Teacher’s Check-In Chart For Students To Share Their Feelings Goes Viral
More and more people are using whatever platform they have to speak out about mental health awareness, whether they are celebrities or people with a large Twitter following – this kind of visibility is important to people who have felt alone. English special education teacher Erin Castillo decided to use her classroom as her platform to educate and support her students about their mental health with a creative daily exercise.
After several students attempted suicide in the past five years of her teaching, the San Francisco Bay Area educator found an innovative way to check on her pupils – with a check-in chart.
High-School special education teacher Erin Castillo just went viral for her mental health check-in chart
Image credits: makingastatementinsped
Castillo wanted to create a non-verbal way for her students to communicate how they were feeling through a semi-anonymous system. On the chart, students are asked to indicate their mood that day with post-it notes on a scale from, “I’m great” and “I’m okay” to “I’m having a hard time and wouldn’t mind a check-in” or “I’m in a really dark place.” Studies have shown a correlation between people with learning disabilities or special needs kids and suicidal behavior, particularly among women, and as well as with other mental health issues or disabilities such as autism. The educator told Insider, “So many people think they’re the only ones feeling sad and struggling,” and added, “Kids need to hear that they’re not alone and what that support looks like.”
Image credits: Erin Castillo
The inspiration for the check-in chart came from a teacher support page, she wrote in her Instagram caption:
“Made this mental health check-in chart after seeing @missjohnstonsjourney use a digital version for teachers on her #okayteacher Facebook page.
I asked my students to write their names on the back of a post-it note so I could check in with ones in the bottom two sections. I explained the green section as them struggling, but speaking to another adult or trying to work through it themselves.
•••
I was able to start some mental health checks today, and holy cow these kids. I love them. My heart hurts for them. High school is rough sometimes, but I was happy that a few were given a safe space to vent and work through some feelings.
•••
I also like that students could visually see that they aren’t alone in their struggles. It was a beautiful minimum day focusing on self-care and mental health.”
Her post was shared on a Facebook page called Suicide Awareness/Prevention and spread across the internet
Image credits: SuicidePreventionAwarenes
Inspiring other teachers to create charts of their own
Image credits: milestonesandmishaps
After one of my staff members showed me @jsscytn post of doing this in her classroom, I fell in love with the idea…. so I decided to do it in mine. Some of my students are going to need it to be differentiated for their understanding so I will help those kiddos. For those who have staff like nurses, aides, paraprofessionals, it’s a great tool to see how staff are feeling. Staff and students decorated their own strip, and I can’t see how it will go on Monday when we use it for the first time
Image credits: enthusiasm_isourjam
Our daily check-in is up and ready to go! Shoutout to @makingastatementinsped and @jsscytn for the great idea of how to help my students, even more, each and every day
Image credits: missginfourth
If I’ve learned anything this year so far, it’s that life is much harder at 9-10 years old than I could ever possibly remember. So thankful for @makingastatementinsped and her brilliant ideas, looking forward to implementing this in the classroom tomorrow.
Image credits: ms_wayerski
Took a page out of @makingastatementinsped book and recreated her Mental Heath Check in poster 💭 ..It is SO important to have students become aware of their own mental health, and for teachers to create a classroom community where students feel safe to express their own feelings and realize they are not alone. Looking forward to conducting more check ins in the future! Also, Erin has a free download that includes set of instructions/posters to use in your own classroom, too- go snag those ASAP!
The response from other teachers was unexpected and overwhelming for Castillo, “I just started crying,” she said. “My husband asked me why I was crying, and I said ‘Because kids are being saved everywhere.” She has since created a free digital resource for other teachers who want to introduce the chart into their classrooms.
