Surrounded by COVID, Civil Unrest and Chaos, Our Students Need Hope

Anyone who has ever been in a strategic planning meeting has been told  that “hope is not a strategy.” We’re told instead to be clear-eyed…

4 Tips to Prioritize Students’ Dignity During Remote Learning

Have you ever revisited your philosophy of teaching? I don’t mean the progressive policies you ardently advocate for at faculty meetings or on Facebook; I…

White Teachers, Our Whiteness Is Getting in Our Way

Since the murder of George Floyd, teacher leaders across America have sought to prove the necessity of antiracism in public education. And rightly so: from…

Teachers, Our Words Can Re-Traumatize Our Black Students

My educational journey started as a special education student, a label that I would maintain throughout my elementary school years. From first to fourth grade,…

Our Students Have Strong Emotions Right Now, And That’s Not a Disability

When a local newspaper featured a picture of one of our students at a peaceful protest against police brutality, the staff at the small special…

Schools Must Prepare Now to Address Student and Teacher Trauma

My students and I are entering our tenth week of remote learning, all of us isolated from one another and from our shared classroom space.…

Here’s How a Trauma-Informed Approach to Remote Teaching Can Help Students Succeed

Every teacher in every school has students who have experienced or are living with trauma in their lives—and many recognize that the trauma may be…

Six Tips for Talking to Kids About Coronavirus

As much as we want to put on a brave face and continue living our life like “normal,” the underlying levels of anxiety continue to…

We Need a New Way of Talking About Students Who Face Barriers Erected by Adults and Sustained by Broken Systems

I bring John, David, Ana and Sally into every training, strategy session and decision-making room I occupy.  Well, actually I bring their stories, to remind…

We Need to Learn About Trauma to Help Kids Who Need Us Most

Everywhere you look, our schools are filled with traumatized children; children struggling not just to learn and succeed, but to survive. Too often, we think…