The month of May in the US is dedicated to Mental Health Awareness Month, and it serves as a reminder for all of us to reflect on the role wellness plays in building thriving communities. Mental health awareness in education is crucial for both learning and teaching. When educators are grounded and supported, they can communicate more clearly, teach more efficiently, and build stronger relationships. A focus on well-being helps create a more positive and productive learning environment for everyone.
Healthy classrooms—where students understand their emotions, educators feel empowered, and empathy is a shared value—often create the best conditions for success. There are many ways to support wellness across your school community, including tools and resources from Microsoft Education. We’re here to help make it easier to prioritize mental health for both you and your students—for Mental Health Awareness Month 2025 and throughout the school year.
The global well-being crisis demands a bold shift in education—one that recognizes emotions as central to learning, decision-making, and achieving goals. Emotional intelligence is the foundation for life’s most essential skills: clear communication, good judgment, resilience, and strong relationships—key drivers of personal well-being and success in any career.
Marc Brackett, Ph.D., Author of Permission to Feel and Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence
Cultivate collaboration and connection with Minecraft Education
Minecraft Education is a game-based learning platform that promotes skill building, teamwork, and problem-solving. It provides students with a safe space to express themselves, collaborate and practice empathy, and navigate their emotions in a low-stress environment. With Minecraft Education, you can help your students develop essential skills with immersive and engaging educational experiences.
Spin the Wheel of Steve and discover the magic of teamwork in this fun, skills-based adventure inspired by A Minecraft Movie! Students will venture through the Overworld competing in five team-based challenges designed to strengthen creativity, communication, connection, and critical thinking. Witness the wonder of collaboration when precious gems are at stake!
Use these additional Minecraft Education activities and worlds as they are, or as a starting point to adapt to your students’ needs:
- Reflect World – Students practice emotional processing strategies, encourage teamwork, and visualize emotions to develop empathy and self-awareness.
- Building Community – Students work together to discuss what resources and services help people thrive and then build a community together within Minecraft.
- Empathy Train – Explore what it means to think about other people’s feelings by constructing a diorama that captures a peer’s thoughts and feelings.
Build social, emotional, and academic skills with Reflect
Reflect, a Learning Accelerator, can make it easy to bring emotional check-ins and SEL into your daily practice. With Reflect, everyone has the opportunity to feel heard while learning to identify, understand, and manage emotions. Reflect offers:
- Intentional emotional check-ins – Quickly survey students about their feelings and help them develop their emotional vocabulary with age-appropriate reflection.
- Ready-to-use activities – Explore a variety of fun activities for you and your students to practice well-being skills.
- Data-driven insights – Understand the emotional patterns and needs for each student and the whole class so you can better support their well-being and academic success.
- Easy access and seamless integration – Access Reflect through your web browser (sign in required), via the Windows app, Microsoft Teams for Education, and through integrations into learning management systems (LMS).
Additionally, Reflect Compass is a tool within Reflect that helps you navigate student check-in results with evidence-based strategies to enhance well-being, engagement, and a sense of belonging. It’s built on the expertise of Challenge Success and grounded in over 20 years of research at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education.
Enhance educator well-being and connection
Reflect isn’t just for students, it supports your wellness, too. You can access breathing exercises, meditation, and mindfulness activities from Reflect—great for moments when you need a mental reset or want to model self-regulation for your students.
Reflect also helps school leaders foster a healthier, more connected work environment. Staff check-ins in Reflect give colleagues a safe space to share how they’re feeling—creating opportunities to be heard, supported, and seen.
Create a staff check-in with Reflect
If you’re a team owner, follow these steps to get started:
- Open your staff team in Microsoft Teams for Education.
- Navigate to the General channel.
- Select the Reflect tab.
- Choose a question from the gallery.
- Publish your check-in to give staff space for personal and community reflection.
Focusing on your own wellness not only contributes to a positive learning environment, but it’s also a meaningful investment in yourself. Nurture yourself by taking a moment to recharge. Calm, the leading mental health brand, integrates mindfulness and movement activities into Reflect. Use a variety of engaging activities from Calm to foster a happier, healthier, and more balanced school community. As a bonus, educators and students can enjoy an exclusive 40% discount on a subscription to Calm, providing a wealth of activities designed specifically for personal rejuvenation.
Balance your workload with AI
We understand that your time and energy are precious. AI can assist you by streamlining everyday tasks and freeing up your time so you can stay focused on what matters most—whether spending time on individualized instruction or taking time to support your own well-being. By reducing the administrative burden, AI can help you to dedicate more attention to your students, their learning experiences, and your needs.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for everyday tasks, helping you support student learning outcomes, boost productivity, and save time. No matter your role, Copilot can help securely empower everyone at your institution, making it easier to work smarter and stay organized. Schools using Copilot have seen tangible benefits, with educators in Brisbane, Australia, reporting an average savings of 9.3 hours per week on routine tasks.
This time savings is especially crucial—and hopeful—in a profession where burnout is common. As St Francis College Principal John Marinucci highlights, Copilot can transform education by streamlining administrative tasks that often overwhelm educators. This means teachers can now devote more energy and time to their core mission of helping students be successful and grow.
To help you and your team build competency with AI and Copilot, check out the AI for educators learning path which walks you through AI uses and tools in education.
Prioritizing mental health and wellness isn’t just a moment, it’s a movement. This Mental Health Awareness Month, and throughout the year, you have the opportunity to lead a classroom where emotional intelligence, empathy and well-being are foundational to learning. Make mental health awareness and SEL a natural part of your day—supporting your students and yourself in meaningful, lasting ways.
