Student Engagement
Student Engagement
“True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.”
– Brene Brown
Workshops/Keynotes:
Building Belonging & Cultivating Connections That Empower Staff & Students To Thrive
As humans, we are social animals with a biological need to belong. In our increasingly isolated world, it is more important than ever for staff and students to experience a sense of belonging at school and to feel connected. Research shows that strong social connections and a sense of belonging strengthen our immune system, lower anxiety and depression, and help us live longer. Additionally, a sense of belonging increases student and staff engagement and performance. This session will provide participants with strategies and structures that they can use to cultivate and sustain connections with students and staff.
Objectives:
- Participants will learn simple strategies and structures they can replicate and implement immediately to strengthen their connection with students, colleagues, and leaders.
- Participants will walk away with a deeper understanding of the neuroscience of belonging and the critical role it plays in our engagement with work, our performance, and our physical and psychological well-being. Empowered by this scientific research, participants will feel confident that the work building relationships is not fluff, it’s foundational
- Participants will leave the session inspired and ignited to action—to share their new knowledge, put their learning into practice, and become active champions of belonging.
Get Curious, Not Furious: Tier 1 Strategies for Addressing Challenging Behaviors in the Classroom
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, 87% of public schools reported that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted students’ social-emotional development. This lack of social development has increased impulsive behaviors in the classroom. Teachers are desperately seeking continuous support in addressing challenging behaviors. This interactive session will provide teachers with a better understanding of student behavior and simple yet powerful evidence-based strategies that can be replicated in the classroom immediately.
Objectives:
- Participants will learn about the science of behavior and the various behavioral functions that motivate students.
- Participants will learn how to chase the “why” behind student behavior.
- Participants will learn to shift from “managing behavior” to “changing behavior.”
Emotions, Engagement, Empowerment: Brain-Based Instruction That Makes Learning Stick
In recent years, there has been an explosion of research on how to cultivate optimal learning environments. Utilizing science-based strategies can enhance teaching practices, lessons, student engagement, and student learning and achievement. In this engaging and interactive session, participants will explore powerful practices connected to how our brains best absorb and retain information and walk away with activities, interventions, and structures that they can use immediately in their classrooms to engage, empower, and enhance student growth and make learning stick.
Taking Time to B.R.E.A.T.H.E.: Strategies for Strengthening Student Well-being and Resilience
When students experience chronic stress, it can negatively impact their motivation and physical and emotional health, which can then affect their behavior, engagement, and performance in school. There couldn’t be a more important time to focus on strengthening student well-being and resilience than right now. Participants in this engaging series will walk away with research-based practices that they can use immediately to empower students with skills that reduce stress and anxiety, improve attention and performance, and strengthen overall physical and psychological well-being.
Igniting Sparks: Prioritizing Meaning and Purpose in the Classroom
In a nationwide survey, 75% of high school students reported negative feelings related to school, with “bored” topping the list of feelings. This boredom is not because students are unaware of the importance of their education but because the traditional model of schooling often leaves little room for connecting learning to students’ passions and interests. In this interactive session, participants will learn how to foster student sparks, offer students voice and choice in the classroom, and create student opportunities to engage in self-reflection and self-assessment. Participants will leave with strategies for forming and developing student relationships with each other and with adult mentors/teachers on campus.
Objectives:
- Participants will learn the importance of helping students uncover and nurture their sparks.
- Participants will receive strategies to connect student sparks with academic learning and provide student voice and choice.
- Participants will leave the session with tools for developing and maintaining positive student-teacher and peer-to-peer relationships.
Raising Resilience: Cultivating Strengths, Optimism, and Hope in the Classroom
Resilience, the process of adapting well to adversity, is key to helping students flourish. Teaching students to develop resilience by tapping into their strengths and abilities and learning strategies to strengthen their optimism and hope can increase their academic success and boost their well-being. In this interactive and engaging session, participants will learn the role of hope and optimism in resilience and academic performance and better understand how to create a strengths-based classroom culture. They will leave the session with tools and strategies they can implement immediately to nurture growth and resilience in their classrooms.
Objectives:
- Participants will learn about the post-traumatic growth process and how it impacts resilience and learning.
- Participants will gain tools for infusing hope and optimism into their classrooms.
