Bright Ideas for End of the Year 
1. Use a Progress Tracker
Students really benefit from visual expectations. Think about behavior charts or visual schedules; when students can see what's coming next they can better prepared. Use a visual progress tracker to show them how many sessions are left. It can be as simple as a piece of paper with stickers or as complex as a velcro system to add on different pieces to form a shape (ice cream cone, flower petals, etc). Try to design a progress tracker that goes with your group theme or a common interest of the group members. When students can see how many sessions they have left, they can anticipate when the last session will be so they aren't caught off guard.
Implementing this during distance learning: You can basically do the same thing. Simply show students as you add pieces to the progress tracker via Zoom.
Some ideas to help reduce stress
Mindfulness & Mediation guide
Free online drawing course
Free workout video
Free Online Nutrition
Build a Mental Health tool kit
Maintaining structure can work wonders for your mental wellbeing.
Planning Tips
• Schedule regular breaks. Take time to mindfully drink your tea or focus on your breathing –
here’s a great website you can bookmark from Calm.
• Write a weekly goals list. Identify what you need to do to achieve your weekly goals. Break
tasks down into smaller steps and cross them off as you go to maintain a sense of progress
throughout the day.
• Identify 1-3 “Most Important Tasks”. Creating a daily MIT list helps you prioritize your most
important and urgent tasks.
• Review your crossed off items at the end of the day. Taking stock of your achievements
can help boost mental wellbeing.
• Try a to do list app. You may prefer a digital format such as Google Keep.
• Experiment with productivity techniques such as The Pomodoro Technique and Eat The
Frog.
• Write your daily to do list the night before. You might find that being able to start work
straight away helps increase your productivity. Also, this practice can help you clear your mind
and switch off in the evening.
• Tidy your workspace at the end of the day. Research finds that cluttered environments
interfere with your ability to focus.
• Decide on a regular sleep schedule. When it comes to improving sleep, research suggests
that maintaining a regular sleep schedule is of high importance.
• Create an end of work day ritual. To enforce work-life boundaries, you might find it helpful
to create an end of day ritual such as changing into comfier clothes, switching off work email
notifications and putting on some music.
• Create weekly family traditions. Strengthen family routines through traditions such as
“Board Game Fridays” and “Movie Night Mondays”. Find more advice and resources for setting
up a family routine here, here and here.
• Be kind to yourself. You might suddenly have a lot more on your plate. Be mindful of your
inner critic, and remind yourself that you can only do the best you can.
Kids are online more than ever
Online Safety is Critical
online safety for your kids & students
Help for your classroom
