No one ever told me -- ever knew -- that being a teacher today might require me to kill an active shooter. To triage a suicidal student. To teach amidst a pandemic. Yet this is what we are asked to do.
Free Webinar: Stress Resilience for Students & Adults
We can't control stress entering our life. But we can control how we manage it. Join me on this FREE webinar! Follow this link to register: REGISTER HERE
Life is Hard Right Now: Normalize Before You Optimize
It's hard being cooped up for weeks at a time. It's hard not seeing my students. It's hard having so much out of my control -- and not knowing when it will end. We need to normalize being human before we can optimize being human — owning that this is hard.
3 Mindsets to Let Go in 2020
New Years often make us feel like we need to do more. But, increasing well-being doesn't just mean adding actions. It means letting go.
Curing “Bleeding Heart Syndrome”
You can still have a heart for teaching without letting it bleed out. Here's how to tell if you have "bleeding heart syndrome" -- and what to do about it.
A 3 Minute Tradition for Powerful Feedback
Feedback and I have a love-hate relationship. We've had horrendous moments, lowlights including: YouTube comments from trolling strangers; The parent who threatened to sue me for targeting his daughter by – get this – reminding her of homework due dates; A teacher's constructive feedback of “Wear better clothes” after a PD; Blog commenters arguing that … Continue reading A 3 Minute Tradition for Powerful Feedback
4 Power Moves for Building Rapport
Seventy high schoolers I’ve never met are either staring at me or pretending I don’t exist. I’ve come 750 miles from my home in Kalamazoo to spend a day teaching this eclectic group of freshmen and sophomores, who struggle with school. I have just 6 hours to build rapport with them, to shift their thinking, and … Continue reading 4 Power Moves for Building Rapport
How to Teach Empathy
It's hard not to feel like our society needs more empathy – more shared connection rather than polarized disconnection. What if we approached teaching empathy the way we teach literacy?
Why Teens Don’t Talk to Us
"My friend told me I should talk to you. I'm really struggling and I didn't know who else to talk to..." Frequently, students come to my room, starting conversations like this. Some of them I have in class. Some I've never met. I work with them after school or during their lunch, listening to their … Continue reading Why Teens Don’t Talk to Us
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