Tagged With "Schools Close for the Academic Year"
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Holiday Message from Doc Childre, HeartMath Institute's Founder (heartmath.org)
The holidays can magnify our care, kindness, and connection… yet they can also magnify energies of separation, like blame, chaos, and emotional instability. It’s helpful to make heart-firm commitments to add compassion, kindness, patience, and latitude as we interact with others and with ourselves. Practicing these heart qualities during the holiday period (or any time) can prevent much stress and lift our spirit for increased clarity, discernment, and intuitive guidance for our highest...
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Rethinking Homework for This Year—and Beyond (edutopia.org)
Homework has long been the subject of intense debate, and there’s no easy answer with respect to its value. Teachers assign homework for any number of reasons: It’s traditional to do so, it makes students practice their skills and solidify learning, it offers the opportunity for formative assessment, and it creates good study habits and discipline. Then there’s the issue of pace. Throughout my career, I’ve assigned homework largely because there just isn’t enough time to get everything done...
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The Hardest Fight to Have With Your Teen (nytimes.com)
A survey of over 1,500 teens, collected between May and July of this year by the Institute for Family Studies and the Wheatley Institution, found that, “The percentage of teens who were depressed or lonely was actually lower than in 2018, and the percentage who were unhappy or dissatisfied with life was only slightly higher.” The study’s authors suggest that the reason for the improvement in mood was that teens were sleeping more in quarantine, and also that a majority — 68 percent — said...
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Peace Begins With Me (mindful.org)
Adam Avin saw his peers hurting and wanted to help them. In this interview, the now-16-year-old talks about the innovative ways he shares mindfulness skills with other kids and teens, sowing seeds for a happier and more peaceful future. Mindful : In your TED talk you say that your grandfather introduced you to a mindful and positive approach to life. I’m curious, did he call that approach “mindfulness” or was that a word that you learned later? Adam : No, he didn’t actually use the word...
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How to Help a Teen Out of a Homework Hole (nytimes.com)
Pandemic school is taking its toll on students, especially teens. A recent study , conducted by NBC News and Challenge Success, a nonprofit affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education, found that 50 percent more kids in high school report feeling disengaged from school this year than last. In December, Education Week reported that schools were seeing “ dramatic increases in the number of failing or near-failing grades ” on report cards. A major symptom of school disengagement...
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There Is No Vaccine for Grief (nytimes.com)
Anticipatory grief is a well-documented phenomenon in grief counseling, said Dr. Katherine Shear, the founder and director for the Center for Complicated Grief at Columbia University. But usually researchers study anticipatory grief in environments like hospices , where loss is imminent. What many of us are experiencing right now is more nebulous. Dr. Shear cautioned that spiraling into anticipatory grief for a loss that may not even happen is likely to be unhelpful. Of course, even if you...
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How to Write a Gratitude Letter (nytimes.com)
If you are looking to make someone — even yourself — feel better during what has been a hard winter of the pandemic , consider writing a gratitude letter. You can think of it as a slightly longer and more meaningful thank you note, but instead of offering thanks for a physical gift, you are offering thanks for something that was done or said. There are two excellent reasons for writing a gratitude letter: It will make you feel really good, and it will make the recipient feel great. Among the...
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Preserving Education amid COVID: The Vital Role of Community Partnerships (nonprofitquarterly.org)
Nearly one year ago, schools across the country abruptly shut their physical doors due to COVID-19. In spite of heroic efforts on the part of teachers and administrators, the pivot to online learning was uneven and chaotic at best. The Pew Research Center estimates that only half of students have successfully engaged in distance learning while at home, with students from lower income families, in particular, losing ground. One report predicts the pandemic will cause the average student to...
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We’ve changed our name to PACEs Connection!
We have some very exciting news! As of today, ACEs Connection is now PACEs Connection. PACEs stands for Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences.
