Do you have students who struggle to prepare for exams? suffer from test anxiety? need some new tips?
This resource has everything you need to run an exam preparation and study skill "crash course". Included in this resource are a teacher powerpoint, student study guide booklet (that pairs with the powerpoint), a parent newsletter (supporting your child during exam time), and additional information on overcoming test anxiety.

Every one of use gets anxious or worried at some times in our life. This is normal. We are supposed to get worried, because worrying keeps us safe and out of danger. If we were never afraid of falling, we might walk along rooftops. Which would be very dangerous and really bad for our health and safety! We may worry about being in a car accident. So because of this we wear a seat belt to minimize our chances of getting hurt. We still take the risk of being in a car, but we minimize the chances of getting hurt by wearing our seatbelt.
Throughout our day we encounter varying degrees of worry or anxiety. Some of these are understandable and sometimes our worries seem to be unreasonable. Describe specific situations that make you anxious and the level of discomfort it gives you. On a scale of 0 to 10 ( 0 being not at all anxious, and 10 being extremely anxious) rate how much each situation affects you.
After ranking the situations that make you anxious, think about things that you could do to change the ranking to a lower level. Write that down on a separate piece of paper and then DO IT, don’t avoid it.
For Example: If I am feeling overwhelmed by an assignment, I could break the assignment down into smaller sections and then tackle each section one day at a time. This would lower my anxiety level (on the scale) about getting the assignment done. BUT, I would also get the assignment done and not AVOID doing it because it makes me anxious.
It is important to identify the things that make us anxious, but it is even more important to figure out a way that we can reduce our anxiety about something, and then ACTUALLY work on reducing the anxiety.
Attachment includes chart for this.

The Saskatchewan Prevention Institute has a DVD lending library. Titles include: Alcohol and the Brain (15 min); This is Your Brain on Alcohol (17 min); Everything you Need to Know about Alcohol in 22 Minutes (22 min); in the Greenhouse (31 min).

The Fight or Flight Response is an automatic brain response your body has to a perceived dangerous situation. The Fight or Flight Response’s purpose is to protect you from potential danger. The problem, is that it is a primitive response and often the world we live in now does not have the same dangerous situations as when this response first developed in our brains. We no longer have the threat of wild animals, however, the threat of writing a test or exam, or handing in an assignment, or speaking in front of a group of people still continues to illicit the same physical reaction in our brain for some people. When a person feels threatened, the fight-or-flight response is automatically triggered, and the body changes that occur still prepares us to either ‘fight’ the threat, or ‘flee’ the threat (even though it is impractical to ‘flee’ from an assignment) the brain response is the same as if it was a wild animal. The resource includes what it is and how to manage it.

The following is a collection of Happiness Webinars given during school closures on how we can find happiness in these crazy times!

"Chelsea grew up on a mixed grain and dairy farm west of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her dad and uncle manage the farm, and all the kids help out where they can. The busy family is all too familiar with the stress and anxiety that is created when you work where you live and there is a never-ending list of jobs to be done. At the age of 46 Chelsea's dad, Rob, suffered a heart attack brought on by the stresses of farming, and it took that life-threatening event for the family to realize something had to change.

According to research conducted by the University of Guelph 45% of Canadian farmers are classified as living under high-stress conditions and 58% met the criteria for anxiety classification. Thankfully organizations like the Do More Agriculture Foundation are bringing awareness to the fact that farmers, like all Canadians, need to be empowered and supported to take care of their mental wellness."

Helping children learn to be smart about feelings can help alleviate their emotional stress, improve concentration, boost their immune system, and enhance brain development. This First Aid for Feelings workbook for children was designed to help do that. By using the simple coping strategies found in this workbook, you can encourage children to express thoughts, questions, and feelings. These life skills may help reduce and manage children’s stress or anxiety, and provide some sense of control within their changing lives.

This colouring book represents the collective efforts of 19 Indigenous artists,
and celebrates a diversity of health and wellness perspectives.

Colouring is an activity that can increase mindfulness and decrease stress, and
can help you find balance in challenging times.

