The ability to learn depends upon
- An attachment to the knowledge
- An attachment to the learning environment
- An attachment to the teacher
COMPASSION
CONNECTIONS
CONNECTIONS
Restore and Repair
Making mistakes and learning from them is critical to self-growth. When challenging situations arise, a restorative approach provides the opportunity for a successful resolution and the ability to repair any damages.
Encourage Empowerment
Teachers act as guides and coaches in the learning process through offering encouragement and support. Empowered students gain confidence to effectively contribute to their own learning.
Focus on Equity
Equity is critical for an emotionally safe learning environment for ALL students to achieve success and feel included in the learning process. An equity lens is necessary for all aspects of student experiences inside and outside the classroom, including discipline referrals and co-curricular participation.
Cultivate Self-Care
Self-care has an important place in education not only for the teachers but also for the students to access their best selves. Fostering self-care strategies and skills is an important aspect of any social emotional learning curriculum.
CONNECTIONS
CONNECTIONS
CONNECTIONS
Attachment Availability
Students have their own attachment styles which may impact their learning needs, behaviors in the classroom, and relationships with others. Having a basic understanding of attachment patterns helps teachers best meet the diverse needs of all students.
Make the Time, Take the Time
Relationship building must happen to create safe and conducive learning environments. Taking the time to have students feel more connected to each other and to their teachers allows for more quality time for learning.
Value the Voice
All students should feel respected and that they are an integral part of the classroom community. Students who do not feel emotionally safe to learn will detach and disengage from the learning process.
Go Beyond the Books
Learning happens in a multitude of ways, not simply from textbooks. Using multiple modalities of teaching allowing for student choice helps engage every student to ensure success.
Supporting Students with Trauma and COVID-19 Stressors
Strategies to Support Students during Non-Traditional Instruction
Strategies to Support Students during Non-Traditional Instruction
Many of our students have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) and trauma. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on additional traumas and stressors due to social isolation, disconnected relationships, and emotional distress. Research has indicated that stress and trauma affect brain development and can impact students’ ability to learn. This workshop will help you understand more about trauma, the impact these experiences have on students, and how students who have experienced trauma may behave in the classroom. Participants will learn strategies on how to support students and how to form trauma-sensitive classrooms to promote resilience, emotional wellbeing, and academic achievement.
Strategies to Support Students during Non-Traditional Instruction
Strategies to Support Students during Non-Traditional Instruction
Strategies to Support Students during Non-Traditional Instruction
Due to COVID-19, classrooms and schools have had to undergo a complete overhaul in the way we teach and how students learn. Whether you are doing distance learning, blended learning, socially distant in-person learning, or any form of non-traditional instruction, this workshop is for you! This workshop will provide strategies to successfully reach and teach students during challenging times. Participants will learn about the additional social and emotional challenges students face during times of non-traditional instruction and how to best support students to promote wellbeing and academic achievement. Participants will learn effective strategies to ensure student and teacher success in all types of learning environments.
Supporting Mental Health Struggles/ Challenging Behaviors in the Classroom
Supporting Mental Health Struggles/ Challenging Behaviors in the Classroom
Supporting Mental Health Struggles/ Challenging Behaviors in the Classroom
This workshop will provide an overview on the common mental health struggles that students experience. Educators will learn practical strategies to identify and support students with the following common mental health/ behavioral struggles: anxiety; depression; autism spectrum disorder; and, shutting down/ oppositional behaviors. This workshop teaches educators how to successfully approach students who are struggling and how to better understand the reasons why students struggle. Participants will leave this workshop understanding how to apply a simple three step process to successfully handle challenging situations with students.
Strategies to Foster School Connectedness and Promote Student Wellbeing
Supporting Mental Health Struggles/ Challenging Behaviors in the Classroom
Supporting Mental Health Struggles/ Challenging Behaviors in the Classroom
School connectedness is a proven protective factor against health harming behaviors such as substance use, including opioid misuse, and helps students achieve higher levels of academic achievement. Starting in elementary school, forming positive connections with students builds the foundation for positive learning experiences. Feelings of school connectedness tend to decrease in middle and high school, a time when students need positive adult connections more than ever. This workshop identifies effective strategies to improve school connectedness to creating caring school communities and improve student wellbeing.
Supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Schools
Bringing Your Best Self to Work: Preventing Teacher Burn-Out
Bringing Your Best Self to Work: Preventing Teacher Burn-Out
Students enter schools with a variety of beliefs learned from their families/ pop culture/ communities and this workshop helps prepare educators to combat prejudice and create inclusive school cultures. Educators will learn about the impact of identity on student learning and how culturally responsive teaching can help students succeed. Educators will also learn how to recognize our own implicit biases and how to create equitable learning environments. Now, even more than ever, equity must become the focus in schools and this workshop teaches educators strategies on how to cultivate diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools.
Bringing Your Best Self to Work: Preventing Teacher Burn-Out
Bringing Your Best Self to Work: Preventing Teacher Burn-Out
Bringing Your Best Self to Work: Preventing Teacher Burn-Out
Trauma negatively impacts our students. As teachers and educational staff, you are the front line of supporting traumatized students. This trauma can impact you, by putting you at risk for secondary/ vicarious traumatization which may lead to feelings of burn-out and frustration. This workshop helps educators develop strategies to prevent professional burn out and vicarious traumatization. Participants will develop their own self-care plans and learn how to bring their best selves to work every day, all year long.
Note: This workshop can also include an optional overview of trauma and the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACES) on students for schools that have not already had any training in trauma
HELPFUL RESOURCES
MY BACKGROUND
I am a school social worker in Maine. I have worked in the field of education for over ten years, helping students who struggle with social, emotional, behavioral, and academic challenges. I am a part-time lecturer for New England College’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies and teach education courses on how to support mental health in schools.
MY EDUCATION
I earned my Doctorate in Education from New England College, focusing my dissertation on the important role that educational experiences and connections can play in preventing opioid misuse. I earned my Master’s in Social Work from Smith School of Social Work, with my thesis focusing on uncovering the gendered communication patterns around instances of sexual assault on college campuses. I earned my BA from Colby College and wrote my undergraduate thesis on self-destructive behaviors of adolescents focusing on eating disorders, substance use, and self-harm.
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