Aug 18

Why Self-Compassion and Emotion Regulation Are Key to Coping with COVID-19 by Marc Brackett

“What exactly is healthy emotion regulation?

Put simply, healthy emotion regulation involves monitoring, tempering and modifying emotional reactions in helpful ways in order to reach personal and professional goals. When we’re feeling disappointed or joyful or anxious, what do we do to feel more or less of that feeling, to hang onto that feeling or shift to feeling something different? Importantly, this doesn’t mean ignoring inconvenient emotions. Rather, it’s learning to accept and deal with them—both your own and others’ emotions. When we give ourselves and others permission to feel all emotions, we become less attached, reactive and overwhelmed by them.” Read article

Aug 17

To overcome the stress of this pandemic, educators must lead with relationships, routines and resilience by Katie Brackenridge

“How can I afford to invest in social-emotional learning when my students have fallen so far behind? The real question is whether we can afford not to invest in practices that support students’ social, emotional AND cognitive development right now. If we really care about student success, then we need to honor the biology of our brains — our interconnected centers of emotions, focus and learning.” Read article

Aug 16

Reduce teacher burnout and student absenteeism by asking this one question each day

“Most of us are feeling more burned out than usual (we all can feel that gnawing pessimism and fatigue creeping into the backs of our minds). And not only is that burnout dramatically hurting our mental health, but research has also shown that burnout damages productivity and increases mistakes…“What are the 1-2 things that I need to achieve today in order for this to be a successful day?” by Mark Murphy Read Article

Aug 15

Districts Pivot Their Strategies to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism During Distance Learning by Wade Tyler Millward

Long Beach Unified School District in California – “The team established a partnership with a local housing project where some of their chronically absent students live and coordinated attendance outreach activities, which included workshops to educate teachers, staff and guardians on the consequences of missing school…the district turned their focus to food security, internet connectivity for families in need and online suicide prevention assessments. “

Attendance Works Mix of tactics – “Identifying students at risk of absenteeism requires a mix of tactics. For example, gathering information such as which students lack internet connectivity, who was chronically absent prior to COVID-19 and understanding whether a student comes from a low-income family, has a disability, is involved in foster care or is homeless, can help staff better recognize each student’s circumstance and develop a more effective support system.”

Harvard University and school districts weekly postcards weekly postcards sent home to families of students in early grades as absences occurred. The program lasted over the course of 13 weeks during the 2018-2019 school year and included 5,602 students from two unnamed districts. Each card contained a handwritten message including a count of cumulative days missed, information on the lessons missed in class that day, and a guide to help parents understand how the absences impacted their child’s academic progress. Researchers found that this approach reduced student absences by an estimated 7.9 percent.

City Year Sacramento California –  turned its focus to family engagement. Members made about 600 calls to parents and students to check in on well-being, ask about obstacles to learning and provide technical support on tools like Google Classrooms and Zoom. They also helped translate district communications into other languages. The list of students contacted was based on those who did not participate in online learning activities. Read article

Aug 14

“No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship” James Comer

12 ways to build relationships with students virtually….before school starts 1. Create a “meet the teacher”video …3 Have students create a Flip Grid sharing something they want the class to know about them…..throughout the school year...1. Morning meeting 2. Host a lunch buddies…5. Chit chat time Read article

Aug 13

10 Things To Do in the First Weeks of School to Connect with Learners in Distance Learning by Katie Martin

  1. Family meetings
  2. One on one check ins
  3. Small group check ins
  4. Learner profile
  5. Co-create community guidelines
  6. Establish classroom jobs
  7. Create and practice routines
  8. Morning meetings
  9. Message/discussion boards
  10. Learning circles Read article

Aug 12

Exploring our reactions: deepening learning from Diangelo’s White Fragility from restorativeteachingtools.com

“Students will reflect on white privilege and how they may have felt defensiveness and responded in unhelpful ways when that privilege or their own learned racism was identified. This activity will help students to reframe their understanding of racism to instead feel gratitude and motivation to change in these moments of confronting bias or larger structural inequities. ” Read article

NOTES (PLEASE READ)

  1. This activity is primarily intended for use in white affinity groups (groups of white people committed to discussing race and white privilege and doing the work to challenge their racism).
  2. This activity is intended to be used in groups that already have established relationships and developed trust. Refer to the “Building Relationships” section of www.RestorativeTeachingTools.com for games and activities that will aid in building the trust and relationships necessary for this activity to be successful.
  3. You will be asking learners to take a significant amount of risk to participate in this activity. Please read Chapter 5 from The Little Book of Restorative Teaching Tools to prepare for facilitating if you are new to working with this kind of material. If possible, consider asking a trusted associate to help you co-facilitate so that you can debrief the activity together and shed light on each other’s blind spots.

Aug 11

2 Simple Ways to Improve Online Instruction from Edutopia

  • “The new school year can allow us to improve our online lesson delivery still further by balancing the effective use of edtech with good teaching practice. Here are two relatively simple strategies to make online instruction better.
  • 1. Make lessons interactive and accessible 24/7
  • 2. Foster student collaboration via virtual breakout rooms ” Read article

Aug 10

Teaching in Troubled Times: A Q&A With a Trauma Expert (NEPC)

  1. “How might teachers think about trauma in the lives of their students right now?
  2. What are some suggestions for teachers addressing trauma with their students even as those teachers may themselves be experiencing adverse situations in their personal lives?
  3. Do your suggestions differ for teachers of elementary and secondary grade levels? Do you have any suggestions for how secondary teachers might sensitively and effectively address trauma with their students, especially if they teach subjects like math that are sometimes seen as being detached from emotional experiences?
  4. How would you recommend that educators respond right now regarding students they know or suspect are experiencing trauma, particularly if those students stop logging in, reaching out or otherwise being readily available for communication?” Read article and responses from National Education Policy Center

Aug 07

Tracking Student Attendance Under Remote Learning Is a Complicated Mess

“Tracking student attendance under remote learning this spring was complicated and oftentimes ad hoc, a messy process that could continue to be a big problem if schools return to full-time virtual learning anytime this school year or do some combination of in-person and online education.” Read article