Check out the companion “Getting Started” guide to help with your action planning, designed for school administrators in kindergarten through 12th grade schools (K-12), including principals and leaders of school-based student support teams, to identify evidence-based strategies, approaches, and practices that can positively influence students’ mental health.
This quick-start toolkit is provided as a supplement to Healthy School, Healthy Staff, Healthy Students: A Guide to Improving School Employee Wellness, is designed to increase the capacity of district and school staff in addressing school employee wellness, to improve the health of all school employees, and to improve student health and academic outcomes.
Use these slides for presentations to promote the benefits in staff wellness in schools.
A well-being space (or wellness space, zen den -whatever you choose to call it) provides an area to relax and recharge during the school day. These areas can foster environments that promote physical, mental, and emotional well-being. They can also be a great place to promote staff connection and collaboration. A warm, welcoming well-being space is one way to show hardworking school staff and teachers they’re valued and appreciated, which decreases staff stress, boosts morale, and increases job satisfaction. Healthy and fulfilled school staff can perform at their best, model emotional regulation for students, and have fewer sick days.
WellSteps created a series of research-based return on investment (ROI) calculators to help estimate the effect of well-designed wellness programs on health care costs, absenteeism, and presenteeism. Each of the three ROI calculators will examine a different employee expense. A well-designed wellness program is one that changes the health behaviors of employees, spouses, and dependents, thus lowering health risks, reducing chronic disease, and helping worksites create a culture of health. The design of the WellSteps wellness solution was based on this body of evidence
It takes a lot of discipline to remember and to notice what is going well in your life, what is beautiful, and to notice where there is love, where there is grace. Laura van Dernoot Lipsky is Founder and Director of The Trauma Stewardship Institute.
By understanding the warning signs of burnout, promoting collaboration and collective efficacy, and upholding a work culture that destigmatizes teacher health challenges, districts can promote a positive school climate and increase staff retention. This article describes how to identify teacher burnout and promote collective school staff well-being to increase professional retention and student achievement.
Elena Aguliar interviews Zaretta Hammond about her book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Read about how cultural responsiveness is more of a process than a strategy. It begins when a teacher recognizes the cultural capital and tools students of color bring to the classroom.
Making Connections: Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain Read More »
This research report addresses the ways in which practitioners can build inclusive and affirming school environments with keen attention to identity safety that can support all students in feeling safe, protected, and valued in school environments. A growing body of research points to effective school-based practices and structures, described below, that educators can use to foster the identity safety that nurtures student achievement, positive attachments to school, and a genuine sense of belonging and membership for each student.
Learn how talking circles can serve other purposes beyond restorative justice, such as creating safe spaces, building connections and offering teachers a unique means of formative assessment. The article addresses four main areas of concern by providing background context and filling readers in on where the SEL movement has been, the strategic thinking that has guided CASEL field leaders and collaborators, and the possibilities for the future.
Talking Circles: for Restorative Justice and Beyond Read More »
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