Guest blog via Jennifer Haston-Maciejewski

Behavior Coach/Yoga & Mindfulness Instructor

@Mrs_Haston

“Maybe sometimes we should just sit, and in the sitting understand that life speaks in stillness and therefore on occasion we would be wise to join it there.”

― Craig D. Lounsbrough

Our minds want to confuse us and make everything more complicated than it really is. We constantly feel like we have to make to-do lists, and complete priorities. It’s why our brain will not easily settle down to do a simple task. The most difficult and simultaneously the simplest task we can undertake is to pay attention, to listen, and to observe. The most beneficial thing we can do for our mind is to enter into that space of stillness, that perceptual, sensing side of our brain; yet, this is what we resist more than anything! We must take time to intentionally drop out of the planning, conceptual brain, and into the present moment. We must make the conscious, on-purpose decision to practice doing this even knowing that our brain will fight us. When I say our brain will fight us, I mean that it might call forth emotions of panic, anxiety, worry, thoughts of time-wasting, to-do lists, the past, the future–anything but the right now. 

Fight back. 

Your brain is in charge of your thoughts, but you are in charge of your brain–Don’t forget that. 

Practicing mindful breathing for a few minutes every day gives you an evidence-based tool to help you eliminate stress and stay focused on tasks. The exercises we will practice can be used regularly in classrooms and personal mindful breathing practices at home! Follow these tips to help you during your mindful breathing practice: 

1. Put everything else aside. Everything you have to do will still be there at the end of your practice. Take a break from your phone, your work, your to-do lists, and maybe even the people around you. It might help to move to a quieter place. 
2. Get comfy. Move to the edge of your chair or sit on a cushion on the floor.  Keep your back upright, but not too stiff. Place your hands palms down on your legs or however most comfortable. Try to relax your jaw and forehead. 
3. Set a timer. Try to do breathing exercises for 3-5 minutes as you’re first learning. If that seems too long, try 2 minutes at first.
4. Eyes open or closed? It’s your choice. Notice which one makes it easier for you to stay focused. If you keep your eyes open, try to focus on just one object without looking around.
5. Try to focus fully on your breathing. Starting out, just feel the flow of breath — in, out — whatever feels natural to you. You don’t need to do anything to your breath. Not long, not short, just natural. Notice where you feel your breath in your body. Maybe it’s in your belly, maybe in your chest or throat, or in your nostrils. See if you can feel the sensations of your breath, one breath at a time.
6. Be kind to your wandering mind. Now as you do this, you might notice that your mind may start to wander. You may start thinking about other things and be 17 thoughts in before you even notice. If this happens, don’t get grumpy, it’s normal. Just notice that your mind has wandered. You can say “thinking” or “wandering” in your head softly. And then gently bring your attention back to your inhales and exhales.
7. Close with kindness. I always like to close with a good arms overhead stretch, a soft smile, and a gentle sigh 

That’s it! That’s the practice. You go away, you come back, and you try to do it as kindly as possible again the next day. 

Before beginning the day, take five or ten minutes (maybe less if this seems daunting) to just sit in the quiet stillness. Don’t worry about what needs to get done. I always say if it needs to get done, it will get done. You do not need to prove to yourself that you are busy by making a list. Just be. Everything you are pushing aside to have these few minutes will be there at the end of your practice. Just for now, enjoy these moments that belong only to you.

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Promoting access and safety with Invzbl

Over the past two years of shifting between virtual, hybrid and in-person instruction and even remote work for many people, greater demands have been placed on the devices that we use. Learning and working took place in new settings. In some places, a lack of devices led to the sharing of devices and so much reliance on these devices led to faster wear and tear. As a classroom teacher, having working devices for each student is essential to make sure that all students are able to participate in the learning experiences we provide. Many times I’ve had students unable to participate in an activity because the device is not working or the device is away being repaired. So how do we deal with these challenges? Invzbl has the solution.