People in the comments loved the creative approach to mental health
96Kviews
Share on FacebookI had a very unstable and terrible childhood growing up and one day I stayed home from school cause my mom gave me 2 black eyes. I think I was about in 3rd grade. Well anyways. When I went back to school one of the teacher caught me eating breakfast in the cafeteria and she leaned down and asked. "are you being hurt at home.?" Instantly I could hear my moms voice in my head telling me if I said anything i would mess it all up and my little brothers and sister would get taken away and it would be all my fault. As soon as clicked back into the conversation I burst out in tears. I don't know why I said what I said but in the midst of tears I said "I don't know." To this day I wish someone would have dug a little deeper. Maybe these methods will improve mentally struggling children feel safe and know its okay to talk about things. Teachers should really sense when things are off.
I'm so sorry. I hope things are better for you and you are feeling better now.
Load More Replies...My thought on this is that it's great, but isn't it not quite anonymous if the students have to go up and put a post-it in front of their classmates? If your friends see you putting your post-it, maybe you'd not put it where it truly belongs? I wonder if there's a less anxiety-inducing version?
That's exactly how I feel about it too. It is truly a good initiative and I'm glad if it works. But trying to picture up such a thing done at my high school back when I was in, it would just make me avoid the whole thing.
Load More Replies...Great idea! I remember many times as a kid/teenager where I would have liked to talk to someone but was too uncomfortable to make that first step. I think this would have really helped. And it's not just that you get to talk to them, I think it also helps kids in general to see that they are not the only ones that feel bad sometimes, and they can also visually see that it fluctuates (some days many post-its in the lower half, other days many in the upper half), I think that can really help them become more aware of how fluid emotions are and that your painful feelings can pass. Also, I think this might make kids that are not very much in touch with their feelings, become more aware of their own feelings.
I think it's unfortunate that a lot of the people copying the idea felt like they had to replace "I'm in a really dark place" with "I'm not doing great". It would REALLY make people who are in that dark place feel like they're alone, because the chart doesn't even have a place for them. And it minimizes their suffering. (It also seems rather 1984.) Please just call it like it is.
It depends on the age of the kids. Little ones aren’t going to understand “dark place”. It doesn’t “minimize” anything. It’s just age appropriate.
Load More Replies...I would love if they could hang it up in a corner with a small enclosure or something (like in those voting booths, just small cardboard walls to ensure some privacy) where kids could enter one by one and stick their note on that wall. Maybe they could even seal the notes with a small sticker or something, so other kids wouldn't peek. Just so no one might be too anxious to point out how they really feel, because I think the guy mentioning social anxiety has a good point!
I need a chart like this for everyday use. No one else would check it, but it might make me feel better to recognize my own mental state everyday.
This may seem like a great idea but I don't think parents understand that the schools use techniques , like this one, to profile kids in order to prevent the next Columbine or Newtown. The teachers do not keep any information that students share with them private, even if the teacher tells the students that anything that's disclosed to them (the teachers) will remain between the student & the teacher. New educational laws mandate that any & all info , whether a student checks in & reports that they're just fine/happy or completely hopeless & depressed, must be shared with the public school administration. The parents do not have to be notified of these practices at all. The administration can then go to the police to inquire about family histories to see if a student has parents or family members who have been arrested in the past or have had police contact at some point in their life (for example, a parent who has been taken to the hospital via 911 for a psych issue.)
If there is a decision made between the police & the school administration that a student could potentially develop a psychiatric diagnosis that may or may not affect the student's peers in a negative way, then an intervention is put in place. This could be anything from forcing a student to see the school social worker for "therapy" (most school social workers are not equipped to provide proper therapy for kids) to removing a student abruptly from the school & sending them to an "alternative learning community." ALCs are a fancy name for reform school or a school where the population has behavior/mental/educational problems but are not full lockdown facilities. The majority of these interventions are not taking place in high schools, rather, administrators feel that elementary/middle school is the appropriate time to intervene. The problem here is that the administrators feel as if they're treating problems in kids that haven't emerged yet , but most probably will, so it's a
Load More Replies...i think its a good try...but I don't think everyone is going to be entirely honest and its not private enough either.
