Teachers have long known that feeling safe and secure in school helps students focus their energy on learning. And the research bears that out: A 2018 study found that when teachers deliberately foster a sense of belonging by greeting each student at the door of the class, they see “significant improvements in academic engaged time and reductions in disruptive behavior.”

This post outlines ideas from teachers for ensuring that every student in the classroom feels like they belong.

Some of the activities included take less than five minutes. They’re divided up among the grades, but many can apply across all of the years from kindergarten to 12th grade.

In today's world, 21st century skills are crucial for our learners as they provide the foundation for success in a rapidly evolving society. These skills, such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and digital literacy, equip children with the abilities to navigate complex challenges, adapt to change, and thrive in a globalized world. By nurturing these skills, we empower our learners to become agile, innovative, and socially responsible individuals who can actively contribute to the progress and well-being of our society.This resource has a 21st Century Skills poster, a big view 21st Century Skills Scope and Sequence document for grades 1-12, and a more focused view 21st Century Skills Scope and Sequence document for each of the following grade groupings 1-2, 3-6, 7-9, 10-12. This resource also has  Digital Literacy Scope and Sequence documents for each of the following grade groupings 1-2, 3-6, 7-9, 10-12 (linked in each of the previous documents).

A student’s sense of belonging can come from connections with both peers and adults. This downloadable guide includes five strategies for building strong relationships with students and creating a positive school culture where everyone feels they belong.

Download the guide to building student belonging.
Ideas include:
Permission to Envision
Get to Know You User Guides
Culture Boxes
Belonging Baton Pass
Morning Meetings

*This guide will need to be downloaded from Panorama.

"Learning skills to support our mental health early in life can provide significant benefits to our physical, emotional, and social growth for life. For example, for children to choose calm in times of stress, they first need the opportunity to experience calm and practice arriving at a calm state.

All of the tools you find in this toolkit help cultivate calm, mental health, and overall well being. In this resource, learn 9 yoga and mindfulness practices for mental health that are suitable for a variety of settings and time frames: each tool may be as brief as 1 minute or expanded as needed.

Use the tools individually or all together to tailor your own experience, now and for the long term."

*Counting Breath
*Core Breath
*Yoga Poses at Desk
*Brain Break
*Relaxation

You will need to share your email to download the guide.

The Action for Happiness app is based on the themes and actions from our popular monthly calendars and aims to give users a couple of friendly "nudges" each day - firstly that day's action in the morning and secondly an inspiring message towards the end of the day.

The app is like having a little personal action coach in your pocket who:

Gives you friendly 'nudges' with an action idea each day
Sends you inspiring messages to give you a boost
Helps you connect & share ideas with like-minded people

Download the app from The Google Play Store or the Apple Store.

Often, we are not informed in school on how to navigate the world in regards to things like finances, accessing health care, dating, relationships, balancing work and play, partying and staying safe, managing day-to-day stress, and entering into the workforce. This course will provide an opportunity for students to discuss these topics with each other and the facilitator. Together, we will learn how to navigate the tricky and often overwhelming world of adulthood.

This course examines:
• Life Skill development for adulthood
• Basic understanding of personal finance
• Basic understanding of healthy relationship development
• Entering the workforce
• Enjoying recreational time safely
• Stress management

Session 1 – What Does Adulting Mean?
Session 2 – Money
Session 3 – Healthy Relationships
Session 4 – Taking Care of Yourself

*Sessions are offered live at set times. Visit the link to see the schedule.

This course is provided by H.O.P.E (Helping Others thru Peer Education)

ANCIENT ECHOES INTERPRETIVE CENTRE is nestled at the junction of the Coalmine Ravine and the Eagle Creek and offers both indoor and outdoor tours of our Palaeontology sites (dinosaur and fossil displays and dig), Prairie Grasslands Ecology (virgin prairie medicine and food plants, animals in the wild and taxidermy displays), and First Nations History (petroglyphs, rock formations, effigies, archaeological dig, teepee rings, buffalo jump, food processing site, tool artifacts and pottery making displays). A permanent art exhibition by Metis artist, Jo Cooper, expresses a visual and oral story with “The Disappearance and Resurgence of the Buffalo”. Additionally, sculptures outside the centre stimulate the imagination as well as humour.
Ancient Echoes is currently operating under their summer hours, which run from May 7th to August 31st. This means we are open Tuesdays-Sundays from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (closed Mondays). Bookings can be made by calling the Centre at 1-306-377-2045 or emailing anciente@sasktel.net. Our Valley View Tea Room is open every Friday from 2:30-4:30 PM in May-August.

Ancient Echoes is a popular site for School Tours throughout the year offering custom-designed programs for students of all ages in the areas of Aboriginal History, Paleontology, Ecology, and Archaeology.

Ancient Echoes also offers regular summer programs including traditional pottery making, drum making, ecology and palaeontology hikes, full moon walks, educational and craft days for children, as well as numerous other “ project” days. A video of the ravine walk is available indoors for “rainy days”, or for those who do not wish to hike.

Ancient Echoes has just recently added a beautiful art gallery space to their walls. Our new Prairie Echoes Gallery offers numerous exhibits throughout the year of new and established artists and photographers.

BOKS is a free physical activity program for kids of all ages and abilities. The BOKS program includes lesson plans, training, and support needed to get kids moving for up to 45 minutes a day. It also includes shorter movement breaks, games, and activities tailored to your needs as an educator or parent. Resources include full unit plans for Phys. Ed. Another great feature of this website are the monthly calendars with daily movement breaks. The calendar links to videos showing how to complete each activity.