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The Culture-Friendly School (ascd.org)
The message in this school is clear: Cultures are welcome and cultural differences are worth embracing. Our public charter school in Washington, D.C., has "international" in its name and cultural competence in its mission statement. But it's not just the classes in Chinese, French, and Spanish or trips to embassies that prepare students to take on the world. Instead, the journey to global readiness begins the first week of 6th grade—when students bring objects from home to share with...
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New Resource: Strategies for Trauma-Informed School Communities
The California Essentials for Childhood Initiative is excited to share a newly developed attached, “Strategies for Trauma-Informed School Communities: Practices to Improve Resiliency in School-Aged Children and Address Adverse Childhood Experiences”. This new resource is intended to assist state and local public health programs, child-serving systems, non-profits, and philanthropic organizations in their efforts to educate about the need for trauma-informed school policies and practices that...
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Program helps kids manage anxiety with puppets (rutlandherald.com)
A group of puppeteers is taking a creative approach to helping Vermont students manage their anxiety this school year. For almost 40 years, Puppets in Education — a part of the Vermont Family Network — has staged live presentations in schools around the state addressing issues such as bullying, abuse, health and stress. As the pandemic has progressed, so has concern about child mental health Through their presentations, Puppets in Education offers information about anxiety, leads discussions...
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WATCH REPLAY: How We Can All Help Prevent School Shootings-Expert Teen Advocate, Community Leader, So California ACEs Connection Regional Facilitator-Dana Brown
Check out the replay of the wonderful interview DANA BROWN gave me on my transformational talk show, Mary Giuliani LIVE on 2-28-18 on how we can all help prevent school shootings through understanding and implementing ACEs science. I had such a heartfelt talk with Dana Brown, an Expert Youth and Teen Advocate, Community Leader, & Southern California Regional Community Facilitator with ACEs Connection.com. Dana and I discussed the core issues that underlie these horrific school shootings...
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Why mental health is the key to dealing with learning loss [edsource.org]
By Carolyn Jones, EdSource, April 15, 2021 The best way schools can help students catch up academically after a year of distance learning is to ensure they feel relaxed, safe and connected to their friends and teachers as they return to the classroom. A year after the pandemic forced school districts to close campuses, students across California are beginning to return to the classroom at least a few days a week. But their experiences during the pandemic and their needs upon returning to...
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'We Need To Be Nurtured, Too': Many Teachers Say They're Reaching A Breaking Point (npr.org)
"The level of stress is exponentially higher. It's like nothing I've experienced before." It's a sentiment that NPR heard from teachers across the United States. After a year of uncertainty, long hours and juggling personal and work responsibilities, many told NPR they had reached a breaking point. Teaching is one of the most stressful occupations in the U.S., tied only with nurses, a 2013 Gallup poll found . Jennifer Greif Green, an education professor at Boston University, says the...
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How Schools Can Help Kids Heal After A Year Of 'Crisis And Uncertainty' (npr.org)
This pandemic has been stressful for millions of children like Kai. Some have lost a loved one to COVID-19, and many families have lost jobs, their homes and even reliable access to food. If that stress isn't buffered by caring adults, it can have lifelong consequences. "Kids have had extended exposure to chaos, crisis and uncertainty," says Matt Biel, a child psychiatrist at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. "If kids don't return to school and get a lot of attention paid to security,...
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Why Teachers Leave—or Don’t: A Look at the Numbers (edweek.org)
Deciding to leave any job can be hard, but for teachers, exiting the classroom can be downright heartbreaking. Teaching is, in its essence, about relationships—understanding students’ needs, fostering their passions, figuring out what makes them tick. To give up that work, for many, would be a deep loss. And yet about 8 percent of teachers leave the profession every year, federal data have long shown. Younger teachers, and those early in their careers, are among the most likely to leave...
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Human Connection Is the Key to Our Hybrid Future (thriveglobal.com)
The future of the workplace, as many have noted, is going to be hybrid — with most companies opting for some combination of in-person and remote work. Knowing what this hybrid workplace will look like is, in a sense, the easy part. But more important, and more complicated, is the how: How are we going to work together effectively in this hybrid world? How can companies set people up for success and create environments that foster creativity, belonging and a sense of purpose when their...
