Blog

Please join us tomorrow, Thursday July 16th as Emily Read Daniels and myself facilitate a discussion around the return to school specifically the anxiety and stress we are feeling/hearing/seeing. Emily will share a bit about regulation, we want to hear what is going on with you, and we will do a breakout session to discuss in small groups. Weekly themes include: How do we create physical and psychological safety, especially in the face of so much uncertainty? What strategies can we use to...

Vic Goddard is one of many school leaders daunted by the burden of supporting pupils and staff through their grief. By Donna Ferguson, July 4, 2020 V ic Goddard is trying not to cry. The headteacher of Passmores academy in Harlow and star of the 2011 TV series Educating Essex is thinking about the 23 pupils and two staff at his school who have been bereaved during the coronavirus pandemic. His greatest fear, a fear that keeps him awake at night and is making his voice tremble, is what could...

I am teaching at three hour affordable Zoom course at Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work on how to create trauma response schools, organizations and businesses. It is July 31 and it is easy to enroll and you get a discount code for my new book (which ties in) titled: Trauma Doesn't Stop at the School Door (just released from Teachers College Press, June 2020). Here's a link to the course: https://ssw-web.rutgers.edu/ssw/ce/index.php?m=catalog&f=4 I cannot think of a time in which we...

By Alisa Chang and Jonaki Mehta, National Public Radio, July 7, 2020 In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. The decision is often framed as a landmark decision that transformed education for Black students, allowing them equal access to integrated classrooms. But more than six decades later, segregation in American schools is still very much a reality, says Rebecca Sibilia, founder of EdBuild , a nonprofit that...

As the summer ticks on, the confounding questions around meeting the needs of our workforce in these challenging times remain unresolved for many organizations. In conversations this week I heard the angst: “It’s time to get back to the office. We are following all the guidelines. We have worked to support staff and don’t know what else to do. How can we help staff come along?” As organizations adapt to their new normal, the challenge of choosing from a vast array of resources and...

Welcome Back! We hope everyone had a restful holiday. Please join us tomorrow, Thursday July 9th as we host special guest Pamela Black to discuss a back to school survey that aims to gather information from staff regarding what they need to feel safe in their return to school. Weekly themes include: How do we create physical and psychological safety, especially in the face of so much uncertainty? What strategies can we use to create a culture of collective care? How do we implement peer...

By Tony Weaver, Jr.     Jun 16, 2020 If there’s one thing Americans are doing right now, it’s talking. Talking even more than usual when schools are out and many are still working from home. Every day, new stories of discrimination and violence emerge that prompt new conversations. The moment our country faces weighs heavily on the mind of an adult. But one must wonder: What does it do to the mind of a child? Black students around the country are faced with a reality where they are isolated...

Regulation Before Education: The Roots and Fruits of a Trauma-Informed School July 29-31st | 12:00 - 3:00pm EDT These times are unsettling in many ways. But the disruptions have widened opportunities for different ways of being, thinking and doing in education. The trauma-informed schools movement has never been more relevant. Schools committed to cultivating trauma-informed change can successfully buffer the adverse effects of the pandemic, economic collapse, and persistent racial...

School nurses have been industrious during COVID-19, using innovative skills to do one of the things we do best, providing information for our families. Everyone's health literacy has been tested through the pandemic. The messaging from our most trusted institutions like the CDC has been confusing and ever-changing. As states have released vague return to school guidelines, it is clear that the details for keeping our students and staff safe will depend on each school district to create...

By Melanie Blow, The Buffalo News, June 27, 2020 If New York State plans to, as Cuomo put it, “reimagine schools,” we should first reacquaint ourselves with their role outside of education. Many teachers perform a Sisyphean task of undoing the effects of the childhood trauma that two-thirds of children suffer at home. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demonstrated that 10 childhood traumas change the way a young body and mind...

Next Episode of A Better Normal-Education Upended July 9th, 2020- 12 PST ACEsConnection is on holiday July 2nd but please join us on July 9th as we host special guest Pamela Black to discuss a back to school survey that aims to gather information from staff regarding what they need to feel safe in their return to school. If you want to catch up on past Better Normal-Education Upended over the holiday weekend we have our own YouTube channel ! Have a safe holiday and see you July 9th! Weekly...

By Christopher Edley, JR. and Maria Echaveste, EdSource, June 25, 2020 Weeks of racial justice protests and the coronavirus pandemic have together drawn much-needed attention to the race-based disparities embedded in our institutions, from policing to health care. These disparities are also deeply rooted in our communities and schools. During these prolonged school disruptions, Black, Latinx and low-income students have been disproportionately affected. As we learned in real-time, these...