When I was in sixth grade, we had to put my cat to sleep. I went to school the next day (I’m sure this was my idea. My mom was always a proponent of a mental health day, but I hated to miss school). What I remember vividly from that day was how much I wanted to tell someone, anyone, that I was sad and that it was a hard day. But as a shy kid, it proved impossible to work my dead cat into conversation. What opening was I looking for? I have no idea. But found I could not simply blurt out, “Hey, my cat died yesterday.” It was weeks before my friends found out, and I don’t think my teachers ever knew.
This experience was on my mind a few years ago, when my colleagues and I were introduced to the idea of allowing students to check in with their emotional state each day. Elementary strategies like colored popsicle sticks and circle sharing felt a bit public for teenagers, who are less likely than younger kids to share their true feelings in front of their peers. Instead, I wanted something very simple and fast, something private, something that wouldn’t ask much of the kids, something that wouldn’t take much class time.
What I landed on was a Google Form that exported automatically to a spreadsheet, and students could select four possible answers for one required question - How are you today?
Great!
I’m ok.
Having a rough day, but don’t need a check-in.
I need support and would like to check in with someone, I’ll specify below.
Students can click their answer and be done with it, but there are also two optional questions at the end if they would like to add more:
“Anything (good or bad!) you would like your teachers to know about you today?”
Some student responses from this year include missing assignments (“I didn’t finish my math homework. I thought I had a free period to do it omg”), jokes (“wanna hear a cat joke? Its hissssterical!”), their nerves about the big game (“We are playing a team we lose to EVERY YEAR today aaaaagh”), loss (“my hamster died last night”), and big wins (“I am having a phenomenal day! MS. M LIKED MY PROJECT”).
These little notes give me myriad opportunities. An impersonal google form easily becomes personal - I can congratulate a student on a success, warn my colleagues than a child is having a tough day, offer to help compose an email to another teacher about make-up work, let a colleague know that a student has been positively impacted by their praise, and much more.
The second question is for students who have asked to check in with an adult:
“Only answer if you selected the “would like a check-in” option in the first question. With whom would you like to check-in? (can be any adult you are comfortable with, including me emailing home to let a parent/guardian know you would like to talk).”
Popular choices are the guidance counselor, the student assistance counselor, our school psychologist, and the school social worker. Students have asked to talk to their coaches, special education teachers, and even the principal. Sometimes they want to talk to me. Generally, we are able to connect them with their chosen check-in person within an hour, and if we can’t, we make a plan with them for an alternative time or person based on their level of need.
The check-in can offer a glimpse into both long term emotional trends and big events. Some students are predictable - they have a lot going on and regularly ask for check-ins or vent their stress on the form. Others are more surprising - a student who always has a smile and a kind word, participates and does their homework, and yet chooses “Having a rough day” every single day for months.
Since the 7th grade ELA teacher and I started offering this check-in, it’s been adopted throughout the school. Overall, the check-in is just one small piece of our SEL supports. The teachers here keep a careful eye on their changes, parents email about issues at home, and students often seek out teachers and service providers they trust on their own. However, I strive to make the check-in, and by extension me, a dependable resource, one that offers a quick and consistent response when kids do need us - whether it be on one terrible day or consistently though the year, and everything in-between.
