Personal Reflective Journaling
By Art Costa, Bena Kallick, and Allison Zmuda Healing is about taking the time to notice what gets in the way of feeling connected to your life, your community, and your sense of possibility. Healing, at its core, is about slowing down so that we can better listen to ourselves and each other. […]
Expressing Gratitude for the Habits of Mind
By Lory Peroff and Fourth Grade Students November is a month for gratitude. We often express our thankfulness for people we love or special things we have in our lives. I wondered, in addition to people and things, what else do we have to be thankful for here in our Waikiki school community? What […]
Thank You, John, For Sharing Gratitude
By Lisa Parker and Emily Skinner Lisa Parker, is a retired teacher, and continues to conduct workshops and mentors in the education arena. She lives in Fairfield, California with her husband David. Loves being a grandma, hiking, gardening and all things in nature. Emily Skinner, is a busy mom of 4 and puts her […]
Deepening the Disposition of Gratitude
By Jennifer Norman What feels like a short while ago I began posting lists on Facebook. I called these lists “Jenn’s Tens.” It seemed like a small act at the time. My goal was to find ten things I was thankful for and if I could not, then to look at the small things […]
With an Attitude of Gratitude
By Wendy Baron, MA “Gratefulness not only changes your life, but also extends beyond your intimate sphere. It gives rise to compassion, kindness, forgiveness, and empathy, and thus informs how we treat others and how we act in the larger world.” ~ Kristi Nelson What is Gratitude? Grat·i·tude /ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/ noun a feeling of […]
Gratitude for Leadership and a Cohesive Community
By Lauren Wells In the midst of two uncontrolled pandemics, COVID-19 and racial injustice, Newark, New Jersey, is unique as a place where Black lives matter and everyone belongs. I chose to live in Newark a decade ago because of this. Now, as COVID-19 cases surge around the world for a second time, Newark […]
Investing in the Citizens We Want
By Giselle O. Martin-Kniep For many years now, we have minimized and even ignored civic education in our schools. Now we are paying the price for that ignorance. We are surrounded by the polarized and intolerant discourse of our political representatives and the media. While this is the current state of our nation, it […]
Integrating SEL into Our New Normal
By Wendy Baron, MA Yesterday, a colleague shared that a 5th grade student began to cry during their synchronous distance learning session. “I HATE Coronavirus!!! I miss my friends! I need a hug!” At that moment, the teacher and other students in the class offered comfort. “I’m hugging you,” said one student. Others […]
Broadening our Coaching Model
By Jeanne Tribuzzi In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. Einstein If there has ever been a time for thinking interdependently as educators within a school, it’s now! Never has there been a more important time than now when teachers, in collaboration with leadership, must work together to support students and families in […]
Helping Your Child to Persist
By Angela Iadavaia-Cox On yet another long afternoon at home during the coronavirus, I was trying to set up a new bath toy with my four-year old granddaughter. It was not working. She called it a “dud.” I suggested an alternative, “time for persistence.” We pretended to be scientists, attempting different ways to position […]