I am Hind BARI , from Algeria. I am a middle school supervisor and coaching leader. I graduated from Teacher Training High School in 1997, in Algiers. I had been a teacher of English for 20 years. I experienced teaching with both young learners at primary school and teenagers at middle school. I graduated with BA in 2011 and attended 25 hours TKT training sessions. I passed the TKT test the same year. I got 120 hours Accredited TESOL / TEFL Certificate and I worked as a teacher trainer for two years. I graduated as a supervisor and coaching leader in 2019. I believe that continuing professional development is a crucial part of academic excellence. Therefore, I have been participating in online webinars and attending online training sessions since March 2020. I am interested in online courses and I have just got my first certificate in Emotional Intelligence ( EQ ). My current areas of interest are educating children for character and implementing 21st Century skills in Algerian schools.

This is what Malak, an eighteen-year student, said when I wanted to know to what extent our children and youth were impacted by COVID 19. They have been experiencing stress, anxiety, fear, isolation, and uncertainty about their future since March 2020. At that time, all institutions were closed and all people were obliged to stay at home. Consequently, poverty increased in our society due to the loss of income and livelihood which produced toxic stress at home during the lockdown. Children and teenagers were the ones most affected by their aggrieved parents who unintentionally created an unsafe emotional state for them. Even though they joined school again last November, learning opportunities are still of low quality and stress still exists as part of their everyday life routines. This is why they are in an urgent need to be supported by their parents and educators during and after the pandemic. In today’s article, we will shed light on some effective strategies that can be opted by educators to create a safe learning environment for our students in and outside the classroom to help them cope with the critical challenges of the Pandemic.
   Firstly, we have to ensure social distancing and learning continuity though it seems difficult in some contexts because of the lack of facilities such as stable internet and availability of digital tools at schools and home. However, teachers can create virtual spaces to interact with their students and support them using very simple online technologies. In Algeria, for example, many teachers have been using the least tools and applications available such as Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram to monitor their student’s self-learning process and check their progress. This has been a critical challenge for them and they have been doing their best to cope. On the other hand, it was an opportunity for them to recognize the importance of learners’ autonomy and self-directed learning in the Pandemic era. Fostering our learners’ autonomy to take responsibility for their own learning has become a necessity to get them ready for any coming unexpected challenges. Today’s learners need teachers as guidance counselors who help them to develop self-regulated learning skills and not teachers as the only source of knowledge. According to Jerome Bruner, a human cognitive psychologist, « Learners’ use of their own subjective processes for problem-solving and communication and social interaction is the foundation for learning », that is to say, they need facilitators who train them on how to manage information, integrate knowledge, manage time, plan and set goals, solve problems, self-evaluate, obtain feedback, reflect, think critically and make responsible decisions on how to improve their learning. Thus, we will ensure our learners’ cognitive safety and we will create self-directed online learners in the future.
 Secondly, we have to create a safe emotional learning environment to help students reduce their stress, fear, and anxiety. In some curricula developed by RCCP ( Resolving Conflict Creativity Program), social-emotional topics are explicitly introduced in lesson plans and practiced through coping strategies and classroom activities. However, in other curricula, they are integrated implicitly whenever valuable opportunities are recognized by teachers. When they meet students who feel upset, stressed, angry, or depressed, they call them for a private discussion using positive statements and effective communication skills to help them reduce their stress, build their self-confidence and nurture their growth mindset. A few minutes of relaxation, deep breathing, playing music, or meditation bring great calmness immediately and reduce anxiety in the classroom or at home.
 In addition to that, we have to model self-control to resolve student-student and student-teacher conflicts systematically or to adjust negative behaviors instead of yelling all the time. I remember I met a six-year-old girl at one of the primary schools crying because she did not want to join class anymore, « My teacher keeps yelling all the time and I feel pain in my belly », she said. This little girl could reveal how a very simple act can either ensure students’ emotional safety or destruct it. McCraty, a Ph.D. psychophysiologist, and professor at Florida Atlantic University said: « Stressed teachers affect their environment, both personal and professional. They are often exhausted from lack of sleep and overwork, which has an impact on their preparation, their class demeanor, and their relationships with others in school ». So, it is obvious that we, as educators, have to master our stress management skills so that we can help students manage their own feelings.
   Thirdly, we have to strengthen students’ relationship skills and instill the values of connectedness to humanity, love, honesty, peace, caring for others, tolerance, solidarity and shared responsibilities. Building healthy relationships with others starts in the classroom where students are encouraged to work in groups and support each other to produce high quality of work using their imagination and creativity skills. Through group work activities, students develop their communication skills as they discuss each others’ ideas and opinions respectfully. Students can foster their collaboration skills outside school, too. They can be requested to realize team learning project work using social networks to interact with each other respectfully.
 Accessing social networks to make friends from different countries has become a part of our students’ everyday life. So they have to learn how to interact with foreigners effectively demonstrating respect to their cultures, traditions, religions, and beliefs. We can expose students to a diversity of ideas, thoughts, and beliefs and ask them to discuss them respectfully giving their opinions and arguments. To enable students to maintain that good relationship, we have to teach them the netiquettes; the art of using the internet effectively demonstrating a set of ethical values mainly respect for diversity and accepting differences.  
 Building healthy relationships with others requires strong empathy skills which is the ability to understand one’s emotions and to interpret non-verbal language observed on others’, that is to say, our students need to understand others’ behaviors, actions, and emotions so that they respond appropriately. To illustrate how can we foster one’s empathy skills, let me tell you about my experience with my daughter, Maria, who is six years old. Maria and some of her friends refused to play with Ania who suffers from cancer.«  Ania is sick and she is bold, this is why we do not play with her », she said. I recognized that my daughter and her friends’ behavior needed to be adjusted. I asked my daughter to close her eyes and imagine she is Ania and she is alone because no one wants to play with her. Then, I asked her to tell me how she would feel. She said: « I feel like the pain in my heart, I feel sad and like I want to play with my friends ». I asked her whether she would accept that the little Ania feels so. She immediately said: «  No ! ». I added the last question: « Will you play with her next time ? ». She said: « Yes! Ania will be my friend ». In the classroom, we can invite students to put their feet in others’ shoes and express their feelings just like Maria did, then we ask them to decide how they would behave to maintain a good relationship or avoid conflicts.
         Finally, we have to involve students in volunteering work to support others in their community during this pandemic. Thus, we enable them to recognize their critical role in promoting societies and in nurturing their spirituality. Volunteering is considered the ultimate charitable responsibility towards others because we do not expect them to reward us in return. It is linked to better health. The Corporation for National and Community Service reviewed existing research in its publication, the health benefits of volunteering. « Volunteers have greater longevity, higher functional ability, lower rates of depression and less incidence of heart disease », the organization concluded (Managing Responsibilities p.80). When students feel they are making a difference in others’ lives, they will feel a greater sense of self-worth. Moreover, they will develop their consciousness of their place and role in society and contribute to building a healthy functioning society.
    With the COVID 19 pandemic and its impacts, our classrooms have to be spaces for dialogue where students feel loved and cared about to reach their academic success. Most important, supporting children and youth during the pandemic requires collaboration between people with diverse areas of expertise such as decision-makers, leaders, educators, and caregivers to build our students’ resiliency during and after the pandemic.