Creating a Self-Care Practices Chart with Students
In January I participated in a Flexible Professional Development. Our district sent out different webinars and trainings we could attend virtually. We were able to pick and choose which webinars and trainings we wanted to attend.
One of the webinars I chose was The Value of Educator Self-Care by Learning for Justice (Formerly Teaching Tolerance). The webinar had so much valuable information. One of the things that stuck out most to me was a self-care chart one of the leaders of the webinar, Geneviève DeBose, shared. Geneviève DeBose created a large chart on wrapping paper to display things she could do to practice self-care. Geneviève DeBose wrote a post about the Self-Care Practices Chart she made, Deepening a Practice of Self-Care. She was inspired to create the Self-Care Practices Chart after she saw another educator share a Self-Care Bingo. I love this visual reminder to practice self-care. I immediately began thinking about how I could use this in my work with students.
I wanted students to be able to easily edit the document to meet their needs. I also made one of the charts more printer friendly so that I could print it and use it with students in-person.
When you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed, trying to think of something you could do in the moment for self-care can be very difficult. If you create this chart before you are feeling overwhelmed, however, you will have a handy guide of something you can do to care for yourself.
This was an enjoyable activity for me personally to do. I made the wrapping paper version and hung it on the wall in my office. If students ask about it, it gives me another opportunity to talk to them about self-care.
In the Self-Care Practices Chart document I provide students a list of different things they can do for self-care. I also provide a list of resources like podcasts for middle school students, coloring pages, breathing exercises, etc.
I created a version of the Self-Care Practices Chart to share with you. The Self-Care Practices Chart has been helpful in my work with students, so I wanted you to be able to use this with your students too! You can get a copy of the Google Slides document here or by clicking the image below.
I have used the Self-Care Practices Chart concept with a few students during individual sessions so far and they were really into it. One of the students told me she hung the Self-Care chart on her wall so that she could look at it when she is feeling stressed. Another student preferred to print the blank chart and fill it in with a pencil. We worked on it together in my office. It is nice to have an option to do a printable version because it gives kids a break from using screens! They can also be creative and decorate the blank version of Self-Care Practices Chart.
I also shared the document with the whole school for "Take Care of Yourself Tuesday" for Random Acts of Kindness Week.
How will you use Self-Care Charts with students?
If you want a bonus trick to make this document easier to share with students, see below!
BONUS TRICK:
There is a trick to sharing files that forces the receiver to make a copy of the file. (his is what I did for you! It eliminates a step for the receiver to create a copy.
After you have your version saved and edited how you want it to appear, click on share.
Copy the url link
Delete everything after the last /
Type copy after the /
Copy the full URL (link) and share
When you share it, the receiver will see a message asking if they would like to make a copy of the document.
This extra step allows students to make a copy and edit the file without having to save That way, they can edit it and you still have your original copy!
