October 10, World Mental Health Day

This Wednesday (October 10th) is World Mental Health Day, the "Weekly Teaching Tip" from DevelopingTeachers.com tells me.

If you like your lesson plans gifted to you without too much thought on your part -- and directly into your own mailbox if you subscribe -- the Tip is a good place to look.

Personally, I like students as involved as possible from the start. This week's Tip quotes an article on stress from the BBC. The headings are:

• Symptoms of stress
• Dealing with stress
• Work-related stress
• Tackling work stress

I'd suggest starting there and, before the students read the article, get them to brainstorm what they think will come under the headings... Getting them to find which of the ideas they came up with and what other ideas the article suggests then gives you a natural reason for reading the article, and a natural reading comprehension question.

"Stress", some wit once said, "is when you wake up screaming and then you realise you haven't fallen asleep yet." If you're already stressed out yourself by your new term, now you know where to look...!

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