- Participants will leave with strategies that fuse SEL and academics to deepen student resilience.
More Good Days: Brain-Based Practices for Trauma-Responsive Schools
We know that trauma impacts students’ behavior, engagement, and academic readiness. Over the past several years, trauma-responsive practices have offered a way to support our students experiencing adversity. The foundation of trauma-responsive care is built upon safety, connection, and emotional regulation, and these can still be offered in every classroom. Participants will learn about the impact of trauma on the developing brain, identify behaviors and learning challenges that may come as a result of trauma, and leave with strategies to sustain strong relationships, create safe routines, and increase emotional regulation to support students as they learn.
Objectives:
- Participants will understand the impact of trauma on the developing brain and learning
- Participants will identify behaviors and learning challenges that may come as a result of trauma.
- Participants will explore the idea of emotional contagion and how our own presence impacts the rooms we are in.
- Participants will learn how to use focused attention practices and brain breaks to help students self-regulate.
- Participants will learn strategies to build strong relationships and safe environments that support student learning.
Teach Like Lasso: Strategies for Positive Classroom Communities Inspired by America's Favorite Coach
Step into the world of inspiring education with our workshop, “Teach Like Lasso.” Drawing inspiration from the iconic character of Coach Ted Lasso from the beloved TV series of the same name, this session is designed to equip educators with innovative strategies for cultivating positive classroom communities, nurturing student growth, and optimizing performance. Whether you’re a seasoned educator or just starting your teaching journey, whether you are a fan of the show or have never watched an episode, “Teach Like Lasso” offers valuable insights and practical strategies that will inspire you to lead with passion, purpose, and heart. Join us as we embark on a transformative journey to create classrooms where every student feels seen, heard, and empowered to succeed.
S.E.A.L. TEAM CHAMPIONS (7 FULL DAYS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR)
This year-long course is designed for teachers, counselors, and administrators who are committed to championing SEAL and facilitating professional learning at their sites and within the district. Throughout the year, they will have the opportunity to implement strategies learned, share best practices, and lead training sessions at their site. We highly recommend that participants attend in groups of three or more with an administrator.
The Cultivating SEAL TEAM Champions Course includes:
- 7 Full day in-person sessions
- Access to Becoming Better Educators, our online professional learning community for educators
- Google Drive folder full of research, resources, and activities to support each learning session.
- Unlimited email coaching support for SEAL Team Champions
- Three 1-hr Online SEAL Team Coaching Sessions via Zoom (during the months of no in-person sessions)
Each session of the course features a theme to be explored more deeply:
- Building Belonging: Creating Community with Classroom Circles
- Nourish to Flourish: Raising Resiliency Through Optimism & Strengths Practice
- Igniting the Sparks: Promoting Passion, Meaning, and Purpose in the Classroom
- Cultivating Climate: Connecting Kindness, Empathy, and Compassion to Learning
- Mind Matters: The Neuroscience of Motivation, Mindfulness, Metacognition, & Mindset
- Relishing, Repairing, & Restoring: The Power of Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Hardwiring Happiness in Education
- Emotions, Engagement, Empowerment: The Science of Making Learning Stick
Additionally, each session will contain elements of:
- 5 SEL competencies
- 10 Teaching Practices That Strengthen SEAL
- Mindfulness
- Mindset
- Cultural Intelligence
- Neuroscience
- Infusing SEAL into Instruction and Content
- Classroom Community Buiding
- Cultivating Climate on Campus
- Best Practices in SEAL
The Antidote to Mean: Connecting Kindness, Empathy, and Gratitude to Student Learning
A recent poll showed that 80% of parents and teachers worry that the world is becoming too unkind for their children. Approximately 20% of students between the ages of 12 and 18 report being bullied at some point in school. Now, more than ever, we must weave kindness, empathy, and gratitude into our everyday instruction. We can help prevent bullying by cultivating classroom and school cultures that foster communication and where all students feel safe, respected, and supported. Participants will return to their classrooms/schools with ready-to-use, real-world strategies that fuse kindness, empathy, gratitude, and academics to help students and educators thrive.
Objectives:
- Participants will learn the science behind the positive physical, mental, and academic benefits of kindness empathy, and gratitude practices.
- Participants will walk away with tools for strengthening kindness, empathy, and gratitude in themselves and their students.