OK... I'm getting pissed off by adutks who haven't seen a therapist and managed to make this posting about themselves without any education or help. You're missing the point this teacher knows what she is doi g and I can guarantee you she did it differently from when you were a child in school. Stop playing the victim and seeking synoethatic attention, cause if you have kids you're onky adding to their mental health. Parents are known to be the worst supporters and are the ones to make things worst by thinking they are protecting their child, not realizing they are self projecting their traumas and insecurities upon their kids. Leave it to the professionals. If a teacher is well educated like this one... Shut up and learn and apply it before you lose your kid and they hide themselves from you and then you complain that you've done everything you could and really everything you have could is what you wanted as a child or student for yourself. Very common... But admit it first.
Either way the teacher took a lead role and led by example to teach them early. That's important. I am sure she knows her support system and resources available. She wouldn't be doing this if she had no idea of the consequences or what she was doing. Parents reading this... Shut up about your judgment and what you don't know... At least this teacher is doing it. Ur stigma and lack of education and what you call protecting your child is actually doing more harm. It is OK for kids to learn these things and knowing they are loved no matter what and accepted. They learn accountability and leadership. Parents who think they are protecting their child or teachers who think are therapists or think they know better.... At least someone is taking the lead on this. Wish I had this teacher growing up.
On the fence about this one. Yes it's good to be aware and empathetic of your kids, bit at some level each kid has to take care of their own stuff on their own time and get on board with the group.
Have you ever suffered from mental health issues? Even ADULTS have a hard time "taking care of their own stuff" and "getting on board with the group" when they're in a dark place. Sometimes you need help. Full stop.
Load More Replies...I would never have put anything on that poster. If I had, it would have been at the bottom, and if any teacher had ever contacted my parents, my life would have been in danger. It was safer all around to be under the radar. Standing out could have literally killed me.
This is awesome. Wished people would of payed more attention to my mental health as a teen. Got taken out of therapy because church said God will heal me & got diagnosed with depression only. Now at 30 after a 2 year mental break down, turns out I have a handful of personality disorders. LMFAO!!!!
I had a very unstable and terrible childhood growing up and one day I stayed home from school cause my mom gave me 2 black eyes. I think I was about in 3rd grade. Well anyways. When I went back to school one of the teacher caught me eating breakfast in the cafeteria and she leaned down and asked. "are you being hurt at home.?" Instantly I could hear my moms voice in my head telling me if I said anything i would mess it all up and my little brothers and sister would get taken away and it would be all my fault. As soon as clicked back into the conversation I burst out in tears. I don't know why I said what I said but in the midst of tears I said "I don't know." To this day I wish someone would have dug a little deeper. Maybe these methods will improve mentally struggling children feel safe and know its okay to talk about things. Teachers should really sense when things are off.
I'm so sorry. I hope things are better for you and you are feeling better now.
Load More Replies...My thought on this is that it's great, but isn't it not quite anonymous if the students have to go up and put a post-it in front of their classmates? If your friends see you putting your post-it, maybe you'd not put it where it truly belongs? I wonder if there's a less anxiety-inducing version?
That's exactly how I feel about it too. It is truly a good initiative and I'm glad if it works. But trying to picture up such a thing done at my high school back when I was in, it would just make me avoid the whole thing.
Load More Replies...Great idea! I remember many times as a kid/teenager where I would have liked to talk to someone but was too uncomfortable to make that first step. I think this would have really helped. And it's not just that you get to talk to them, I think it also helps kids in general to see that they are not the only ones that feel bad sometimes, and they can also visually see that it fluctuates (some days many post-its in the lower half, other days many in the upper half), I think that can really help them become more aware of how fluid emotions are and that your painful feelings can pass. Also, I think this might make kids that are not very much in touch with their feelings, become more aware of their own feelings.
I think it's unfortunate that a lot of the people copying the idea felt like they had to replace "I'm in a really dark place" with "I'm not doing great". It would REALLY make people who are in that dark place feel like they're alone, because the chart doesn't even have a place for them. And it minimizes their suffering. (It also seems rather 1984.) Please just call it like it is.
It depends on the age of the kids. Little ones aren’t going to understand “dark place”. It doesn’t “minimize” anything. It’s just age appropriate.