How does it work?

Invzbl has UV-C high-capacity disinfection cabinets which enables larger quantities of devices to be cleaned in just 3 minutes. Imagine having three minutes between classes, in the current educational setting, taking the time to collect and clean each student’s device if they are using a classroom set. Instruction time is lost because of the extra time required to complete these multiple steps for all students. With Invizbl, students can place the devices into the cabinet as they leave the class. When the next class arrives, students remove the sanitized devices which are ready for immediate use without the loss of any additional time during class.

If you’re wondering what this cabinet looks like, well, it looks like an oven. It has 13 racks and can hold more than 50 iPads or tablets, 13 open computers or more than 100 phones. The cabinet cleans them all at the same time within just three minutes and has an effectiveness of 99.999 % disinfection. All of this is available for an average cost per use of roughly $0.03. It fits perfectly in my classroom and takes no time at all to set up and use. Providing students with clean, safe devices is essential.

Finally a solution: Protect Express

Even more than just having devices, we needed access to working and clean devices. Over the course of two years, educators and students experienced challenges when it came to being able to connect online. Whether due to devices breaking, waiting for repairs, wondering where the device is in the queue and when it would be returned, time was lost. Invzbl helps with this challenge through their partnership with FedEx, and their device protection as a service solution with Protect Express.

Through Protect Express, schools can rely on fast turnaround time for repairs and cleaning. Devices are picked up, repaired, cleaned and disinfected. Throughout the process, the devices are fully trackable which is a big relief when it comes to wondering when students or teachers or anyone in school might have a fully functional device returned.

There have been many times where students have been without a netbook because they were awaiting its repair and do not have access to a loaner device. The biggest question has been what happens when working from home or working in our classrooms and the device breaks? We need to be able to rely on efficient service so the learning process and instructional time is not negatively impacted.

Protect Express is great for K through 12 education. With the partnership of Invzbl and FedEx, repairing and sanitizing the devices takes far less time and with greater reliability. It is more cost-effective because it relies on FedEx which is known for its speed, making the transportation of devices between schools or home and the facility where the repairing and cleaning takes place possible within a few days. Now, students and schools are not waiting for weeks or even months to have the devices returned. With real-time tracking, you can tell exactly where the device is and when it will be back ready to use in the classroom or in the home again.

What this means for learning

Because of this partnership with Protect Express, schools can expect a reduction in device downtime. Students will be able to participate more fully than they have been in the past which resulted due to an extended amount of time required for repairs. In classrooms, students and teachers worked around the lack of working devices as best as they could while waiting for repairs or loaner devices. However, now, the time spent waiting is greatly reduced along with having the security of knowing exactly where the device is in the repair and cleaning process and when it will be available for use. Educators will benefit from being better able to provide students with access to functioning and clean devices.

Learn more here via CBS Austin interview with Invzbl CEO Chuck Morrison.

Learn more about Protect Express and all that Invzbl offers: www.invzbl.com

Spring always presents a great opportunity for educators to try different digital tools or explore new ideas, especially as the school year winds down. Each spring, I notice that student engagement decreases, and I look for new ideas to boost engagement. Spring and the end of the school year present a great opportunity to bring new experiences into the classroom and even take some risks, especially as the year comes to a close and we reflect while also seeking new ideas for the upcoming school year.

When we provide students with experiences that will more meaningfully engage them with the content, also moving them from consumers to creators when we can, it will lead to an increase in student engagement and higher student achievement. Offering more choices helps us to better meet specific student interests and needs.

As we try to keep up the momentum through the end of what has not been an easy or typical school year and finish strong, adding in a few new or innovative ideas or bringing some game-based learning into our classroom, may create the boost that we all need!

Here are five tools and one idea to try before the end of this school year. Each offers something unique and in many cases, can be used for more than just one purpose. They can all be used for hybrid, virtual or in-person learning. Some options for game-based learning, quick assessments, or simply creating and sharing what students have learned! Also, a few of these might be used not just by teachers but can be opportunities for students to create with the content as well.

