Blog

Amid the litany of education reforms that emphasize innovation and new methods, school gardens stand out as a low-tech change. In an era where kids' lives are more sedentary, and where childhood obesity has risen dramatically, gardens support and encourage healthful eating as a key component of children's physical wellbeing, which can aid their academic and social success, too. And as the consequences of food deserts and poor nutrition on life outcomes become starker, advocates say that...

Laura's note: Though this blog post focuses on perceived laziness in students, I think what E. Price has to say here could apply to other characteristics that are common symptoms and outcomes of early trauma in children and of a history of trauma in adults. I think the upshot here is that whatever the behavior, there's always an explanation, and that explanation is probably not just, it's a character flaw or moral weakness. I’ve been a psychology professor since 2012. In the past six years,...

Here is a link to one of the best articles I have read about trauma-informed teaching in a long time! The Trauma Informed Teacher – Silent Front Line

Tupac Shakur has been dead for over 20 years, and yet his music and lyrics are still popular with young people today. Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade thinks Tupac remains influential all over the world because he writes about some of the essential truths young people still experience. Duncan-Andrade even named the elementary school he helped start Roses in Concrete after the Tupac poem “The Rose That Grew From Concrete.” The rapper’s metaphor for young people in tough neighborhoods trying to grow...

Arne Duncan, the former education secretary under President Barack Obama, has always been more candid than others who’ve served in that role. He’s often used his platform to talk about what he sees as the persistent socioeconomic and racial disparities in access to quality schools. His new book, How Schools Work: An Inside Account of Failure and Success From One of the Nation’s Longest-Serving Secretaries of Education, further cements that reputation. How Schools Work’s first chapter is...

This excellent book is part story and part 20-step manual for creating trauma informed schools and classrooms. I have had the honor and challenge of raising a traumatized child. In addition, I have spent my career in education, as a special education teacher, principal of a public school, principal of an alternative placement school for children with behavioral challenges, and currently as a special education director, confronted with the challenges of educating children with trauma...

Teaching students the science of how their brains change over time can help them see intelligence as something they can develop, rather than innate and unchangeable, finds a new analysis of 10 separate studies in the journal Trends in Neuroscience and Education . Teaching students the concept of neuroplasticity—the ability of the brain to make new neural connections as a result of experience—is a common tactic in helping students develop a so-called "growth" rather than "fixed" mindset. But...

School officials are considering expanding a social and emotional learning program districtwide as part of safety and security efforts. Incorporating the Choose Love Enrichment Program in every school is one of many recommendations made by the Fayetteville Safety and Security Task Force to the School Board last month. Scarlett Lewis founded the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation and has worked with educators, researchers and others to create the program. She began her work after her...

The Every Student Succeeds Act contains a subtle difference from previous legislation when it comes to connecting families with schools: The phrase “parental involvement” has been changed to “family engagement.” Subtle, but important, said Karen Mapp, who pushed for this change during her time as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Education in 2013, as ESSA was being crafted. Now a senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Mapp said she’ll never forget an encounter...

Two years ago, when Jackie Brenner was 16, she was struggling to recover from a difficult knee surgery and to deal with her mother’s fight with breast cancer. Her life was full of stress. She started researching meditation, yoga and nutrition, and she incorporated what she found into her daily routine. Soon, she started spreading her enlightenment to other students. Through Piece of Peace , Ms. Brenner’s nonprofit, she teaches others how to live healthy lives. The effort is most established...

SPRING VALLEY, Minn. – A lot of bullying can happen online, but now students can use an online platform to fight it. Kingsland Public Schools, Leroy-Ostrander Public Schools, Grand Meadow, and Glenville-Emmons Public Schools are all trying out the app called STOPit this upcoming school year. On the app, students can anonymously report any bullying, self-harm, or violent concerns. A school administrator on the receiving end can then respond to address the concern. The STOPit app is also...