Distance learning has been a challenge for thousands of educators around the country. Not just professionally, but it has been a great challenge personally.

Working from home is not as glamorous or easy as it seems. It can be quite a challenge.

It can be a challenge to balance taking care of your own children and meeting the professional expectations of your career. It can be challenging to know where your personal and professional life begins and end. It can be a challenge to balance it all.

So, I decided to organize a webinar featuring a panel of educators from a variety of personal and professional experiences to share what they do for self-care during distance learning. It’s so important to me that educators hear that they are not alone in this and that it is hard for everyone. I hope you take a bit of time to watch this personal, supportive, and often silly webinar on self-care.

Below, you will find some of the resources that were provided during the presentation:

• Presentation
• YouTube

What are you doing for self-care during distance learning? Share in the comments below!

Earlier this week, I came across a TEDEd video called “Why You Should Define Your Fears Instead of  Your Goals?” The premise of the video is:

The hard choices — what we most fear doing, asking, saying — are very often exactly what we need to do. How can we overcome self-paralysis and take action? Tim Ferriss encourages us to fully envision and write down our fears in detail, in a simple but powerful exercise he calls “fear-setting.” Learn more about how this practice can help you thrive in high-stress environments and separate what you can control from what you cannot. (TEDEd)

Click below to watch this video:

Honestly, I found this video to be fascinating for two reasons – an educational and a personal reason.

First, I found that this video is very relevant in education due to the conversations surrounding social and emotional learning (SEL). According to CASEL, SEL “is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.” While this definition primarily focuses on the positive aspects of emotional intelligence, I truly believe it is helpful for students to understand and define their negative emotions and how to overcome them. Therefore, this video gave me some excellent inspiration for a HyperDoc (which I will share below!) to support students in defining and overcoming their fears.

Second, I found that this video spoke to me on a personal level. It’s true, students are not the only ones with fears and areas of growth! Ever since I was a child, I have been an overthinker and someone who struggles with fears. You name it – I’ve probably thought of the worst case scenario that could occur. However, I have definitely improved over time and it was due to a very similar approach as in this video. I would start by thinking about what I feared, how I could prevent it, and, if my worst fears were to come true, what were the possible outcomes and how could I fix it. I’ve found it to be very helpful over the years by always asking, “What’s the worst that could really happen – and how could I fix it?”

As I finished watching this video, I realized it would be a fantastic opportunity for students to stretch their SEL skills. In fact, I really wish I had gone through an activity like this at a younger age! Therefore, I created a HyperDoc that I believe would be appropriate for any age, with slight modifications, to support students in defining and overcoming their fears.

Here are some key activities in this HyperDoc:

• ENGAGE: Students will create a collage of pictures that represent the word “fear” to them.
• EXPLORE: Students will research and rate common fears.
• EXPLAIN: Students will watch the TEDEd video: Why You Should Define Your Fears Instead of  Your Goals?
• APPLY: Students will complete the “Define, Prevent, Repair” activity.
• SHARE: Students will share their slide deck with a partner for feedback and collaboration.
• REFLECT: Students will reflect on what they have learned.

Create Your Own Copy!

If you are interested in using this HyperDoc, click on the link above to create your own copy – and it’s yours!

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on this blog topic. Have you done any “fear setting” activities with your students? What other ways do you support social and emotional learning (SEL) in your classroom? Share in the comments below!

If you work in education, there is a very good chance that you have attended your fair share of parent/teacher conferences. Throughout my 12 years in education, I have attended dozens upon dozens of parent/teacher conferences. These meetings are so important for students. The more communication that can occur between all stakeholders, the more likely students will be successful academically, socially and emotionally.

However…if you have attended a lot of parent/teacher conferences, you may notice one thing that is often missing. The most important part of any parent/teacher conference – the student!

So, how can we bring students into these conferences and help them be their own advocates? How can we help them recognize their areas of struggle and the steps they need to take to overcome them? How can we help them ask for support?

Let’s let them lead their own meetings! Our students are more than capable of sharing about their performance in class and their areas of struggle. Instead of the meetings being centered on the parents and teachers, let’s empower our students to ask for support and participate in this important process.

In the video below, I will share with you a Google Doc template that can be used in parent/teacher conferences. This document contains:

• A form for students to complete before the meeting.
• A parent/teacher conference script for the student and counselor.
• An area to record meeting notes and the stakeholders who attended.

Interested? Watch this video!

Parent Teacher Conference Form (View)

Parent Teacher Conference Form (Copy)

Do students lead the parent/teacher conferences in your school and/or district? Would this be something you would be willing to try with your students? Share your thoughts in the comments below!