Written by Tiffany Creager, LSW, MSW This past year has certainly been traumatic for some and I think it’s safe to say that it has been stressful for most. It has me wondering how might this global experience and its… Continue Reading…
February 24, 2021
Written by Tiffany Creager We are living through an incredible time of physical and emotional disconnection. Despite technological advances created to keep us connected, we seem to be moving in the opposite direction. We’ve seen it happening for years as… Continue Reading…
Leadership • Social-Emotional Learning • Teachers
February 14, 2021
Swapping Resolutions for Reflection in the New Year Written by Tiffany Creager On December 31st, 2019, I was full of energy, excitement, and anticipation. We were heading into a new decade! I had multiple activities for my kids… Continue Reading…
Leadership • Social-Emotional Learning • Teachers
April 8, 2021
Written by: Tiffany Creager, LSW, MSW I was recently asked to come have a conversation with the staff at a non-profit agency about managing personal stress as they continue their great work of supporting their community. It turns out their… Continue Reading…
Book Lists • Leadership • Social-Emotional Learning • Teachers
February 4, 2021
2020 was a HARD year! It brought a host of new struggles of educators around the world. Learning new things has always been a part of teaching and leading. What we learned in 2020 was that there are many new… Continue Reading…
April 8, 2021
One of the toughest things for many of us has been navigating all of the roles we play and every system we’re a part of while facing unprecedented change. That kind of shift is not easy and we’ve never all been asked to do it at the same time before. This is a first. It’s okay to feel a range of emotions. For me, I feel them all at different times every day – sometimes hourly! So, for today, I simply want to share a few simple strategies I’ve practiced. I am hopeful that there will be a takeaway or two for you that can be utilized in your homes, for your students, or in your virtual classrooms.
February 14, 2021
You can’t create a shift in the lives of our students and staff without (you guessed it) creating a shift in the system! So, where do we start? As Maria Von Trapp might suggest, “let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.” Who doesn’t love a good nod to the Sound of Music? But, I digress. For our purposes, the beginning is a solid multi-disciplinary team with a shared passion for the vision and a willingness to be the champions of the cause. Together we will explore the purpose of this team, 10 strategies to create and sustain the team and it’s work and a brief overview of next steps.
February 5, 2021
Name It to Tame It is one of my favorite strategies and recently, I have found myself naming and attempting to tame endlessly with little relief. I’m grateful, scared, angry, sad, hopeful, lonely, joyful and so on and so forth. Despite my greatest efforts, I am more dysregulated than usual and I am exhausted. As I head into my 5th week of a stay at home order, I have done quite a bit of research in an attempt to give language to the rollercoaster of emotions I have witnessed in others and have experienced firsthand. It was when I was listening to a podcast with Dr. Brene Brown and David Kessler that I had several AHA! moments. This is grief. It is not just personal grief or secondary grief but collective grief. We are grieving, we are comparing suffering and at times we are judging one another’s grief. Oof! That’s a lot. But as I dug into those ideas, I felt healing.
April 8, 2021
If you are an educator, then you will want to add these 5 brainy SEL books to your school’s book club list pronto! Read on to find out how these books on social-emotional learning can help you as an educator.
February 5, 2021
As I’ve pondered these points and worked with others creating plans for their schools, I have seen a lot of resources focused on trying to get back on track. Then today, I watched Becoming on Netflix and heard Michelle Obama speak about her transition to the White House. She was asked how she got her life back on track during or after the transition and she replied, “It’s not getting back on track, but it’s creating my next track.” Of course! For years, we have been talking about the paradigm shift from traditional to trauma informed or healing centered engagement. We have been training for this and studying it and it is time to go full force in creating that track. But, how? Here are 6 tips for a healing re-entry plan for schools.
