May 27- 31

Loss - is felt at different times in life, not only after a death but also when you retire or lose your job, your relationship ends or you misplace a valuable object.

Grief - is your personal response to loss. 

Bereavement - is the time spent grieving after someone important to you dies. 

Mourning - is how you express your grief outwardly

We make connections to people, places, pets & even objects. When these attachments are broken or lost we can go through a grieving process. Grieving can affect not only your emotions but also your thinking, behavior & physical well being. There is no "normal" way to grieve. Grief is unique to each individual, each situation & can change from day to day. There are however some commonalities among people when they experience a loss.

When grieving you might:
- spend a lot of time thinking about the loss
- have table staying focused & doing day to day activities
- have health implications
- have episodes of strong & unpredictable emotions or reactions
- be in disbelief 
- being forgetful
- think they see or hear things that are not there

May 21 - 24

Self-regulation: involves controlling one's behavior, emotions, & thoughts 
Emotional self-regulation: the ability to manage disruptive emotions and impulses

When a child is unable to self regulate, learning is impacted.

Signs a child is struggling:
- trouble falling asleep or staying asleep
- being crabby in the morning
- easily upset
- explosive mood
- trouble maintaining attention / listening
- signs of frequent sadness, anxiety, fear, anger

Possible causes:
- not enough sleep
- did not have enough physical activity
- too much screen time
- poor nutrition (too much sugar or processed food)
- overstimulated (sounds, sights, lights, crowds)

Steps to help with regulation:
- know the signs that lead up to a blow out or melt down
- ID the stressors / environments that challenge the child
- overall reduce the stress placed on the child
- in a calm moment, chat with the child about their triggers & strategies that help
- practice calming methods or breathing exercises

May 13 - 17

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE): are highly stressful, and potentially traumatic, events or situations that occur during childhood and/or adolescence

I have been reading a lot of articles & been to a few professional development sessions on ACE. It has opened my eyes to not only how prevalent they are but the many implications they have on a child’s brain development, learning, overall health & social interaction.

ACE include:

-      Emotional abuse

-      Physical abuse

-      Sexual abuse

-      Neglect

-      Household substance abuse

-      Household mental illness

-      Separation / divorce

-      Death of a parent

-      Witnessing abuse / violence

-      Racism

-      Sexism

-      Homelessness

-      Natural disasters 

-      Incarcerated parent

ACE increase risk of:

-      Adolescent pregnancy

-      Alcohol abuse

-      Drug abuse

-      Depression

-      Heart & liver disease

-      Smoking

-      Suicide attempts

-      Earlier sexual experiences

-      STD’s

-      Teenage pregnancy

-      Partner violence

-      Incarceration

  

How ACE effect health:

-      Reduces the ability to learn 

-      Lowers tolerance to stress

-      Difficulty making & maintain friendships
       Struggle with understanding, reading & regulating feelings
       Increased rate of depression / anxiety
       Higher risk of self harm

-      Difficulty with memory

-      Physical health issues – heart rate, blood pressure, diabetes, obesity

May 6 - 10

The Language of Math

To solve math word problems children are faced with a number of tasks.  First they must know what they are solving for & what operation to use.  They must also know their basic facts & how to calculate the answer. Finally they need to understand the vocabulary used in the problem. For English language learner or children that struggle with speaking/ hearing the vocabulary can be very confusing.

Steps to solve a multi-step word problem:
1) Know what you are solving for
2) Determine which information is actually relevant
3) Organize the calculations required
4) Hold information from one step to another
5) Shifting an answer to the next piece of your calculation
6) Know if your answer is reasonable

Things that help:
1) Consistent & common language
2) Ask for their understanding by asking questions
3) Simply the problem
4) Use diagrams

April 29 - May 3

PLAY: to engage in activity for enjoyment & recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose

LEARNING: to acquire knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught

When I completed my degree in education my major was early childhood education. The main push at that time was learning through play. To many, the words play & learning appear to be contrasting, but for me there is an obvious connection. Children & adults alike learn more when they are interested in the topic & engaged in activities. Interactions with people, things & information is how we explore the world. Play builds relationships, explores social roles & fosters one's imagination.

Links between Play & Learning:
- promotes emotional regulation

- allows children to gain competence & skills that help them feel good about themselves
- provides a model where adults teach children how to behave & how to treat others
- provides the opportunity to learn essential social skills: take turns, share, cooperate
- learn self- respect & how to treat others with respect
- promotes a child’s development (physical, social, intellectual, cultural, emotional)

April 22 - 26

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)

On average more then 10 people die daily of suicide in Canada. 
Suicide is the 9th leading cause of death in Canada.
For every suicide death there are 5 self harm injuries / hospitalizations reported

This week I had the opportunity to take part in a 2 day workshop for suicide prevention.  There were 30 educators from across the Calgary Board of Education that took part. Just as Standard First Aid & CPR are meant to save lives, ASIST is a different kind of first aid but the goal is the same. 

Goals of the course:
- recognize the signs that someone is thinking about suicide or killing themselves
- understand the stigma  & cultural implications around mental health & suicide 
- understand how personal attitudes affect views of suicide & not allowing these to imply judgements
- identity the elements to creating a safety plan & the actions required to support a person's  immediate safety
- learn the importance of self-care & promoting life

Vulnerable Populations:
- teens
- LGBTQ community
- indigenous
- mid-life crisis
- divorcee
- homeless
- incarcerated
- widower
- addicts

Gems I took away:
- talking means HOPE
- anyone is capable of suicide - no age or race or demographic is not effective
- you do the best you can in the space you are in to support others
- ones perception is their reality
- you are NOT there to solve the problem, you are there to hear, listen & create a plan from them to be SAFE RIGHT NOW
- the language has changed: you now say "a person has completed suicide OR has suicided"

KIDS HELP PHONE: 1800-668-6868
Calgary Distress Centre: 403-266-1601

April 15 - 19

Resiliency is the ability to bounce back after setbacks or problems occur in your life.  There are some habits or strategies we can all work on to help us build up our ability to manage adversity & keep pushing forward.

1) When you experience failure, think of them as specific & temporary.  Allowing them to snowball enables them to spill into all aspects of your life or for you to think of it as a flaw within yourself rather then an isolated event.

2) Understand change is inevitable, problems will arise & failure is part of what creates our growth. Rather then letting circumstances overwhelm you, examine why it happened, identify the emotions you are feeling & why it is so important to you.

3) Small rituals of self care allow you to maintain perspective.  When you are eating right, sleeping well, exercising & maintaining a network of personal relationships you are in a better frame of mind to manage when problems occur.

4) Maintain a positive outlook. Self talk goes a long way here.  Watch what words or phrases you say to yourself & replace negative ones with kind, affirming statements. I always image what I would say to my best friend if they were in the situation I was dealing with. Wallowing in self pity will never change the situation or improve it.

5) Don't waste time or energy thinking about what I call " would have, could have, should have" thoughts. You can not fix the past, you can only learn from it. Think forward & take the lessons you have learned to empower you in the future.

How resilient are you? - QUIZ