020, March 13). 3 Ways the Coronavirus Pandemic Could Reshape Education. World Economic Forum, 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/3-ways-coronavirus-is-reshaping-education-and-what-changes-might-be-here-to-stay/

Zakrzewski, Vicki. (2012, September 18). Four Ways Teachers Can Show They Care: Research Suggests Caring Relationships with Teachers Help Students Do Better in School and Act More Kindly Toward Others. Greater Good Magazine Science Center at UC Berkeley, 2012. Retrieved from: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/caring_teacher_student_relationship

Leading Online through COVID-19

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I am now finishing my third full year as an Assistant Principal in the fifth largest high school (3,000 students in grades 9-12) in Palm Beach County, Florida. To say that the past several weeks have been unexpected would be an understatement. I joined the team at Palm Beach Central High School in May 2017, so while I’m finishing my third full year, this graduating class is the first group of students who have known me for all four years of high school. I was just beginning to gear up to plan my fourth Bronco graduation ceremony; a highly anticipated event that has now been canceled (or at least postponed).

The week of March 9th, now seems like a distant memory, a time when COVID-19 seemed like a far-off threat and local impacts were unlikely. Then, on March 11th, at the direction of our school district, we held an emergency faculty meeting to discuss increased cleaning protocols and to collect questions from concerned staff members…about the Coronavirus.  This was the first sign that our school district was preparing for the worst. When we received word on Friday, March 13, that schools would be closed the following week, honestly, I was slightly relieved; I was in dire need of a break and was really looking forward to my Spring Break trip to London that was 7 days away. As we sat in the Principal’s Conference Room and watched the superintendent of schools present the details of the closure, I, in my typical fashion, I masked anxiety with humor.  The trip to London never came.

Given what we now know about the spread of the Coronavirus, and what has been learned from previous, less pervasive pandemics, school closures have proven to be a key component in the battle against virus spread. Cauchemez et al. (2009) refers to school closure as a highly effective non-pharmaceutical intervention for controlling viral pandemics. The general science behind this concept is that children are thought to be “vectors of transmission,” and the high rates of contacts that occur in schools can increase transmission.  What we now know about Coronavirus suggests that not only are young people “vectors of transmission,” but they are also often asymptomatic, unintentionally spreading the virus to others (US Department, 2020, p. 425).

Less than a week after closing schools for two weeks, Florida’s governor announced that the closure would be extended an additional two weeks, through April 14th, and that’s the moment that a professional shift occurred – we were no longer on an extended spring break – this was a crisis impacting 3000 students, 200+ staff members, and countless other stakeholders. Leadership was needed.

This was something that had never been planned for, but the best minds in our School District had been working overtime coming up with a framework for schooling to move forward through Remote Learning.  A Framework. Not necessarily a plan. But it gave us something to work with.

Our framework for Remote Learning involved a few phases:

  • Determine the need
    • Our school district pushed out a home technology survey to determine the needs of our community.
  • Device Distribution to students & Staff
    • For five days (over 11 hours) we provided opportunities for those in need of technology to pick up a device in a drive-through setting.
  • Formulate and effectively communicate an instructional continuity plan for our school
    • Given the fluidity of the situation, we worked slowly, yet deliberately to create a plan that considered the needs of both students and staff members.
  • Teachers establish an online presence
    • Google Classroom is our district-wide eLearning platform.  As a school, with input from our “Teaching with Technology Trailblazers” who already used Google Classroom, we determined that every teacher would create a Google Classroom for each section/period that they teach.
  • Teachers “Go Live” on Tuesday, March 31, 2020
    • Teachers used a combination of Live lessons via Google Meet, Google Classroom for assignments, and various 3rd party supplemental instructional such tools as NearPod, IXL, and ReadingPlus.
  • Systems, Systems, Systems
    • The need for systems in a time when we’re all doing a job that is both familiar yet foreign,  created a need for systems to address the constantly changing needs of our situation.

In a time when what is happening in the world around us so so far our of our control, I found a great deal of peace, and eventually pride, in working with a team of administrators that would create a plan for 3000 students and 200+ staff to successfully reconnect and reengage in education.  This is unlike anything most educators have experienced before, but I believe it says a great deal about our profession, and our value to society, that even in the face of crisis, we persist.

References

Cauchemez, S., Ferguson, N. M., Wachtel, C., Tegnell, A., Saour, G., Duncan, B., & Nicoll, A. (2009). Closure of schools during an influenza pandemic. The Lancet infectious diseases, 9(8), 473-481.

US Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, April). Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Children — United States, February 12–April 2, 2020 (Report No. Vol. 69 No. 14) (S. Bialek, R. Gierke, M. Hughes, L. A. McNamara, T. Pilishvili, & T. Skoff, Authors). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Remote Digital Learning: A New Reality

Instruction, Leadership, Professional Learning, Uncategorized, , ,

Entering into the second week of March 2020, several memes circulated the internet via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to name a few about this particular week having to spring forward an hour due to daylight savings time,  a Friday the 13th and a full moon to end the week. The memes were quite funny, at the time. As an educator, we call this a “Just make it through the week” type of week. After one more week, we would be on Spring Break resting, relaxing or maybe evening traveling on a cruise that we have pinched our pennies for. 

