Miss M's Learning Space

 On Wednesday I had the privilege of attending the Ontario Ministry of Education's professional development presentation called  Building Futures . The two workshops I was able to attend specifically were:    promoting well being: developing positive conditions for learning; and  supporting students with special education needs.  I won't go into extensive detail, but I found there were a lot of common themes throughout the workshops and I'd like to highlight several key messages.  First, we can't 'fix' students' problems or 'make students better;' all we can do as educators is promote positive mental health and well being. This was a powerful moment for me when I heard this message. We can do everything 'right' as an educator and still have students who are in distress, and we need to leave it to the experts at that point. This is a concept, in general, that I struggle with. I want to fix everything all the time, but I've learne...

Kid’s Help Phone is a relatively well known hotline that offers immediate support to children and teens experiencing a crisis or who simply need guidance and support. Their website explains that the hot line is 24/7, and the counselors on the other end of the line will not tell you what to do, but rather will provide the caller with information in order to help them make their own decision. Any calls made are anonymous, and the language used on the site to encourage people to call if they need to is kid-friendly and non-threatening. However, the Kid’s Help Phone website offers a lot more than just the phone number for their help line. In addition to their live chat feature, they have an ‘ info booth ’ tab which contains information on a wide range of topics including, but not limited to: LGBTQ issues, bullying, emotional health, violence and abuse, friendships, family issues, physical health, FNMI issues, and even have a whole section devoted to sexting . The pages contain a wide ra...