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The Hybrid Workplace Can Be a More Human Workplace (thriveglobal.com)
The past year taught us valuable lessons about work and well-being. With the abrupt shift to remote work, many of us found ourselves juggling the demands of work, school, and home life in new ways. The pandemic highlighted and magnified the connection between work and overall well-being. It exposed all of us to new sources of stress and different kinds of fatigue. On the plus side, it taught us valuable lessons about how we can reorganize our lives, our work, and our workplaces so that they...
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Three Actions for Building a Culture of Collective Efficacy (ascd.org)
Collective efficacy occurs when teachers in a school believe that, as a team, they have the power to help their students learn more effectively—and this belief is based on their own shared experiences of success. A culture of collective efficacy does not simply happen; it is built intentionally. I have learned this in my work at Lead by Learning , a nonprofit connected with the Mills College School of Education that partners with schools and districts to foster collective efficacy. At the...
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America’s Students Need Us More Than Ever (thriveglobal.com)
As many of our nation’s young people returned to school campuses to reconnect with teachers, coaches, and classmates this fall we rejoiced in their voices and comradery from the bus stops, classrooms, and playgrounds. These sounds take on a greater meaning as we reflect on the significant learning and relational losses that the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed on students globally. With the recent declaration from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent...
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Two years ago schools shut down around the world. These are the biggest impacts (kqed.org)
Two years ago this month, schools closed their doors in 185 countries. According to UNESCO , roughly 9 out of 10 schoolchildren worldwide were out of school. It would soon be the biggest, longest interruption in schooling since formal education became the norm in wealthier countries in the late 19th century. At the time, I spoke with several experts in the field of research known as "education in emergencies." They gave their predictions for the long-term implications of school closures in...
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Teen Dad Balancing Baby and Books This Father’s Day (learn4life.org)
We know that 200,000 teen girls give birth every year in the U.S., but what about the other half of the equation – the 200,000 fathers? Unfortunately, only about 33 percent of fathers under 18 stick around to help raise the child. When you consider that 70% of those teen moms don’t graduate – it’s not hard to imagine why. For Father’s Day, we are spotlighting one teen dad who takes his role seriously and is actively parenting his child. Meet Ricky C., 19, who brings his 4-month-old son to...
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Are Restaurant Wait Times Getting Longer? Learn4Life’s Culinary CTE students are helping to solve the problem
Learn4Life high school students participate in a culinary skills career technical education course and Camryn (pictured below), shows off the baking creation she made during class. National Culinary Month highlights the importance of teaching foodservice and cooking skills to high schoolers who make up a big part of the restaurant industry workforce. LOS ANGELES (July 8, 2022) – Why does it take so long to get your order when you go out to eat? The number one problem is a decline in...
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In Schools, Honest Talk about Racism Can Reduce Discrimination [scientificamerican.com]
By Camilla Mutoni Griffiths and Nicky Sullivan, Photo: Maskot/Getty Images, Scientific American, August 19, 2022 “Where are the Native Americans now?” asked fifth grade students in an Iowa City classroom last year. There are many ways their teacher, Melanie Hester, might have answered. She could have pointed out that today Native Americans live in cities and towns across the U.S. About 20 percent live on reservations , and Hester could have used that to open a discussion of the U.S.
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Newsom signs bill to boost Native American curriculum (enewspapers.dailybulletin.com)
The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians annually hosts thousands of fourth graders at a California Indian Cultural Awareness conference commemorating California Native American Day in September. COURTESY PHOTO Author: Beau Yarbrough's article, please click here. California educators will be working more closely with Native American tribes under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday. Assembly Bill 1703, the California Indian Education Act, encourages school districts, county offices...
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We Won! (anonymous)
Author: To read the entire Anonymous article, please see the attachment below. It’s a bluebird sky day as the clouds float away leaving behind distinctive dry desert air scoured by sagebrush, tumbleweeds and settled sand. As for me, I cozily sit in a floral patterned recliner by an open window drinking in hot tea and cold air from the open window. Biscuit “puppy purrs'' wedged between the arm rest and me. Her features are concealed by white fur giving her the appearance of a couture throw...
