Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

Southeast Island School District

Second Presenter's Institution

Brightways Learning

Third Presenter's Institution

NA

Fourth Presenter's Institution

NA

Fifth Presenter's Institution

NA

Location

Session 3 Breakouts

Strand #1

Head: Academic Achievement & Leadership

Strand #2

Head: Academic Achievement & Leadership

Relevance

This will be a very practical and applicable presentation about how to support students from poverty, rural/Title 1 schools through a framework that improves the positive culture of the school community. Framework implementation leads to decreases in discipline issues and increases in academic success and staff resiliency/retention without increasing the workload of your staff.

Brief Program Description

Put brain-based research into practice - it’s not rocket science! You can ensure meeting academic standards while valuing relationships to launch and grow thriving classroom ecosystems. New and reimagined tools, strategies, and skills will emerge through active learning and conversation. You will get to create your own blueprint to equip you for meeting your individual and classroom goals.

Summary

Participants will learn and experience processes that spark increases in engagement and motivation for middle to average performers. By utilizing brain-based strategies and tools (including stage changes, visuals, music, and launch buttons) and learning to develop deeper relationships with students, you can improve participation, classroom risk-taking, and resilience.

We will introduce the “Window of Tolerance” from Dan Siegel's work as it applies to classroom management and how it can be used to cultivate an environment of learning. This exploration includes a fresh look at check-ins for all students. You'll learn how your own resilience and awareness, as well as open lines of communication, can reduce conflict and misunderstanding that derail learning.

We will also explore why students may not be performing at their potential, identify perceived roadblocks, and suggest manageable relationship-building processes and tools for support. As a result, you will leave with an awareness and a starting point for addressing students who are:

  • maxed out;

  • don’t know how;

  • have no confidence;

  • believe the costs are too high; or

  • believe the benefits are too low.

You will learn strategies that increase student engagement through modeling, instruction, and practice. We will show how to tweak common practices to improve transitions, directions, and visuals.

You will leave with a plan for change to help ensure that all students will take healthy risks and engage more meaningfully in class. The plan will include language, processes, and visuals for "high stakes" moments that may include group work, handing in assignments, test or quiz taking, or for some, even simply starting an assignment.

Evidence

Window of Tolerance was coined by Daniel Siegel from the research of Siegel, Pat Ogden, and Peter Lavine regarding arousal states. The brain-based strategies used to increase engagement were adapted, in part, from “Engaging Practices” written by Cristal McGill, based on the work of Howard Gardner, Daniel Goldman, Eric Jensen, Martin Seligman, and others. Information about middle performers comes from the founder of Leadership IQ, Mark Murphy, and has been adapted to meet a classroom community.

Learning Objectives

  1. Gain new understanding of trauma and the brain

  2. Increase youth engagement using brain-based strategies

  3. Understanding of Dan Siegel’s “Window of Tolerance

  4. Gain practical strategies for classroom management based on the latest brain research

Biographical Sketch

Amy McDonald: Amy has more than two decades of experience in K-12 education, including a K-8 Type B Teaching Certification and a Master’s in K-12 School Counseling. Amy has spent many years working in administrative roles and has an extensive background in supporting students from academics, to social-emotional learning, trauma informed care, strengths-building, and strategies for addressing the whole child. She has a leadership role co-developing and implementing Brightways Learning’s Kaleidoscope Connect program and has delivered engaging trainings with both youth and adults in the United States and Canada. She also worked in group homes and on a daily basis provides one-on-one support to students. Living in multi-ethnic communities has given Amy a fresh look at youth development as she continues to work in multiple school districts with youth and tribal organizations inside and outside Alaska.

David Pavish: David's combined 20 years of experience working with youth in direct care and administration in both the private and public sector has equipped him with a unique lens through which to see youth in Alaska and beyond. He was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, and has had the privilege to live in that state's rural communities, as well as Northern California. Throughout his career, the training he has received from some of the top youth and experiential education professionals in the U.S. and Canada provides him with a solid understanding of what youth need to succeed. David brings a fresh perspective on supporting and guiding youth through their life and career paths; understanding that life is a journey in which growth and learning has no end.

Keyword Descriptors

Adolescent brain development, trauma, neuropathways, educators, engagement

Presentation Year

2021

Start Date

3-8-2021 2:00 PM

End Date

3-8-2021 3:00 PM

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Building Rockets: Blueprints for the Thriving Classroom

Session 3 Breakouts

Put brain-based research into practice - it’s not rocket science! You can ensure meeting academic standards while valuing relationships to launch and grow thriving classroom ecosystems. New and reimagined tools, strategies, and skills will emerge through active learning and conversation. You will get to create your own blueprint to equip you for meeting your individual and classroom goals.