Load More Replies...I would love if they could hang it up in a corner with a small enclosure or something (like in those voting booths, just small cardboard walls to ensure some privacy) where kids could enter one by one and stick their note on that wall. Maybe they could even seal the notes with a small sticker or something, so other kids wouldn't peek. Just so no one might be too anxious to point out how they really feel, because I think the guy mentioning social anxiety has a good point!
I need a chart like this for everyday use. No one else would check it, but it might make me feel better to recognize my own mental state everyday.
This may seem like a great idea but I don't think parents understand that the schools use techniques , like this one, to profile kids in order to prevent the next Columbine or Newtown. The teachers do not keep any information that students share with them private, even if the teacher tells the students that anything that's disclosed to them (the teachers) will remain between the student & the teacher. New educational laws mandate that any & all info , whether a student checks in & reports that they're just fine/happy or completely hopeless & depressed, must be shared with the public school administration. The parents do not have to be notified of these practices at all. The administration can then go to the police to inquire about family histories to see if a student has parents or family members who have been arrested in the past or have had police contact at some point in their life (for example, a parent who has been taken to the hospital via 911 for a psych issue.)
If there is a decision made between the police & the school administration that a student could potentially develop a psychiatric diagnosis that may or may not affect the student's peers in a negative way, then an intervention is put in place. This could be anything from forcing a student to see the school social worker for "therapy" (most school social workers are not equipped to provide proper therapy for kids) to removing a student abruptly from the school & sending them to an "alternative learning community." ALCs are a fancy name for reform school or a school where the population has behavior/mental/educational problems but are not full lockdown facilities. The majority of these interventions are not taking place in high schools, rather, administrators feel that elementary/middle school is the appropriate time to intervene. The problem here is that the administrators feel as if they're treating problems in kids that haven't emerged yet , but most probably will, so it's a
Load More Replies...i think its a good try...but I don't think everyone is going to be entirely honest and its not private enough either.
OK... I'm getting pissed off by adutks who haven't seen a therapist and managed to make this posting about themselves without any education or help. You're missing the point this teacher knows what she is doi g and I can guarantee you she did it differently from when you were a child in school. Stop playing the victim and seeking synoethatic attention, cause if you have kids you're onky adding to their mental health. Parents are known to be the worst supporters and are the ones to make things worst by thinking they are protecting their child, not realizing they are self projecting their traumas and insecurities upon their kids. Leave it to the professionals. If a teacher is well educated like this one... Shut up and learn and apply it before you lose your kid and they hide themselves from you and then you complain that you've done everything you could and really everything you have could is what you wanted as a child or student for yourself. Very common... But admit it first.
Either way the teacher took a lead role and led by example to teach them early. That's important. I am sure she knows her support system and resources available. She wouldn't be doing this if she had no idea of the consequences or what she was doing. Parents reading this... Shut up about your judgment and what you don't know... At least this teacher is doing it. Ur stigma and lack of education and what you call protecting your child is actually doing more harm. It is OK for kids to learn these things and knowing they are loved no matter what and accepted. They learn accountability and leadership. Parents who think they are protecting their child or teachers who think are therapists or think they know better.... At least someone is taking the lead on this. Wish I had this teacher growing up.
On the fence about this one. Yes it's good to be aware and empathetic of your kids, bit at some level each kid has to take care of their own stuff on their own time and get on board with the group.
Have you ever suffered from mental health issues? Even ADULTS have a hard time "taking care of their own stuff" and "getting on board with the group" when they're in a dark place. Sometimes you need help. Full stop.
Load More Replies...I would never have put anything on that poster. If I had, it would have been at the bottom, and if any teacher had ever contacted my parents, my life would have been in danger. It was safer all around to be under the radar. Standing out could have literally killed me.
This is awesome. Wished people would of payed more attention to my mental health as a teen. Got taken out of therapy because church said God will heal me & got diagnosed with depression only. Now at 30 after a 2 year mental break down, turns out I have a handful of personality disorders. LMFAO!!!!
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