The filters help you narrow your class choices to the ones that match your goals. Here’s a quick guide to using each filter category effectively.
1. Start with your purpose.
Are you planning a class around a specific topic, learning outcome, or experience? That helps determine which filters matter most. This article provides an overview of each of the different filters available to narrow down the curriculum library and links to more in-depth information about each one.
2. Use different filters based on your needs:
- Mental Health Topics: Choose this if you know what issue you want to explore—like anxiety, trauma, or grief. Note that AOM's mental health filters include experiences as well as diagnoses.
- Art Opening Minds Nutrients: These are the big-picture takeaways like empathy, resilience, or agency. Great if you want to spark personal growth.
- SEL Objectives (CASEL): Use this if you’re aligning with curriculum goals—especially if you're teaching a class related to emotional intelligence or interpersonal skills.
- Wellness Wheel Topics: Perfect if you're taking a whole-person approach—looking at spiritual, physical, emotional, and social wellbeing.
- Audience: Use this to tailor your search based on whether you're teaching students or facilitating a staff session.
- Class Type: Choose what kind of experience you're aiming for:
- Mental health training
- Supporting our own mental health
- Building empathy for others
- Length
- Select the time you have available—options range from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
- Identities Featured
- Use this if you want to highlight specific lived experiences—by race, gender, life stage, or cultural background.
- Film Style
- Want something animated, documentary, dramatic, or experimental? This filter helps you match tone and format to your audience.
3. Start broad, then narrow.
If you're not sure where to begin, try selecting just 1–2 filters to start. You can always add more to narrow your results.
Tips & Notes
- You can clear all filters in one click if you want to start fresh.
- Most instructors find it helpful to begin with either mental health topic or class type, then layer in other filters as needed.
