Empowering educators with strategies and resources

Faculty Blueprint for Student Wellbeing

The Faculty Blueprint for Student Well-being aims to foster a thriving community by improving mental health and well-being in the classroom. This blueprint is designed to empower educators with innovative strategies and resources to ensure that every student gains the skills to navigate life’s challenges with confidence and resilience.

Healthy Minds Study (HMS) Student Survey 2021

28%

of students strongly agree that they need help for mental health problems

16%

of students talked about mental health problems affecting academic performance

34%

of students said they would talk to a professor about mental health problems

The Blueprint

Building Community and Connections

Social Connectedness cultivates a supportive and inclusive learning environment and enhances students’ sense of belonging and mattering. It also equips students with the interpersonal skills essential for success in their academic pursuits and beyond.

Employ a survey tool to get to know your students.
Distribute name tags or paper nameplates to facilitate the learning of students’ names.
Open up about your personal experiences with the content.
Utilize a 2-word check-in at the beginning of class.
Embrace students’ extracurricular pursuits and interests.
Incorporate an “exit pass” or “exit slip”.
Facilitate collaborative learning experiences that emphasize teamwork and shared knowledge.
Design classwork and assignments that encourage empathy and compassion.
Conclude your class sessions with a positive or encouraging message.
Encourage student interaction and collaboration.

Building Community and Connections
1. Employ a survey tool to get to know your students a. Utilize tools such as Google Forms, Survey Monkey, or a Mentimeter Word Cloud b. Inquire about their backgrounds, interests, strengths, needs, and areas where they wish to improve throughout the semester. c. Utilize this data to tailor your course content and make any necessary adjustments to your approach.
2. Distribute name tags or paper nameplates to facilitate the learning of students’ names and a bit about them.
3. Open up about your personal experiences with the content – Highlight moments of difficulty, as well as any concepts that caught you by surprise or sparked curiosity.
4. Check-in with your students at the start of each class or the beginning of the week..
a. Utilize a 2-word check-in by asking your students to use two words that describe how they are feeling that day.
b. Alternatively, ask your students to describe the way they are feeling as if they are describing the weather. Your students may say they are feeling well with bright sunshine or times could feel tough with clouds and rain.
c. Rose, Thorn, Bud exercise. i. Rose: a highlight, success, small win, or something positive that has happened to them recently. ii. Thorn: A challenge they have experienced or something they could use more support with. iii. Bud: New ideas that have bloomed or something they are looking forward to knowing more about or experiencing.
5. Embrace students’ extracurricular pursuits and interests by encouraging them to discuss the activities they engage in. What do your students like to do in their free time by themselves or with friends, in their community, or to expand their experience and knowledge in their field?
6. Incorporate an “exit pass” or “exit slip” for students to reflect on what stood out to them during the lecture or class time. This can be achieved individually or in small groups.
