With an idea that sparked months ago, I've modified and enhanced this Staff Self Check assessment hoping to increase positive mental health awareness amongst my colleagues. For my graduate course, we call this a process a formative assessment design (FAD).
Background Knowledge
Before the pandemic, teacher mental health was questioned and suppressed. Amidst the pandemic, our staff mental health is struggling. Our backpack has added pressure from the state to meet standards, parents to make sure their students aren't failing, students to support their mental health, and ourselves to make sure we plan, take attendance, check the chat box, and meet everyone else's needs each day through a screen. Teaching in a (middle) school environment during a pandemic has been
mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting. Therefore, I became passionate to turn this idea of a mental health check into my canvas to hopefully take to our administration in support of regulating staff mental health.
Revisions
Initially, I revised my own FAD. I reflected upon my own social-emotional needs, confided and reached out to colleagues, and did a little research of my own. However, when is ever one brain better than two, or three? I was grateful and appreciative for a fellow grad-student and my professor to review my FAD. Not only did we celebrate the focus of this FAD on mental health, but my clear path toward developing this Staff Self Check. Here are questions I considered, based on feedback, as I developed my FAD 4.0:
Is there a right answer to these questions?
Should this assessment be required? Why?
Could this assessment be completed in PLCs with an administrator to analyze and reflect collaboratively on the data?
Will teachers see this as just another box to check?
How will I effectively represent/present the data?
Next Steps
My FAD is finished and I'm ready to share this assessment and its developed rationale with my school administration. I'm eager to suggest this monthly mandated assessment for every staff member. However, this assessment should be presented through a welcoming, warm and caring manner inviting all staff members to want to take a few minutes to check their mental health status.
Additionally, I'm interested to present my hope for a one-on-one or group conversation between staff member(s) and administration. Sometimes it helps to just feel heard, even if there's not much that can be done. During this discussion, also solidifying next steps, goals, and needs that need to be met can help increase the staff culture and mental health within our community.
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