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Attention Educational Leaders!
I know it’s hard to believe, but schools are actually opening their doors as early as August 1st in some areas of the country!
Do you want to start this school year feeling lit-back-up?
Then, I’ve got something up my sleeve, that I have field-tested with 20,000 people in a two year period, guaranteed to re-ignite morale.
This is for educators who:
- have had a rough go of it these past several years personally, professionally and/or both …
- have zero emotional bandwidth left to find the time to learn a new system, let alone implementing it …
- just want total student engagement so they can teach what they love!
If this feels like you or someone you know then what I’ve got coming is just for you!
Maybe you, like me, were taught at the beginning of your teaching career the “Don’t Smile Until Christmas” method of starting the school year.
Because school had been very hard for me socially, emotionally and academically I decided to smile at every single student coming through my door.
I also decided to make the first 9 weeks of the school year my “Let’s deal with every single social-emotional problem that comes up on the spot, no matter what!” foundation for the year.
I was hyper-focused and determined to get the social-emotional stuff that made it hard for me to focus, breathe and learn easily, handled for each and every student in my care.
I didn’t let one single eye-roll, hurtful look or unnecessary comment get by me.
I did what many teachers are afraid to do.
I stopped everything on a dime and I teamed up with the offending student(s) to investigate each and every hurtful thing that happened, using what would become my signature “What If When” method.
With 55-65% At-Risk Youth population in my classrooms, not much happened academically at first because there was so much covert and overt activity going on that I was making the time to call out and resolve.
But then, at about the 9 week mark everything academic accelerated beyond my wildest expectations!
To accomplish a safe space for my students, I started Day One of my school year with a class exercise in which I had the students determine what the RULES should be for us all. (Included in my 9 Weeks to a Make A Difference Year Week 1: Community Building.)
That way, they were totally invested and did all the group-regulating for me!
(The biggest surprise was that their rules were much harder and far more punitive than I ever would have ever felt the need to come up with!)
And … it worked. Every. Single. School year with every single student no matter what the behavioral diagnosis, label or learning style.
To my surprise, this different approach ended up accelerating classroom productivity to the tune of an average of 2.5-3 years of growth in student Stanford Achievement scores each year no matter what my class roster looked like.
What if you did “one thing different” this year?
Something that didn’t require much thought or planning, but that gently expanded your insight, perception, influence and skill with students you’ve been having a hard time of it with?
Something that …
- re-energizes your spirit and renews your faith in humanity …
- is simple and requires only one class period a week (but has more to expand on if you want) over the first 9 weeks …
- will fill your cup with the confidence that this year’s class is beginning with a feeling of what a safe, all-inclusive, caring, synergistic community can feel like and be like?
If this piques your interest, and I truly hope it will, then keep an eye open for my upcoming emails because I’ve got a something that I’m excited to share!
You can win back your time and your life while making a profound difference, no matter what the diagnoses or labels are.
Reaching out …
Founder of Heart Productions & Publishing LLC, the Pacific Northwest
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There’s not much else to say, really…
(if it doesn’t fill your screen)