Launching in October 2022 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Women’s History Month (WHM), this course celebrates the outstanding achievements of women throughout Canada’s history. It provides an opportunity for everyone to learn about the contributions of the amazing women and girls who have shaped our society and inspired so many. Thanks to all the Canadian women who didn’t accept the status quo and fought hard to change things, today’s women have more rights and freedom. The “Canadian Women in History” course, created by Women and Gender Equality Canada and ChatterHigh, will engage youth across the country in a learning journey that honours the diverse, inspiring women and girls of Canada’s past and present.

Create a free account to have access to the four modules in the course:
- Celebrating and Commemorating Canadian Women in History
- Key Moments in History
- Women of Impact in Canada
- Gender Equality and Your Learning Journey

Colours have the power to make us think and feel different emotions. This assignment allows students to dive into the psychology of colours. 

Introduce core SEL competencies to teach students how to practice compassion and empathy, identify emotions, and exercise growth mindset.

Compassion is an important social-emotional skill that begins to develop in early childhood and is essential for lifelong health and success. Learning compassion increases a student's sense of wellbeing and improves the learning environment for all learners. By developing empathy in children, educators lay the groundwork for long-term understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion in the classroom(opens in new tab) and in life. Compassion education is important(opens in new tab) because it helps to build key social-emotional learning competencies, such as:

- development of the understanding of self
- social awareness, and
- relationship skills

With interactive online activities and robust offline lesson plans, The Compassion Project provides invaluable resources for teaching empathy in the classroom. The Lower Elementary Compassion Course has three online lessons; Compassion Playground, EmpathEyes, and Mindful Maze.

Sun West School Division: To access The Compassion Project: Lower Elementary, log into EVERFI through your clever account.

"The Compassion Project is a web-based learning platform focusing on social and emotional learning (SEL) strengths like compassion and empathy. It begins with a tutorial, which students can always access by clicking the help button in the upper left corner. Each lesson starts with a pre-quiz to assess what students already know. After that, a bright and colorful two-minute video with cartoon characters describes the topic for the lesson. Four characters (Tye, Brandon, Alex, and David) narrate the videos in story format. After the video plays, there are reflection questions in the format of a text messenger app that students can click to answer. Characters introduce the SEL skills by describing what the skill (e.g., compassion) looks, sounds, and feels like.

Each skill has three activity lessons. For compassion, students identify when someone needs help and learn how to act with kindness. For empathy, students "see" life through the perspective of different characters. For mindfulness, students practice a breathing technique. Teachers can then provide debriefing and offline extension activities.

The teacher dashboard allows instructors to manage students, add classes, and re-teach when needed. Quiz grades are automatically uploaded and students can access their score by hovering over each lesson." (Common Sense Media)

Sun West School Division: To access The Compassion Project: Upper Elementary, log into EVERFI through your clever account.

Explore moods and emotions using drawing and creativity!  These mindful moodles will help students get in touch with their emotions. Thank you to Smiling Mind for the these great materials. 

"Developed by Smiling Mind psychologists in collaboration with Dulux colour experts and Aussie educators, this Toolkit is a guidebook to help whole-school communities imagine and create healthier places to live, play, work and learn."

Look at the happiness calendar for short and meaningful ways to improve your life and the life of others around you!
Be happy!

Having a family member with a substance use problem can be very stressful and overwhelming. You play a key role in supporting your relative and in promoting their wellness and recovery. Performing this role may take a toll and have a significant impact on you as well. This self-directed online program is designed to empower you as you support your loved one.

This course will help you to recognize the stress and range of emotions you may be experiencing, and to understand the importance of addressing your own needs. The course will also explore strategies you can use to cope with the challenges of dealing with a relative with substance use problems, strategies for self-care and ways to empower yourself.

The course includes 6 modules:
1. Understanding Substance Use Problems and Addiction
2. Impact of Substance Use Problems on Families
3. Supporting Your Family Member's Recovery
4. Communicating Effectively with Your Relative and Setting Limits
5. Staying Safe and Managing Crises
6. Empowering Yourself Through Support and Self-Care

Students have access to a number of courses in the area of:

*Social & Emotional Learning
*Financial Education
*Health & Wellness
*College & Career Readiness
*Early Learning

Sun West students - ask your teacher to add you to a course! Currently we access Everfi via the Clever portal. Leila Pullum (lpullum@everfi.com) is here to respond to student and teacher support questions, so please don’t hesitate to reach if you need help.

NEW courses are being added regularly.

ECE- K-3
Word Force
Healthier Me Jr
Compassion Project

Elementary/Middle 4-8
Vault
Healthier Me Middle School
Hockey Scholar Math & Science
Endeavour STEM Career Exploration
Ignition Digital Safety & Citizenship
Character Playbook
Venture Entrepreneurship
Mental Wellness Basics

High Schools 9-12
Mental Wellness Basics
Venture Entrepreneurship
AlcoholEdu
Prescription Drug Safety
Marketplaces
EVERFI Financial Literacy
Honour Code

This is a 45 minute virtual field trip.

Your class will explore human rights ideas through an artistic lens. You will use a piece of paper and your thoughts and reflections to explore various artistic ways of expressing human rights. Our program interpreters will lead you through artistic journaling and the exciting views of art and human rights at the Museum.

Students will:

Learn to identify ways that art is used to express ideas for human rights.
Experience exhibits and the inspiring Museum art as if they were at the Museum in person.
Interact with a Museum guide and art journal to better understand how they can take action with art.
Engage in discussion, critical thinking and reflection on their role in expressing human rights through art.

"A family yoga practice can be a fun, dynamic way to enjoy moments together that turn into memories. Designed for families and groups of all ages, this 25-minute yoga practice features partner work and imaginative play while teaching the value of connectedness."