Author's posts
Mar 20
Caring for the caring adult – sleep, physical exercise, staying virtually connected and good deeds are all important during the current pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic is increasing everyone’s anxiety which makes sleep, schedules, exercise, virtual connection and good deeds essential to mental wellness.
Mar 06
Kids knocking over class furniture, hitting others and physically harming self and others – all symptoms of trauma
One Ohio District’s experiences of dealing with student trauma in Early Childhood Education demonstrates how early identification, early intervention and multi-agency treatment programs can work. “Evidence suggests it works: children’s trauma symptoms, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, are on average reduced by 30 to 50 percent over one school year.”
Feb 28
Trauma informed practice must look to individual and systemic causes of trauma
Without a systemic lens, trauma-informed practice can draw teachers’ attention to the trauma behaviors that students exhibit, potentially pathologizing children for the very behaviors that research on trauma has illuminated and then blaming their families for their trauma.”
Feb 22
Students far more likely to seek mental health treatment at school if at all, US report says, putting schools in underfunded situation
One of the underlying causes of chronic student absenteeism is a mental health crisis. Recent research makes primary recommendations for early warning systems in schools and reintegration plans after prolonged absences.
Feb 18
Wait, what? Now I have to teach attendance too?
Every adult in school plays a role in teaching about attendance. Raising awareness that every school day matters is part of everyone’s task at school. AttendanceWorks has a great resource to infuse attendance into daily instruction.
Feb 16
Positive student relationships with teachers as caring adults improves attendance….even when you don’t “love” every student
Building connections with kids needs to be intentional, takes practice and takes relational skills. It’s not an automatic that you’ll connect with every student. Here are some great suggestions coming from experience in the classroom.
Feb 14
Study: Majority of students’ feelings about high school are negative
Small wonder, then, that absenteeism becomes a concern if students don’t want to be at school. A caring adult connected to a student can determine what the causes of negativity are and become an attendance protective factor.
Feb 11
Students experiencing homelessness are chronically absent from school at a rate at least twice that of the overall student population, and significantly more often than their housed, low-income peers, University of Chicago
“Homelessness causes students to miss school, which can lead them to drop out, which then makes them 3.5 times more likely to experience homelessness as young adults. “
Feb 10
Principals make a difference and impact improvements in student attendance, new study says
“Drawing on statewide data from Tennessee over a decade, … principal effects on student absences are comparable in magnitude to effects on student achievement.”