A Heart for All

Cookie Heart StampCreative Commons License Marco Verch via Compfight

February has commonly come to be known as the heart month. Everyone wears red and draws attention to the many things you can do to improve your physical heart health. While those efforts are incredibly important, I would also encourage you to consider the things you can do to improve the emotional and social heart health of those within your circles of influence.

As educators, we see students and parents who are hurting. They feel anxious, excluded, unwanted, and unloved. The increase in school/public shootings, incarcerated family members, drug and alcohol abuse, etc. point to an emotional void within the heart that is begging to be heard in any way possible. I realize that some of these issues have their basis in mental illness and need professional care, but a lot of it points to a society where it has become okay to ignore, exclude, and reject others for any given reason.

Just do a quick search on the topic and a multitude of articles from reputable sources show up in your feed. What can we do about it? As educators, we can work on building positive relationships with our students. That can be as simple as a greeting every day at the door, showing an interest in a student’s ideas, inquiring after their health or the health of a parent, etc. We can send quick notes or phone calls to parents just to check in and show that we care about their students and their families. There are many articles that give ideas for building the rapport that will let students and parents know that they are important to you. Here are just a couple of sites that have helpful tips:

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/10-ways-build-relationships-students-year-1/

https://teach.com/blog/five-ways-teachers-can-establish-positive-relationships-with-parents/

So this February while we are eating our heart-healthy foods and trying to fit in more heart-healthy exercise, let’s also seek ways to reach out to the emotional hearts of the students and parents we serve. While you’re at it, see what you can do to reach out to your colleagues and administrators, too. Teaching and leading are stressful, and often our colleagues and administrators feel alone in their struggles. By reaching out to build positive relationships with those around us, perhaps we can make a small dent in the easing the hurt that is so prevalent in our society today.

One thought on “A Heart for All

  1. What an important message to share! Thank you for reminding us that awareness of emotional and social heart health is essential!

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