The Blog

As one school year comes to an end, another is soon to begin! First things first, filling vacancies with the hope that the upcoming school year will begin with a full staff. In an effort to create as smooth a transition as possible for students and staff, it is imperative that a plan is in place to support all of the newcomers whether they are fresh out of college or simply transitioning from another district.

An invaluable lesson that helps students perform their best is teaching students appropriate self-advocacy.  Students who have 504 plans and I.E.P.s need to learn how to appropriately advocate for the accommodation(s) afforded to them in their plan. Regular education students also need to be taught and shown how to appropriately ask for help and assistance as needed. When students learn how to appropriately ask for assistance, they are not only set up for success in the class

I was recently asked to come have a conversation with the staff at a non-profit agency about managing personal stress as they continue their great work of supporting their community. It turns out their CEO, very in tune to the stress of her employees, had decided to mandate paid self-care days. Can you imagine? Each employee was to take one day off every two weeks, paid, without using their saved personal days, to combat the stress of the intense workload they’ve been carryin

Another year of collective and personal loss, another year of quick changes, and increasingly stressed brain states of many of the adults and children we serve have left us all exhausted. While I still believe deeply and strongly that your wellness must remain a top priority, today I want to talk about the kids. They, too, have been on this wild ride of unpredictability, change, and loss.   Emotions are contagious and while our stress levels undoubtedly impact our students,

Stress is a part of life and it can even be helpful! We perform better under some level of stress, it can motivate us to reach our goals and even plays a part in our development into happy, healthy adults. In fact, some of the most joyful events in our lives come with some level of stress – new jobs, new relationships, planning weddings, having babies, buying a new home, and even vacations!

This past year has certainly been traumatic for some and I think it’s safe to say that it has been stressful for most. It has me wondering how might this global experience and its many layers affect us as we reach this one-year anniversary? I posed this question to a group of teachers recently. Upon reflection, they discovered they were holding frustration, grief, resentment, and ongoing uncertainty in their minds as well as in their bodies.

We are living through an incredible time of physical and emotional disconnection. Despite technological advances created to keep us connected, we seem to be moving in the opposite direction. We’ve seen it happening for years as smartphones become the focus at dinners, video games trump family game nights, texting takes the place of phone calls, and emojis replace the use of words.

As most of us learned in the past year, we can’t predict what will happen next and when we feel out of control or faced with a lot of new, potentially frightening, things all at once it is easy to get overwhelmed, burnt out, and disconnected. Perhaps, if we spend time looking inward rather than out for answers, we might find ourselves better equipped to grow through the tough times without losing ourselves. I believe this might be true for individuals, organizations, and ev

In an ideal setting, a classroom should have a teacher facilitating lessons, while the students are carefully listening, learning, and collaborating about a particular subject. But in reality, that scenario may be different from what’s happening in many classrooms.

What is Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports? Also known as PBIS, it is a program that schools use to improve student behavior. It integrates classroom management, school-wide discipline strategies, and effective academic instruction to create a positive school environment for students. PBIS is one of the areas covered by professional development in education.

In this post, we will walk through how education has changed, why support is needed, and how both administrators and educators can help.

School faculty members know a range of techniques for helping to support the educational needs of their students, but what about the social-emotional needs? Far too many students are struggling with social-emotional needs, yet teachers are unaware or uncertain of how to handle them. Often, these students can be severely withdrawn from their peers or they can have a hard time following the rules and procedures of the classroom. So how can we identify and support students with

Teaching is a challenging job. Even before entering the classroom, teachers have to prepare schedules, lesson plans, and homework. They experience a mixed bag of feelings throughout their career: disappointment, frustration, joy, love, and triumph. Fortunately, there are books that provide real stories, tips, and motivation that will make teaching easier and more effective. The following is a list of the 10 best education books to read in 2019.  

Many schools across the US are finding it hard to deal with student misbehavior. And usually, students are punished for not knowing how to behave rather than being taught appropriate behavior. The objective of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is teaching positive behavior. You may be asking, “What is PBIS?” This article will answer that question.  

Let’s say one of your students is intimidating you or even scaring you. You feel threatened, bullied, and teaching became a real nightmare. Why is this happening? Children with antisocial or extremely aggressive behaviors can be diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) or Conduct Disorder. Putting a definition over these two will help you understand why certain behaviors are being displayed. These are the main things everyone should know about Oppositional Defiant D

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a neurological disorder that is characterized by developmentally inappropriate hyperactivity, inattention, or impulsivity. It is believed that children with ADHD have an impairment in the brain’s executive functions which affect the way they learn, store, and retrieve information. ADHD is suspected when a child’s behavior in class is problematic. In this article, we will discuss the symptoms of ADHD.

The pressures of modern life, anxiety disorders, and depression are common emotional and psychological problems that children nowadays face at a very young age. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is the third leading cause of death among the youth ages 10 to 24. Suicide prevention and intervention programs in the ongoing professional development for teachers and education support professionals can help mitigate the risk of suicide among

Although most structured learning takes place in the confines of the school, that doesn’t mean that parents cannot have an active role in their children’s education. On the contrary, parents can encourage, motivate, and even influence their kids to do well in school. This article will discuss the roles that parents play in the education of their children.  

Approximately 50% of new teachers leave the profession within the first five years of teaching. Why are they leaving? There are several reasons, ranging from high stress levels, heavy workload, or poor working conditions. Many teachers experience physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, especially those who are working in low-performing schools (where the demands are high, and the challenges are immense). But even in high-performing schools, some teachers experience bur

We believe that building positive school culture and school climate largely depends on the quality of relationships.