• Figment AR: Storytelling or creating a quick check-in with students would be fun with Figment AR, one of my favorite augmented reality apps over the past few years. More than just AR, it also has portals that transform the experience into virtual reality. We have used it in class to create a quick story that includes animated characters, portals, and special effects.
• Gimkit. While Gimkit has been around for a few years, the team continues to add new features and look for ways to boost student engagement and retention of content. It is one of many game-based learning tools available and has been a favorite with my students each year. Students have more personalized learning experiences because Gimkit promotes increased content retention through repetitive questions and the different options for playing in or out of the classroom. A new feature is Tag Domination which has been awesome in my classes, the student love it! There are additional modes to play in Gimkit and teachers receive detailed session reports with student progress to help guide their instruction.
• Nearpod. Offers many options for promoting student engagement through its interactive multimedia platform and the ready-to-run lessons and activities now available. There are many options for a quick game of “Time to Climb” to do an assessment or an exit slip for example, or explore their VR library and find some immersive learning experiences to take students on a trip around the world! There are quick activities to choose from and even matching pairs or short interactive video lessons available. We can quickly add engaging and interactive lessons that also spark student curiosity by bringing some virtual reality into the classroom!
• Skribbl.io, A fun drawing game that can be played by using lists available within the platform or adding your own vocabulary words, which I did in our Spanish class. Teachers then provide a code for students to join the game. There are different rounds and throughout the game, each player gets a chance to draw while the other players have to type in a guess of what the object is. Players are not able to see the words guessed by other players if they guessed correctly.

And one non-digital option to try is sketchnoting, which has been a favorite activity for a hobby and a great one for learning! Creating sketchnotes is helpful for visual learners when it comes to better retention of the content. The opportunity to draw and design symbols, which can be personal to each student, is fun and different and even students who do not like to draw much, enjoy doing sketchnoting. It can be done on paper or using one of the digital tools available. It is helpful with analyzing or conveying concepts and attaching more meaning as students decide how to demonstrate what they are learning. We have used sketchnotes in my STEAM course and my Spanish classes.

Thinking about the end of the year as teachers wrap up the content material or look for ways to review, perhaps for final exams in some courses or simply to take a break and try something different, these have been some recent favorite additions. Although these tools are not specific to one area of focus or grade level, hopefully, they offer new opportunities at the end of the year and that will lead to more meaningful and engaging learning experiences. They also provide more ways for students to create, through hands-on creation or interactive lessons, which work well in any learning space. By bringing in new technologies and opportunities, we better prepare students with the skills that they will need moving forward while also helping them to build essential SEL skills.

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 Guest post by Kris Jenkins @prek33

 First, a little background on Maslow and Bloom. 

     Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist. His hierarchy of needs framework is a popular theory of motivation.  In this theory, Maslow states that our actions are motivated by our physiological needs.  Most often this is represented by a pyramid, with the most basic needs at the bottom and the more complex needs at the top, as pictured below.

     Benjamin Bloom, also developed a theory around how children learn, called Bloom’s Taxonomy.  This framework suggested that various levels of skills and abilities are how children learn.  This pyramid is shared below.

     Many educators have heard the term; “You need to Maslow before Bloom.”  Basically, this means that before a child can ever learn, their basic human needs to be met first.  This fact, while present before the worldwide pandemic, was brought to the forefront during the pandemic and after.  Kids are coming into schools today without having their basic needs met!  During the pandemic, our children were isolated. Isolated from extended family and from their peers, as well.  This leads to what many in the education field are calling “Learning Loss.”  I will jump up on that pedestal and say to you, “They lost a hell of a lot more than just their learning.” The students we are seeing now have strong social and emotional needs. Check out this chart below:

     This is a chart showing the last time students of varying grade levels had a “normal” school year.  Abraham Maslow will argue that these children, now labeled The Pandemic Kids, will not be able to meet the stringent guidelines set up by some arbitrary textbook printing company until their basic needs are met.  If these needs are not being met for a child, there is no way that they will be able to meet the demands of “Learning Loss.”

