When students cross the school gate, they do not leave their culture, sense of belonging, or identities behind. Schools create societies, sometimes mirroring and sometimes in contradiction to the society around them. When we walk into schools, we can often feel the energy, the passion,
A Fundamental Need: Belonging By Nicole V. Law and Sonja Hollins-Alexander The need to belong can be traced back to prehistoric times when cooperation and collectivism was critical for safety and survival (Allen, 2019). Belonging is the core need that was and is essential for psychological functioning,
Skilled Teachers Create Connections and a Shared Purpose By Dustin Bindreiff After years of observing hundreds of classrooms, I came to understand that skilled teachers are like symphony conductors. With grace and mastery, these teachers lead instruction, manage transitions, and provide feedback to the class in a
3 Approaches to Teaching Tools for Well-being By Frederika Roberts, Kimberley Evans, Thérèse Hoyle and Bukky Yusuf As educators, we are in both a privileged position and one of great responsibility - not merely to educate students academically, but to teach them tools for well-being. In this vast
Create a Sense of Belonging for Your Students By Paul Hernandez Developing an environment that affirms students' cultures, languages, and identities is important for providing effective student services and teaching and learning. Educators must create a sense of belonging for students to develop this environment. You must
Roberto’s fifth-grade year was life-changing. Entering the year, he was a likable, bright, energetic boy with some attention issues and a history of being the class clown. However, early in the year, his father was laid off and his parents began to have conflict. As
The social and emotional lives of our students is of paramount concern, especially as we enter the third year of pandemic teaching. We have witnessed firsthand how much we depended on our ability to learn about our students and communicate with them, and the difficulties