As educators, we often wear many hats to support our students. Coach. Mentor. Counselor. Cheerleader. Guide. The relationships we build and nurture have the power to transform a kid's life. Teachers make a difference. So, we balance many roles to provide holistic care for each
Schools have made tremendous progress changing the narrative of school discipline through the use of our alternative discipline framework, but were thrown a serious curveball with the COVID-19 pandemic shifting priority structures in schools. As students returned to in-person instruction, their behavioral needs have intensified;
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
January is a time for resolutions; a time to set goals, renew commitments, or vow to improve. Typically, these resolutions last about a month. . . and for some of us (myself included) a month is being generous! So, I am going to try something
The hussle and bussle of the holidays can create stress and overwhelm as people prepare for the giving season. When you consider that many educators feel stressed and overwhelmed already, you may ask, “How can we prepare to give to others, without totally diminishing the bit of emotional
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 began as any other day for a principal heading to work. The difference for me was that it was only my second day being the leader of my own building. I remember getting out of my car that morning excited to welcome students, teachers, and parents and to
Listen to John and Jessica discussing what leaders should know about SEL on the Leaders Coaching Leaders podcast with Peter DeWitt! The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a great deal of reflection in our home. We have a 2020 high school graduate, a
How school leaders lead during crises is of critical importance to how schools will fare as a result of them. The most essential element for leading in times of crisis is not necessarily what you’d expect: it’s caring. Crises can originate inside or outside a school and
Why do meta-analyses of summer school suggest that it’s not very useful in ensuring students’ learning? If you follow John Hattie’s work, you know that he collects studies of studies that allow him to scale a wide range of interventions for their overall impact on
Listen to Randy Weiner and James Bailey discuss how to lead SEL by modeling it on the Leaders Coaching Leaders podcast with Peter DeWitt: Recent research on the principalship (Grissonm et al., 2021) shows the experience level of principals since 2016 has decreased from an average of