     Social-Emotional Learning is now more important than it’s ever been.  SEL is not about teaching the student what to think. It is about teaching the child how to relate to any given topic in regard to their own perspectives and environment. It’s too bad that the importance of this has been politicalized to the point of being something bad.  It is merely a universal means of getting a high-quality education that prepares them for school, work, and life. The whole world has been going through something the likes of which many of us have ever seen.

     The core principles of SEL have been a part of educational philosophy for ages.  When our kids were in school, it was called “Life Skills” class. Same thing. Different words. The educational world does that a lot; changes labels on things.

     What SEL does do is to help kids (and adults) learn to regulate themselves in ways that will help them get along in school and within their communities.  If SEL is prioritized in schools, our students can learn, in a safe, non-threatening environment. It gives our kids a sense of belonging, a feeling of being valued, which is super-important to social and academic success.  Social and emotional skills kids learn can include goal setting, stress management, team building, and learning perspectives of others.

     Schools that have implemented strong SEL programs have dedicated time to practice social/emotional skills, opportunities for the students to have buy-in (such as helping to plan the class expectations), within a strong and supportive environment, and this is one component of what will help combat “Learning Loss.”  My other thoughts of Learning Loss is for another blog…

Follow Kris’ blog and on Twitter @prek33

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Guest Post by Bridget Gengler, Fourth Grade Teacher, Long Beach, California

Twitter: @BridgetGengler

Social and Emotional learning is a way to connect to the whole child. It is difficult to teach academics to a child if their social and emotional status is out of sync.

Social and Emotional learning addresses 5 different competencies according to CASEL Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning:

• Self awareness
• Self Management
• Social Awareness
• Relationship Skills
• Responsible Decision-Making

CASEL envisions all children and adults as self- aware, caring, responsible, engaged and lifelong learners who work together to achieve their goals and create a more inclusive, just and equitable world. ( CASEL, 2022)

I try to incorporate all these competencies throughout the school year in my classroom. One of the main ways that I do this is through morning meetings. I have been doing morning meetings for several years. They are a way to bring the classroom community together and help to get everyone centered for the day. They focus on the five competencies and create awareness within the learning environment. They help to form a more inclusive, caring and compassionate group of learners who support each other. The meetings help students become more aware of themselves and their fellow classmates. They create student voice and dialogue that contributes to my overall message to my students that says, “you are important and you matter.”

Our morning meetings start with a leader who runs the meeting each day. The leader begins with the calendar and then does a class check in.

“How are you feeling today? – Fist to Five?

Fist- I feel awful to Five- I feel awesome.

I remind students that the check in is for two reasons.

1.It is for each other, so we can celebrate or support one another.

2. It is also for ourselves- so we can self-monitor how we are feeling on that day.

The check in helps students become more self aware and it also helps them to be socially aware and focus on how they can be empathetic to others and their feelings.

After the check in, I let a few students share out and express orally what they are feeling and why. This builds the classroom community and inclusivity that I am hoping to accomplish.

The check in also allows me to see where my students’ mindsets are when they enter the classroom in the morning. It helps me to see who may need extra care and support throughout the day.

Our leader for the day then transitions our meeting to a lighter note by sharing a fun fact or a joke. It is followed up with an interesting poll of the day. These activities create active participation and get students involved right away.

From there we move into one of the competencies of Social and Emotional Learning. I like to bring in a short video or book to begin the discussion. I usually focus on a theme for a week or two. For example, if I am working on relationships then I may spend a week on empathy. I will find videos with short stories or an explanation of the topic. Following the video, we will have discussions focused on reflection questions pertaining to the topic. This allows students the time to share out on the topic. This dialogue creates meaning for them. They build upon what each other is saying. It allows for voices to be heard and different perspectives to be shared.