a. What is the most important lesson you learned from today’s class and what makes it important?
b. What is one way you could apply what we learned today to your routine or life?
c. What could I have explained more clearly today?
d. What is one thing you would like me to [start, stop, or continue] doing in class?
7. Facilitate collaborative learning experiences that emphasize teamwork and shared knowledge. a. Divide the class into small groups of 4-6 students. b. Present a topic or question that relates to the course content that requires discussion, collaboration, and exploration. c. Instruct each group to identify the following among each other:
– Facilitator: To ensure that all members of the group participate and share their voice – Timekeeper: This student will keep the discussion on track – Notetaker: Ensuring that all key points of discussion are recorded
d. Allot a predetermined amount of time for each group to discuss their topic or question–While this is up to your discretion, aim for 8-10 minutes. – Encourage students to actively participate by sharing their knowledge and experiencese. The notetaker should jot down key insights and points made on post-it notes, a whiteboard, or index cards.
f. After the first round of discussion, ask the group to leave their notes and key points at their table and rotate clockwise to the next group’s notes. – Once the groups have situated, instruct the facilitator to read what was left by the previous group (2 mins) – For the next 8-10 minute round, ask the group to build upon the ideas and insights that were left by the previous group. Continue this until each group has contributed to each group’s notes and made their way back to their original table.
h. To wrap up, ask each group to share the key points and insights gathered during the exercise.
8. Consider designing classwork or assignments that encourage empathy and compassion focusing on social issues, community service, or personal narratives highlighting resilience.
a. Empathy mapping exercise – Empathy mapping is used to gain a deeper understanding of someone else’s experiences by taking into consideration what someone says, thinks, does, and feels. The goal for your students is to determine what they know versus what aspects they need to understand more.
– Instruct students to choose a person or group that they wish to understand better, such as a historical figure, a book or film character, a community, or someone they know.
– Provide students with the empathy mapping worksheet which will be used to map out their person or group’s perspective to understand their experiences, motivations, challenges, and emotions.
– Lastly, have students share their empathy map in small groups or with the class to discuss the insights that they gained about the different perspectives.
9. Conclude your class sessions with a positive or encouraging message. This is important for heightened times of stress during the academic year such as the first couple weeks of the semester, mid-terms, extended breaks, finals, and graduation.
10. Encourage student interaction and collaboration.
– Creating connections and achieving common goals within your classroom may require various forms of interaction and teamwork. Your students will have difficulty thriving in isolated conditions where they know little about their TAs, instructors, or classmates.
– Structure an opportunity in Canvas to create a profile with a bio and picture.
– Encourage your students to introduce themselves virtually or in person, and to find common interests among each other.