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There’s A New Pathway to Special Education for Up to 300,000 California Children (calhealthreport.org)
Photo by aldomurillo/iStock. To read more of Roxanne Chang and ChrisAnna Mink's article, please click here. A recently passed California law, SB1016 , signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, should make it easier for DL and other children affected by FASD to access special education services. The law requires the California State Board of Education to include “fetal alcohol spectrum disorders” in the definition of “other health impairment ,” one of 13 specified eligibility criteria for...
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Career Technical Education Gives High School Entrepreneurs a Jump Start on Success (Learn4Life)
Learn4Life helped Hector D. transform an idea into a business plan LOS ANGELES (February 21, 2023) – While occasionally working for his father’s landscaping business, high school student Hector D. realized that protection against sharp tools, thorny shrubs, biting insects and brutal heat could be improved with better gear. He had the idea for a technical vest that would protect workers that he is calling Arbolero – combining the Spanish word for tree and a bolero vest. Now his teachers in...
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Teen Girls Are Not Alright. ADHD Magnifies the Crisis. (additudemag.com)
To read more of Nicole Kear's article, please click here. Teen girls in the U.S. are “engulfed in a growing wave of sadness, violence and trauma,” according to a report released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that found alarming increases in rates of rape, depression, suicidality, and cyberbullying among adolescents. 1 “The numbers are unprecedented,” said Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health . “Our young people...
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Gabriella Changed Her Scenery and Changed Her Story (learn4life.org)
To read the Learn4Life article, please click here. Growing up around rampant drug use, instability at home and bullying at school is a too common reason high school students give up and drop out. For Gabriella “Gabby” M., she chose another option by removing herself from the negative situations that surrounded her. While attending a public high school in Philadelphia, Gabby was bullied and felt unsafe every day. She had enough and decided it was time for a change. She left Philadelphia and...
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Teens Are Entering High School Reading at a Third Grade Level (Learn4Life)
To read more of Learn4Life's article, please click here. Yes, the pandemic created huge learning losses for millions of students, so what’s being done about it? “We work with many students who used to come to us as freshmen reading at a fifth-grade level,” explained Kathyrn Limata, literacy teacher. “Now, most of the students I see in my literacy classes are at a third-grade level and some are even at a first-grade level, having to learn basic phonics. It’s heartbreaking.” Limata said that...
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School kids are so violent coming out of the pandemic that they’re sending teachers to the hospital, but an expert says to resist ‘get tough’ approaches (fortune.com)
There's a lot of evidence that schools and students are more violent places after the pandemic. GETTY IMAGES To read more of F. Chris Curran and the Conversation's article, please click here. The 2022-23 school year was a particularly violent year for educators . Recent headlines suggest the 2023-24 school year may not be much different. Such violence at school disrupts teaching and learning and has elicited calls to reform school discipline policies . As a policy researcher who studies...
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California students can no longer be suspended for ‘willful defiance’. Could nationwide change be next? (theguardian.com)
Suspensions for ‘willful defiance’ hurt children, who lose critical instruction time. Photograph: Bsip Sa/Alamy To read more of Edwin Rios' article, please click here. At least 25 states and the District of Columbia allow schools to suspend students for “willful defiance”, according to the LawAtlas Project’s Policy Surveillance Portal . This week, California became the first state in the US to ban such suspensions for all students, expanding a pre-existing ban on the disciplinary practice...
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How Can High Schools Better Serve Teens Experiencing Homelessness? (learn4life.org)
To read more of the Learning Newsletter's article, please click here. This week, 16-year-old Joey will sleep in a soft bed, take a warm shower and have a place to keep his belongings. He’ll then make his way to Learn4Life high school in San Diego where he is catching up on credits and hopes to graduate soon. For most of the past year, he has experienced homelessness…couch surfing when he could, and on the streets when he couldn’t. And Joey isn’t alone. In the last school year, the number of...