Morning meetings have become an important part of our day. My students look forward to them and are disappointed if we have to change the structure of the day. These meetings really set the tone for the day. They allow a little bit of time for students to get adjusted to the day rather than jumping right into the curriculum. It allows us time to be together and build the classroom community that is so essential to the foundation of learning that happens throughout the day. The morning meetings begin the social and emotional learning that is weaved into the curriculum during the day. Social and emotional learning is applied hand and hand with academic learning. When a child feels that they matter, they are valued and their voice is heard, then they will take the extra steps to achieve beyond what they ever thought they were capable of.

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In collaboration with Bloomz, opinions are my own

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports or PBIS, is used in the classroom as a way to promote positive classroom behavior and assist with classroom management. PBIS has a 3-tiered framework: Tier 1 universal one is a foundation for Behavioral academics, tier 2 is prevented, which focuses on improving some specific skill deficits and tier 3 is intensive and individualized prevention.

PBIS has been used in schools as a way to provide support for students throughout the year and although it may seem like there is a lot involved, it should not be thought of as something extra added on to what teachers are already doing in their classrooms. When PBIS systems are in place, there are many benefits. It leads to a more positive and supportive classroom community and culture, it makes a positive impact on student academic achievement, and there is a reduction in disciplinary practices.

When schools are implementing PBIS Management, they want to be able to check on the strategies that are being used in the classroom and reflect on their effectiveness. Having a system that allows you to look at student data and see what is being provided and decide what is best and most effective for each student is important. Having access to this data enables schools to better monitor student progress, and share and involve families with how the student is doing in the classroom.

PBIS is not something new. Research started in the late 1990s and it was initially developed as an Effective Behavior Support (EBS) system that then evolved into PBIS. With PBIS, teachers can have different strategies, depending on how they set up their classroom space. When teachers have a consistent routine and set clear expectations for students, it helps to build this classroom culture. As teachers are focused on building relationships with students and employ a variety of classroom management strategies and ways to help students understand and reflect upon their behaviors, it leads to benefits for student well-being, academic growth, and behavior. Being able to capture all of this in one space and to be able to communicate to families and to other teachers is important for ongoing student growth.

During the month of May, there is a focus on school safety and wellness. Using PBIS is a way for teachers to focus on student well-being by creating a supportive structure in the classroom. This structure then leads to a reduction in disciplinary incidents by focusing on good behaviors and student well-being which are essential for learning. It helps to focus on the whole child.

When we focus on the whole child by addressing social-emotional learning (SEL) which is very important in our schools today, we better prepare students for the future as they develop the five core SEL competencies. These competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision-making will benefit students now and in the future. Bringing PBIS into the classroom and combining it with a focus on SEL and strategies will help teachers to create a supportive and positive classroom environment for schools to be successful.

For anyone who is not familiar with Bloomz, it offers a communication platform where educators and families can stay connected in a unified, streamlined, consistent space. Rather than relying on multiple apps or tools for many of the tasks and communications that need to happen in our schools, Bloomz can be used to facilitate all of this in one space. One big thing that makes Bloomz stand out is that it also has PBIS within its platform. While there are other communication platforms available, Bloomz is the only one that offers everything for schools and families to focus on PBIS and to be able to have behavior tracking.

What makes the Bloomz PBIS system unique is that teachers can record the behaviors happening in class through a powerful dashboard. Teachers can track student behavior and access the information to analyze it, and then work with students to improve and also reward them for their behaviors over time. There are also different modes in the Bloomz behavior tracking system which makes it easy to see where students are when it comes to behavior and to track their growth over time. The three modes are flowers, monsters, or neutral.