"The First Sixteen is Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's new podcast series that explores the freshest ideas in agriculture and food. Each episode explores a single topic in depth—digging deep into new practices, innovative ideas, and their impacts on the industry. Learn about Canada's agricultural sector from the people making the breakthroughs and knocking down the barriers! Farmers and foodies, scientists and leaders, and anyone with an eye on the future of the sector—this podcast is for you! A new episode is published each month." Agri-Food Canada
This link goes specifically to Episode 013- Mental Health: From the Farmer's Perspective

This resource contains two documents from the SK Ministry of Education: Priority Action Plan - contains crucial (foundational) outcomes for literacy and numeracy for Grades 1-9.   Reconnect - provides suggestions and other considerations for reconnecting during the pandemic and disrupted learning. 

These websites/apps for cultivating compassion are completely free! Teaching ToleranceThe WondermentThe Compassion Project Learn Storm SDG's in ActionCharacter Playbook Story Corps Sit with Us The Harry Potter Alliance Liyla and the Shadows of War 

Explore and understand the mental health issues that affect young people with these online courses from FutureLearn.

Worry and Rumination

While worrying and feeling nervous is something that all human beings experience, as with many things in life, too much of something may not be good for you. Normal anxiety can become a problem when it is excessive, feels uncontrollable, is experienced as intrusive in your life, is persistent (seeming to always be around), and causes you significant distress, or impairs your ability to go about your day-to-day life. This is when normal anxiety becomes generalised anxiety disorder.
One of the important features of generalised anxiety is that the worry and anxiety is spread across a number of different areas such as health, work, interpersonal relationships, finances, and so on. This makes it different from other anxiety problems, such as social anxiety or phobias, where nervousness and worrying are more specific to particular situations.

**Site includes workbook, worksheets and information sheets for download.

This site is a list of the Community Mental Health and Addictions Services in the province of Saskatchewan organized by Health Region.

It is important to think about all of the things in our life that we can be grateful for. So often we tend to focus on the negative things in our life and forget about all the blessings we have each and every day. Our blessings do not need to be huge to make us appreciate our lives. They can be as small as: a smile from someone, hot chocolate, our pet greeting us at the door, a cozy blanket, a visit from a friend.
Focusing on the good things we have in our life, instead of the challenges we face, can change our perspective to being more positive. When we have a positive outlook on life, life is automatically better!
Some things we can do to help us see the positives in our life are:
- Write in a Gratitude Journal - Take a few minutes each day to write down 4 or 5 good things about your day.
- Write a letter - Think about someone who is important in your life. Write down all of the things that you appreciate about them. Then deliver the letter to that person and enjoy their reaction.
- Visit Someone you Appreciate – Spend some time with someone you like and let them know all the reasons why you like them.
- Use Your Manners – Being polite to others by saying “Thank you,” “Sorry,” “Your welcome” or “That was nice of you” can drastically change how others feel about you, and thus make you feel better about yourself. Being kind to others is as important as being kind to ourselves.
- Take a Gratitude Walk – Go for a walk and make a special effort to appreciate everything you see, hear, smell, taste and touch.

The following is a journal for gratitude. It can be printed off for students to fill out. It includes gratitude, happiness, being grateful, etc.

This is a gratitude journal that your students can use to help build an understanding of themselves.

Time can seem to go very fast and we forget the little things that make us happy. This activity can help you be mindful of all the things that we are grateful for. Make a paper chain to decorate your home or classroom.

Give your eyes a break with this audio-only Digital Wellness Break. Follow along as teacher Stephanie's voice guides you step-by-step through "Tense and Release," a mind-body-breath integration that's designed for children and effective for all ages.

TODAY’S MINDFUL MOVEMENT
🦦 TENSE AND RELEASE 🦦

“It’s the end of a very long day. Back-to-back-to-back meetings. You sign-off from work, gather your belongings, rush out the door... only to get stuck in traffic. Tension rises.

A busy lifestyle with no time to relax can lead to frustration, tension, and chronic stress.

Making time in our busy days to mindfully unwind can help. Tense and Release is one of our favorite relaxation exercises to do just this. By consciously tensing and releasing our bodies, we are able to tune out what is going on outside and tune in to what’s going on inside. And in tune, consciously let go of the tension and stress we carry.

This audio-only relaxation will allow you to return to a state of balance. Just hit 'play' and give your eyes a rest for the next four minutes.” (Yoga Ed.)

Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky - one of the world's leading Positive Psychology experts - shares the latest insights from her ground-breaking work on happiness....

She focuses on three main habits in this webinar...
1. Gratitude
2. Acts of Kindness
3. Social interactions and connections