The “Superteam Meeting”: 3 Ways to Mindfulness and Staff Support

First Presenter's Institution

kid-grit

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Julia Gabor is an award-winning educator. She was born and raised in NYC; she comes from a diverse urban background. Julia has several dynamic life experiences to share. She is a creative and passionate youth development specialist, a mentor to many, and a hands-on trainer. She is the Mindful Founder of kid-grit, a company that focuses on social-emotional learning, mindfulness and youth development for youth and adults. She has trained thousands of educators in schools and expanded learning programs for 18+ years. Julia has 21+ years of hands-on experience working with urban, rural, suburban, and marginalized youth. She is also a national keynote speaker. And at the young age of 40 years old, she obtained her master’s in educational leadership from Antioch University. Her thesis topic was teacher effectiveness and student engagement. She has received multiple awards for her outstanding contribution to education communities across the nation from agencies such as CAL STATE Fullerton, U.S. Representative for California's 46th congressional district, Lou Correa, and the BOOST Collaborative.

Document Type

Event

Primary Strand

School Safety

Relevance to Primary Strand

As the workforce is shifting and the teacher exodus is building, this session addresses how to create inclusive and exciting meetings. We will share innovative ideas for staff and administrators to use during meetings in order for everyone to have voice, share ideas, and feel seen and heard- thus building a safe and thriving school climate.

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Climate and Culture

Brief Program Description

In order for staff to feel supported, we need to spend time ensuring they are feeling safe and seen. When this happens, they carry it over to their peers and students. In the session, we will walk through simple ways to approach mindfulness in staff meetings that don’t intimidate staff. We will share methods that support you as a leader to build confidence in delivering a mindful practice, and how to incorporate it into your staff meetings in a non-threatening way. No fluff here.

Summary

We 'teach' by doing. We run this session, like a meeting so participants experience the strategies in person. Then they transfer knowledge to their school sites/organizations. We will present a leadership tool, that let leaders evaluate their own style, and they will be able to reveal notable places for growth. We also release strategies that can be used to run any kind of meeting or activity as soon as they leave the sessions. There will be opportunities for sharing ideas in small groups as well.

Evidence

All the activities and strategies have been built around the CASEL framework for adult learners. Each of these strategies has a direct connection to the following five competencies:

  1. Self-awareness: The abilities to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one’s strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose.
  2. Self-management: The abilities to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation and agency to accomplish personal and collective goals.
  3. Responsible decision-making: The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.
  4. Relationship skills: The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.
  5. Social awareness: The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.

Learning Objective 1

School Leaders will learn the power of running a meeting that is inclusive and impactful

Learning Objective 2

School Leaders will learn how to host meetings with stress reduction, create a better working environment, and increase focus – all characteristics that can lead to increased productivity at work

Learning Objective 3

School leaders will learn mindfulness and adult social-emotional learning strategies that are easy to implement and can help shift the culture of a school when done on a regular basis.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 

The “Superteam Meeting”: 3 Ways to Mindfulness and Staff Support

We 'teach' by doing. We run this session, like a meeting so participants experience the strategies in person. Then they transfer knowledge to their school sites/organizations. We will present a leadership tool, that let leaders evaluate their own style, and they will be able to reveal notable places for growth. We also release strategies that can be used to run any kind of meeting or activity as soon as they leave the sessions. There will be opportunities for sharing ideas in small groups as well.