Mindful Coping and Resilience

Utilizing coping and mindfulness skills is essential for college students. It not only fosters resilience in the face of academic and personal challenges but also lays the foundation for flourishing in their educational journey and beyond.

Introduce stress management techniques such as deep breathing, mindfulness, or meditation.
Incorporate short “take 5” learning activities to supplement your lecture topic.
Reflect on your approach to mindfulness and how you can authentically engage in or demonstrate the techniques you introduce to your students.
Offer strategies for effective time management.
Incorporate assignments or projects that involve problem-solving and adaptation.

Mindful Coping and Resilience
1. Introduce stress management techniques such as deep breathing, mindfulness, or meditation.
a. UCLA Health free guided meditations. Share various coping strategies with students when they are experiencing high levels of stress b. Share various coping strategies with students when they are experiencing high levels of stress
– Action-focused strategies intended to solve the problem (e.g., time management planning, seeking advice from a faculty member, setting aside time to work on group projects.)
– Emotion-focused strategies focused on feeling better (e.g., going for a walk, talking to a friend, reading a good book, laughing.)
– Box breathing technique
2. Incorporate short “take 5” learning activities to supplement your lecture topic.
a. Think – Pair – Share – First, pose a thought-provoking question related to the lecture topic. Next, instruct students to spend a minute thinking about their answer and then pair up with a neighbor to discuss for 2 minutes. Finally, select a few pairs of students to share their discussions with the entire class. b. Concept Mapping – Instruct students to quickly draw a concept map linking the day’s topic with other concepts previously discussed in class. This can be achieved individually or in pairs/small groups. c. Quick Reflections – Ask students to reflect on the day’s topic and how it relates to their personal experiences or current events. Encourage your students to share with the class or discuss with a neighbor.
3. Reflect on your approach to mindfulness and how you can authentically engage in or demonstrate the techniques you introduce to your students.
a. Encourage your students to discuss how they navigate negative self-talk and emotions, and consider sharing your insights and experiences.
4. Offer strategies for effective time management, including creating a schedule or study routine for your course and setting priorities to avoid procrastination or cramming.
5. Incorporate assignments or projects that involve problem-solving and adapting to unexpected situations or circumstances that are relevant to the course content or degree program.
a. Provide students with a detailed and problematic scenario stemming from the concepts being taught in your content area. b. Instruct students to analyze the scenario, i.e. identifying key issues, potential risks, stakeholder involvement, and challenges that may arise.
c. If time permits, introduce additional details or curve balls within the simulation. – Encourage students to make critical decisions to address the change(s), and document their rationale and potential outcomes to their actions.
d. Highlight the importance of effective communication with internal and external stakeholders such as colleagues, management, customers, and community partners.
e. When the time allotment for this exercise is through, instruct students to write a reflective report that details their rationale for decisions made, the effectiveness of their strategies and opportunities for growth, and key takeaways that they learned during the process.
6. When you are feeling stressed or thinking about something in your life that is challenging, try to find the place in your body where you feel that stress. Take your hand and place it on that body part. Now, take some time to kindly and slowly say to yourself:
a. “This is stressful/This is a challenging time.”
b. “I am not alone in feeling this way/Everyone experiences struggles.”
c. “May I give myself the understanding that I need/May I learn to accept myself as I am.”
7. The Stress Bucket exercise – You can use the Stress Bucket activity worksheet or instruct students to draw a bucket on a piece of paper. The bucket represents their capacity to handle stress.
a. Prompt your students: “What stresses are currently filling your bucket? List them inside your bucket.” – Have students write down all the stressors they may be experiencing.
b. After completing, prompt your students: “What activities or strategies help you to lower your stress levels? List them outside the bucket.” – Your students will identify and write down their coping mechanisms and support systems.
c. To wrap up, use time to discuss how different strategies can effectively reduce stress and prevent the bucket from overflowing.
d. Emphasize the importance of regularly assessing and managing stress levels to maintain resilience.
7. Resilience Mapping – Resilience mapping is a tool to visualize different areas where your students might face challenges and how they can actively plan to overcome them. – Using the Resilience Mapping worksheet, or you can ask students to draw a map that includes several “islands” representing areas of their life (academic, personal, social, financial, occupational, etc.). Then, link these islands with “bridges” which represent strategies they can use to navigate between life’s challenges effectively.
a. Prompt your students: “For each area, write down specific challenges you anticipate or are currently facing.”
b. After completing, prompt your students: “Now write down strategies that could help you overcome these challenges (i.e seeking help, using time management skills, engaging in self-care, determining your support system, etc.)
c. You can then choose to have students share their resilience map with the class or in small groups to discuss how they plan to use their strategies in the future.
9. Craft S.M.A.R.T. Goals that guide students toward meeting their long-term goals
– S.M.A.R.T. stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This can help your students make goals that fit into their lives and set them up for success.

Thriving and Growth Mindset

This mindset encourages continuous improvement and helps students embrace failure as a stepping stone to success, ultimately contributing to their overall well-being and academic achievement.

Implement a culture of “yet” in your class.
Facilitate collaborative learning experiences that emphasize teamwork and shared knowledge.
Provide students the opportunity to correct mistakes or errors.,
Encourage students to cultivate positive self-talk and challenge negative thoughts about their knowledge, abilities, or performance.
Offer a range of possibilities for students to exhibit their comprehension.
Integrate opportunities for self-reflection into assignments or class discussions.
Personal reflection exercise.

