ThrivingYOU BLOG
Our thoughts, views and everything else.
Building Strong Classroom Relationships: The Key to Successful MTSS Tier 1 Interventions
This month, we sat down with our resident MTSS expert, Liz Toruno, to discuss how educators can effectively implement Tier 1 interventions. Liz is the MTSS Coordinator for Bakersfield City School District, the Lead Culture Coach for Thriving YOUniversity, and has a...
Reducing Testing Stress
It is standardized testing season, which often means heightened stress for everyone in the classroom, so we wanted to share some activities you can use to help ease the stress of testing. You can use mindfulness, movement, and brain breaks to help alleviate student...
Synergy Day
Even now, three years after the start of the COVID shutdowns, it is evident that the pandemic has had a significant impact on students' social-emotional well-being. Many students have experienced increased stress, anxiety, and feelings of isolation. Additionally,...
Strategies to Decrease Stress and Increase Social-Emotional Skills
Many students returned to school following the pandemic with higher stress and anxiety levels than ever before. Additionally, the time spent away from peers during the shutdowns lowered their social-emotional skills. While there are many factors in our students' lives...
New Year, New Goal Setting Strategy
It is the third week of January, which means for many of us, the energy with which we tackled our New Year’s resolutions may be waning. By now, you might find yourself white-knuckling through your commitment to your newly set goals, or perhaps you’ve already given up...
Hygge for Happiness
If you google “hygge,” you will be bombarded with images of fireplaces, cups of tea, and adorable little cottages in the snow. On Instagram alone, there are over 8 million posts that include the hashtag ‘hygge’-- most of which would lead you to believe that in order...
Connecting with Character
Many students are struggling to connect with one another, and as a result, more and more school districts are reporting an increase in behavioral challenges. Now, more than ever, students need a place where they feel they belong and guidance to deepen their...
Creating Connections: Soliciting Staff Feedback
A key component to a healthy school climate and culture is making sure the adults on campus feel seen and heard on a regular basis. One of the best ways to do this is by gathering formal and informal feedback from your staff. Soliciting feedback from your staff helps...
Addressing Negative Student Behavior
For many schools around the country, an unintended outcome of the COVID-19 school closures has been increased student behavior and interpersonal issues. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 87% of public schools reported that the COVID-19...
Know Their Sparks
It’s late August, and for most educators in America, the school year has started or is just about to start. We want to take this moment to highlight one of our favorite back-to-school belonging practices: Know Their Sparks! When Thriving YOUniversity’s Chief...