Students' Emotional Well-Being

I attended two AMLE workshops that focused on students' emotional and social well-being. A few takeways:

* Some students' "emotional" cup is full or overflowing - they cannot learn when they are dealing with these emotions.
* Language to use: "Disregulated" - students need our help to regulate themselves.
* Instead of directly addressing/asking a student about disruptive behavior use these starters: "I'm wondering why..." and "I noticed..." Using this language is a less confrontational and more supportive way to approach a "disregulated" student.
* The science of breathing - breathe in like you are smelling a flower and exhale like you are blowing on hot soup.

Comments

Lead Like A Pirate

I think my favorite session was called "Lead Like A Pirate" which was titled after the book. The presenter's school theme is "Making school a place where kids are banging down the door to get in, not out". I thought this sounded a lot like our school philosophy. She shared LOTS of great ideas that her school uses including Teen Tweet, hiding secret eggs, Birthday carts, and more. It got me thinking about different ideas we could do in our school and I can use in my Advisory to make school an enjoyable place for the students and for the teachers. There was an emphasis on taking care of the teachers so they will take care of the kids. It made me try to think of ways we can take care of each other. I went online and bought the book "Teach Like A Pirate". I also went to another presentation on scheduling intervention in a tight schedule. It gave me some great ideas for trying to help us bring math intervention into the school day. I don't ...

Hold On - I'm Coming: Motivating Unmotivated and Difficult to Teach students

This session presented by Charles Beaman was phenomenal. He is such a dynamic and engaging speaker. His main points were how important it was for teachers to try to reach students by using expression, stimulating AHA moments, use multiple strategies to reach all types of learners and have "hooks" to increase engagement. He shared ideas on the importance of using brain compatible strategies and how critical it is to make learning fun. He emphasized 3 things the Brain Loves: Choice, Novelty and Challenge. Lastly, he talked about how important it is for teachers to be "Life Touchers" for students. The slightest word of encouragement can make all the difference in the world and you may not ever realize just how big your impact was but how critical it is to be mindful of the impact you can have. The Difference between Teachers and Life Touchers. All Life Touchers are teachers but not all teachers are life touchers. St...

Bridges to Wellness - Countywide Conference

While at the Bridges to Wellness conference, I attended a session highlighting the program "Rachel's Challenge" Although this program has been around for many years, and may be familiar to us, I am still inspired by its message. Rachel Scott was killed in the Columbine High School shooting, and she was a student who reached out to students with disabilities, new students, and students who were picked on. She wrote about her moral principles in her diary, which was found after her death. Her father has since created an educational program, spreading Rachel's ideas internationally. The CCIU is promoting Rachel's Challenge in Chester County again. "Rachel's Challenge builds compassion in relationships and strengthens community within schools. Guided by a set of five challenges, students and faculty are encouraged to model and enforce behaviors, and start a chain reaction of their own." The five Challenges are: 1. Look for the Best in Others ...

Patton @ AMLE 2017

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