At the school level, Bloomz provides access to reports which are customizable and can include any of the information from the platform and make it available to teachers and to the school administrators. Another option is that teachers can set it up so that behaviors are tracked over time and students are automatically given a reward which then saves some time for the teachers.

Using Bloomz for communication enables teachers to stay connected and keep parents informed about how things are going in the classroom. Being able to send a quick note or even a photo can truly engage parents in the learning experience of the students. The communications happen in real-time and are based on each parent’s preference for receiving notifications whether through an SMS text message or an email. With all of the options for including audio, video, images, or text, teachers can send examples directly to parents. The benefit of having a behavior tracking system is that it helps teachers and families to work together to create a positive and supportive classroom community, focusing on the building of relationships that are essential to our classroom environment.

Bloomz enables schools to foster the essential home-to-school connection. Teachers can share learning as it’s happening, inform families about student progress, identify students needing additional support, and focus on promoting student wellness and setting students up for success.

About the Author

Rachelle Dené Poth is a Foreign Language and STEAM Educator at Riverview High School in Oakmont, PA. She is also an Attorney, Edtech Consultant, Speaker and the Author of seven books about education and edtech. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @Rdene915.

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 Guest post by Melisa Hayes @MrsHayesfam

I love reading everyone’s perspectives about the pandemic. The good, the bad, and the ugly. We all are concerned about our kids and miss them so much! This pandemic reminds me of a firework that is lit. We wait and wait for something to happen. Sometimes we see the effects instantly and other times we wait so long we think it’s ok to touch it but then it backfires. This is the way I feel when people decide NOT to wear masks or practice social distancing. This post is about me giving grace to teachers, my kiddos, parents, my daughter, and even me.

As a mother and teacher, it’s been extremely difficult! I try to balance my teaching time with my classroom family along with homeschooling my 13-year-old daughter. Some of you may think, she’s 13 how hard can it be? Well for a child with Down Syndrome who loves to say the word, “NO” It’s a tug of war with me pressing pause constantly! LOL

Her work sometimes is modified and other times I recreate it. For example, she had an assignment which was Egyptian vocabulary. It was on Quizlet but it was all text. I knew there was no way I was going to have her do this. So I looked up all the key terms and found pictures for each. Then I added those pics to Piccollage along with the word. It was a picture dictionary. She was doing the work but it was at her level and it was something she could do and feel successful. I was annoyed at the Social Studies teacher for giving her that assignment but then I reflected: We are all in this together. She has a lot on her plate as well and we need to give grace!

I have a family member whose parent works midnights. She is a single parent and emailed me worried. She found out her daughter hasn’t done weeks and weeks of work. She asked what assignments she needed to do and she apologized. She expressed how hard it has been for her daughter as she works. I emailed and said, Don’t worry about any past assignments. If she can do x,y, and z this week she will be caught up. This kiddo and mom are going thru more than I know. Schoolwork should be the least of her worries! I gave grace.

Back to my Abbs:):) Before this pandemic, I attended Abbs IEP meeting and everyone including me agreed to ESY for her. This was an extended school year and I thought it was a great idea! Well, the pandemic hit and I recently found out they were still having ESY but it was digital. I have to be honest, I was horrified. My heart beat faster, I started to sweat and I felt nauseous. Yes, I am a teacher but NOT of my own kid – LOL I knew what I had to do. I gave myself grace and let them know that I respectfully decline the ESY. I knew this would be another tug of war where fireworks would occur daily. I want my summer with my girl to be a happy memorable one. We would definitely work on school but it would be at my own pace and would incorporate the real world. I knew this was the best choice for me, Abbs, and our family! I had to quit feeling guilty and give myself grace!

This is definitely a work in progress and I know I’m not alone but for me, I am working on being more selfless, patient, and empathetic. I am also working on giving grace to others including myself. Hopefully, the fireworks will end soon and we can all try to carry on with the new normal. Whatever that might be…..

You can follow me on Twitter: @MrsHayesfam

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