Thriving and Growth Mindset
1. Implement a culture of “yet” in your class. For instance, when students face frustration over a lack of understanding or feel demotivated by their performance on an assignment or test, consider reframing this as not fully mastering the material yet. Reassure them that they are still in the process of learning and growing.
2. Facilitate collaborative learning experiences that emphasize teamwork and shared knowledge.
3. Provide students the opportunity to correct mistakes or errors, allowing them to observe the progress they are making.
4. Encourage students to cultivate positive self-talk and challenge negative thoughts about their knowledge, abilities, or performance. Provide examples of constructive and encouraging language that fosters a growth mindset.
a. “I appreciate the effort you put into understanding this concept. It’s evident you’re working hard to improve.” b. “Making mistakes is a natural part of the learning process. Let’s see how we can learn from this and improve.” c. “Your work shows progress. Consider trying [specific strategies] to enhance your understanding even further.”
5. Offer a range of possibilities for students to exhibit their comprehension, including various assignment types and assessment methods, such as short quizzes, papers, presentations, practice quizzes or tests, group projects, and videos.
6. Integrate opportunities for self-reflection into assignments or class discussions.
a. “Can you identify a moment during the assignment/discussion that particularly resonated with you? Describe how it connects to your personal experiences or beliefs.”
b. “Reflect on the skills you utilized to complete this assignment or participate in the discussion. Which skill do you feel you improved on, and which do you think needs further development?”
c. “Did any aspect of the assignment/discussion evoke a strong emotional response from you? Reflect on why this was the case and what it reveals about your engagement with the topic.”
7. Personal reflection exercise
a. Assign a reflective essay or journal entry where your students can explore a time they were hard on themselves.
b. Prompt students to apply the principles (kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness) to their situation and reflect on how they could treat themselves with the same kindness they would offer someone else.
c. Facilitate an opportunity for your students to share their essays or journal entries in small groups or to the class with the primary importance of being understanding and kind to oneself.
8. Intentionally struggle with certain processes or concepts and encourage your students to walk you through the necessary steps to achieve the desired outcome.
9. Allow students to reflect on a difficult situation from the past using the Failing Forward exercise. This exercise centers on the belief that each failure or mistake offers an opportunity for learning and growth, eventually leading to success. Ask students to reflect on a time when they failed at something using the following prompts:
– Think of a time when you tried something in school, work, or your personal life that didn’t go as planned. Describe what happened.
– What were the immediate consequences of the failure? How did you feel about the outcome?
– Reflecting on your experience, what did you learn from the failure? Consider changes in your knowledge, skills, attitude, or awareness.
– How will you apply these lessons to your future academic, professional, or personal life?
– Now that you’ve reflected on and learned from this failure, write a brief statement reframing it as a stepping stone for future success.
10. If students find themselves frustrated or dissatisfied with their assignment or exam results, emphasize that the journey of learning is gradual and takes time and patience.
– “I understand that it’s disheartening to see results that don’t meet your expectations, especially when you’ve put in a lot of effort. It’s natural to feel frustrated in moments like these. However, it’s important to remember that learning is not just about the grades you receive today but about the journey and the growth you experience along the way. Every challenge you face and every mistake you make is a stepping stone toward mastering the skills and knowledge you’re striving for. It’s okay to take your time and it’s okay to find some concepts more challenging than others.”
– “I understand these results aren’t what you hoped for, but every challenge is a chance to learn and grow. Let’s view this as a step in your learning journey, not the final destination. Together, we can explore strategies to improve and make the most of this experience.”
– “It’s natural to feel disappointed but remember, mastering new skills takes time and patience. Consider this a part of the learning curve that everyone goes through. I’m here to support you in turning these challenges into opportunities for growth.”

Faculty Spotlights

Kelly Rossetto, PhD.

Professor

I firmly believe in teaching the whole student, and recognizing that they have lives outside of the classroom. I do my best to learn every student’s name so that they each feel like they are a valued member of the classroom. I also gather information at the beginning of the class about students so that I can use small facts to engage them and get to know them as people. If they work somewhere I can go, I try to visit that place. If they play a sport, I try to go to watch them play. Day to day, I check in with students before and after class; asking them about their weekends, stressors, etc. I also include information about reaching out to me or other trusted adults in my syllabus, along with lists of Boise State resources available to students.

Communication Dept., COAS

I firmly believe in teaching the whole student, and recognizing that they have lives outside of the classroom. I do my best to learn every student’s name so that they each feel like they are a valued member of the classroom. I also gather information at the beginning of the class about students so that I can use small facts to engage them and get to know them as people. If they work somewhere I can go, I try to visit that place. If they play a sport, I try to go to watch them play. Day to day, I check in with students before and after class; asking them about their weekends, stressors, etc. I also include information about reaching out to me or other trusted adults in my syllabus, along with lists of Boise State resources available to students.

Faculty Blueprint for Student Wellbeing

28%

16%

34%

The Blueprint

Building Community and Connections

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Kelly Rossetto, PhD.

Professor

Wellness Services