Unexpected Joy
With the mad string of traumatic and unexpected events in 2020, why not a bit of magic? Why not a totally irrational moment of joy?
A Multilingual Message from Educators to Families During COVID-19
Enjoy and share this video with a comforting message to families in sixteen languages.
Offline & Unplugged Joy
This weekend something magical happened, I opened a box.
Enjoy a moment of peace and reflection- the moment a keynote speaker and writer unplugged from Pandemic fears, to reconnect with what has always brought her joy.
How Do You Want to Feel?
How do you want to feel in school? How do your colleagues and students want to feel? Are their inequities in whose feelings take center stage?
Writing from the Ashes
Evacuated from my home the first morning of the Tubbs Fire, I found a charred page of the bible amidst the fallen ash. Here’s an erasure poem I wrote using that that page to express the devastation and find my way towards resilience. Share these strategies to create and teach erasure poems.
Four Sentences Educators Must Stop Saying About Students
The language we use to talk about students matters. It reflects and shapes our perceptions, and most importantly, our expectations for student success.
In your school, make a courageous commitment to shift all staff conversations about kids and their families from a deficit mindset, which views diversity as a problem kids bear, to an asset mindset: one which truly values students and their communities for the diversity they bring. Begin by reframing these four sentences.
7 Ways to Build Trust for Peer Observation
“There is no more powerful way of improving on the job than by observing others and having others observe us.” —Roland Barth (2006) The challenge is opening doors. Use these seven strategies for building trust and buy-in to begin deep professional learning.
Schools Must Foster Risk-Taking
It’s easy to forget the dynamic of risk-taking in the world of K-12 education, where success is mapped in a staircase of standards and academic achievement is key to opening doors. This video poem and reflective blog dare educators to stretch the boundaries of what is possible, and inspire students to do the same.
Gratitude: The Antidote to Teacher Burnout
Little slips of paper saved me, my first year in the classroom. I was ambitious, fresh out of college, and humbled by a restless class of 5th graders. They taught me what I didn’t know about classroom management, and what I needed to learn about teaching. I worked dawn to dusk, and took kids on field trips on weekends. There were days I went home and cried. Creating change in…