Prior to spring break would be the end of a grading period.  This would also be the beginning of the high stakes testing season for FSA, AICE, AP, and EOCs.   We have prepared all year for this final upcoming term. The aforementioned assessments are the opportunities for students to prove what they have learned.  This would put teacher instruction to the test to see if students are able to retain the knowledge from the standards that were taught and assessed throughout the year.  These tests are the tests to determine if students are on track for graduation. Little did we know what was yet to come. 

On Friday, March 13, 2020, the Superintendent of Schools announced that students would be dismissed for an early spring break due to the spread of a new virus; COVID-19, set to return back to school Monday, March 30, 2020.  Later that same evening Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference announcing the close schools until April 15 at the very earliest.  

With this sudden news, we were faced with a new reality in education.  What does education look like moving forward? What plan does the state have in place? Is there an emergency Instructional Continuity Plan in a vault ready to be unveiled during a pandemic or other major events that would force school closures?  The answer to the latter is No. Yes, you heard it here… the answer is No.  

As an administrator, my role as an instructional leader has taken on a whole new meaning.  Questions spewing left and right about how to make instruction meaningful when schools are closed.  Teachers are prohibited from entering the campus, only to be told they can enter the campus in small groups; no more than 10 for a maximum of 30 minutes.   Administrators enter into think tank sessions to build and facilitate what learning will look like while staying in line with the newly created District Continuity plan.   What is it that we are responsible for? How do we support our teachers and keep them calm while ensuring that all students are enrolled and adhere to the guidelines that we have set forth?  

To launch an instant remote digital learning plan takes a team that is willing to work countless hours, collaborate with principals, and leaders at similar schools.  Guess what? The plan will never be perfect and you need to be willing to accept that fact. We are assuming parents have the technology needed at home. We are assuming that only one device will be enough.  We are assuming families have internet access. We are assuming that a parent will be at home to assist students. We are assuming students can advocate for themselves and will sit for their scheduled class on time and be an active participant in their learning.  We are assuming that all teachers are technologically savvy to embrace this new remote digital learning world while supporting their students who may or may not have an IEP/504 plan and parents. There are a lot of assumptions being made here that simply is not the reality. 

As teachers were scouring the internet for resources on how to transition,  so was I. On Friday, March, 20, famed Principal Kafele led a Facebook Live for first-year administrators and their role during this pandemic.  I must say, while I am not a first-year administrator, I definitely participated since this was my first experience with a pandemic. In fact, I’m not sure how many administrators can say they have experienced a pandemic in their lifetime.

Moving forward, what have I learned about this new reality of remote digital learning during this process as well as from Principal Kafele?  I have learned the following:

  • Be a support and a calm for teachers
    • Strive to find answers and support their ideas.  Believe it or not, teachers can be quite innovative during these times
    • Check on their well being and their families
    • Provide resources relevant to their work
  • Be clear about the systems we have in place, however, be flexible.  There isn’t a need to lead with an iron fist
    • Identify systems in place
    • Identify personnel that can be used to relieve the burden on teachers, think clerical, support staff, language facilitators, etc.
  • Kids need food→ be a resource for this or provide resources
    • Many kids only eat two meals a day and it’s breakfast and lunch received from the school 
  • Technology
    • Have a plan to provide devices to families who do not have a device in a home
  • Balance
    • Self-care is imperative
      • You can’t lead if you are worn out and overworked
  • Consistent but meaningful communication
    • Information overload will cause parents, students, and staff to tune out
  • Document and save
    • Save your files, notes, steps, to create a plan to reflect upon

Moving forward, when the dust settles, what are the next steps?  Do we begin to integrate a pandemic plan as a part of our required yearly Emergency Crisis Response Plans? Would we have required practice “drills” for a pandemic?  Do we provide ongoing professional development on remote digital learning and the resources that a school district may have in place to support?     

Would our new reality resemble something similar to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s plan for continuing education?  UNC at Charlotte has an entire department dedicated to continuing education in the event of a disruption of school due to a pandemic, natural disaster, or unsafe conditions on the campus.  Information regarding UNC at Charlotte can be found here

Academic Phrases

AICE- Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education

AP- Advanced Placement

EOC- End of Course Exam (Geometry and Algebra)

FSA – Florida Standards Assessment

IEP- Individual Education plan504- 504 plan; temporary accommodations

References:

[This week has daylight savings time, a full moon and Friday the 13th]. (2020.). Retrieved from https://www.mixdexhq.com/education/ is-the-week-of-march-8-the-perfect-storm-for-teachers/

[Teachers realizing its]. (2020). Retrieved from https://makeameme.org/meme/teachers-realizing-its

University of North Carolina at Charlotte. (n.d.). INSTRUCTIONAL CONTINUITY PLANNING – GENERAL. Retrieved from https://teaching.uncc.edu/about-ctl/instructional-continuity-planning/general#Preparedness