Mindful Mondays written by Tiffany Creager As a school social worker, I love to learn about ways to support student and staff mental health and social emotional learning! I read books, listen to podcasts, attend trainings, complete certifications, and… Continue Reading…
English Learners • Mathematics
January 13, 2022
13 Excellent Education Blogs Written by Bill Reed, STEM Specialist at INcompassing Education To Blog or Not to Blog. . .that is the question! Of course, the answer is “To Blog!” With that being said, what are blogs? Blogs… Continue Reading…
January 13, 2022
Cultivating Hope in the Classroom & Beyond 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… Continue Reading…
Leadership • Social-Emotional Learning • Teachers
January 13, 2022
Value-Based Living, Working, and Leading 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… Continue Reading…
Leadership • Social-Emotional Learning • Teachers
January 13, 2022
Prioritizing Physical & Mental Health Despite Ongoing Stress 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… Continue Reading…
Book Lists • Leadership • Social-Emotional Learning • Teachers
January 13, 2022
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…
January 13, 2022
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.
January 13, 2022
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.
January 19, 2022
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.
January 19, 2022
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.
