Teacher Talk

Navigating Back-to-School Stress: A Guide for Teachers

Navigating Back-to-School Stress: A Guide for Teachers

For most schools in the U.S., the first day of the new school year is just days away. No matter how much teachers may rest and prepare in advance, that first day feels something like a polar bear plunge into icy waters: jolting, exciting, numbing, and perhaps a little...

Revitalizing School Environments: Creating Spaces Where Students Thrive

Revitalizing School Environments: Creating Spaces Where Students Thrive

The Transformative Power of School Surroundings A recent TLC blog post explored the impact of strategically using a school’s physical surroundings to create an environment where students can thrive. In the article, former principal and "educational disruptor" Hamish...

Shaping Schools, Shaping Lives: Transformation Through Environment

Shaping Schools, Shaping Lives: Transformation Through Environment

The Power of Physical Environments "We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us," asserted Sir Winston Churchill. Andrew L. Ross, Gary Grenier, and Frank Kros, transformational education experts, echo this sentiment in their book, Creating The Upside Down...

Belonging Stops the Bully: 4 Lessons from the Savannah

Belonging Stops the Bully: 4 Lessons from the Savannah

If you’ve ever watched a wildlife documentary, you’re familiar with some of the hunting tactics used by predators and the dynamics existing between predator and prey. Observing predator-prey dynamics can help to illustrate parallels between the natural instincts of...

Kindness in the Classroom: Kind Conflict Resolution

Kindness in the Classroom: Kind Conflict Resolution

“If conflict is a normal, natural part of life, it’s really important to look at how we deal with it.”  – Ann McKnight This final post in our “Kindness in the Classroom” series culminates with a brief look at how teachers can facilitate kind and effective...

Helping Students Master Decision-Making: 4 Simple Questions

Helping Students Master Decision-Making: 4 Simple Questions

Students often struggle with making meaningful decisions. If they lack a simple framework to help them make decisions, everyday life can become increasingly frustrating and students may find themselves making hasty choices that cause other problems and limit their...

Kindness in the Classroom: Facilitating Student-to-Student Kindness

Kindness in the Classroom: Facilitating Student-to-Student Kindness

Sixty seconds before they step into the classroom, students are gearing up to engage. How are they preparing themselves for the vulnerability required to master new skills or to make mistakes in front of their peers? To respond to challenges and critiques? To rebound...