Building Student Resilience: A Student/Teacher COVID Recovery Program
https://www.apa.org/education-career/k12/covid-19/building-student-resilience
As COVID-19 vaccines became widely available over the spring and summer, many students, parents, and teachers became hopeful for a return to school in person and with some semblance of normalcy. But as COVID-19 variants continue to spread and cases continue to soar even among the vaccinated, schools are struggling with ever-changing policies.
Supported by funding from the Centers for Disease Control, the American Psychological Association (APA) has developed a series of resources that help teachers navigate the many challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has presented. The first released resource is a set of two modules, one for high school teachers and students, and one for teachers and students in grades 4-8, on resilience related to the pandemic. Each module has worksheets, videos, and lessons based in science that cover stress and the body, helpful and unhelpful student actions, and how student beliefs, thoughts, and mindset can impact their experience of stress and strategies for practicing positive self-talk. The high school module also includes a lesson on reflections of the last year. These resources are for high school advisory period teachers, high school psychology and health teachers, elementary school teachers, and K-12 school counselors.
This new series of teacher learning modules and in-class activities features insights from psychological science. They are specifically designed to help teachers address common stressors that students may face related to the pandemic and to offer some resilience-building tips that may help students to more effectively navigate challenges. These new resources reflect APA’s commitment to using psychological science to solve society’s most significant challenges and improve people’s lives. Empowered with an understanding of psychological science and its applications in the classroom, teachers can help promote resilience during the ongoing pandemic. More resources related to the pandemic and K-12 education will be released in the coming months. Please contact eleary@apa.org with any questions about two modules mentioned above.
This resource is supported by cooperative agreement NU87PS004366 funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views or endorsement of the CDC or the Department of Health and Human Services.