- Participants will return to their classrooms/schools with ready-to-use, real-world strategies that fuse kindness, empathy, gratitude, and academics to help students and educators thrive.
The Apathy Antidote: Cultivating Positive Student Motivation in the Classroom
In a world inundated with distractions and disinterest, the call for educators to ignite the spark of engagement within their students has never been more critical. Enter “The Apathy Antidote: Empowering Positive Student Engagement in the Classroom” workshop, a dynamic and transformative session designed to equip educators with the tools and strategies to combat apathy and foster a culture of active participation and enthusiasm in the classroom.
Objectives:
- Participants will explore the causes of student apathy and gain insights into psychological and environmental factors that contribute to disengagement.
- Participants will identify barriers to engagement and learn evidence-based strategies for fostering student involvement, including leveraging technology and active learning.
- Participants will discover practical techniques for building authentic relationships with students, promoting trust and empathy in the classroom.
- Participants will develop actionable strategies to create a positive classroom culture, personalize learning, and empower student voice and choice.
Exploring and Understanding B.I.A.S. – Beliefs, Identity, Assumptions, and Stereotypes
Our brains are biased. Researchers estimate that we may be exposed to 11 million pieces of information per second. If our conscious brains tried to filter and process all of that information, they would overload! Instead, our brains create shortcuts by making connections between things, pairing concepts, and grouping things together. These quick shortcuts in the form of assumptions, stereotypes, and implicit bias about others can lead to misjudgments about people that cause hurt, pain, discrimination, injustice, and inequities in our classrooms, workplaces, and the community at large. In this informative and engaging session,, participants will explore the neuroscience and social science about assumptions, stereotypes, identity, and implicit bias and learn research-based strategies designed to interrupt and disrupt those biases in order to cultivate a climate of belonging, acceptance, psychological safety, and equity in the classroom, workplace, and world around them.
In this session, we will create a safe space to discuss and engage in activities that explore:
B -Beliefs and Brain Patterns
I – Identity
A – Assumptions
S – Stereotypes
Objectives:
- Participants will learn the neuroscience and social science about assumptions, stereotypes, identity, and implicit bias.
- Participants will engage in activities designed to help them recognize how implicit biases shape their interactions and decisions, allowing them to take intentional steps toward creating more inclusive and equitable environments.
- Participants will learn how to apply practices that actively counter bias and stereotypes, promoting equity and fostering meaningful relationships in diverse classroom and workplace settings.
Integrating SEAL to Boost the ABCs: Strengthening Achievement, Behavior, and Culture with Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning
Research shows that social and emotional skills are foundational for success in school, the workplace, and life. If we want SEL to be successful and sustainable with students, it must start with the adults. In this session, participants will explore the research supporting SEAL (Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning) and participate in self-reflection, discussions, and activities that they can immediately replicate with their students and colleagues. This session is designed to help participants have a deeper understanding of SEAL to strengthen their own social-emotional competencies, boost their efficacy in modeling and teaching these skills to students, and build the capacity to infuse this mindset into site and classroom practices.
Objectives:
- Participants will learn the importance of belonging and strategies for cultivating connection in the classroom.
- Participants will have a better understanding of the importance of strengthening their own social-emotional competencies and modeling those skills for students.
- Participants will leave the session with strategies for integrating SEL into the content they teach and the ten teaching practices for strengthening students’ SEL.
- Participants will learn how to create space and structures to strengthen student SEL through classroom and schoolwide routines and rituals.
Reflect, Repair, Restore: The Science of Forgiveness and Restorative Conversations
Managing relationships on a school campus or in the classroom can be tricky. Inevitably, there will be moments of hurt feelings, undesirable behavior, and resentment. When these moments occur, it is essential to recognize them and repair relationships as soon as possible. We deepen community connections and improve school/classroom culture when we give effective– and genuine– apologies, learn the science behind forgiveness and develop strategies to move forward from the hurt. Of equal importance is implementing discipline that focuses on changing behavior and helping students learn and grow, rather than more punitive approaches that aren’t effective in changing behavior. In this interactive and engaging session, participants will learn the science of forgiveness and develop skills to help release resentment. Participants will leave with strategies for teaching and giving authentic apologies, and implementing transformational discipline.
Objectives:
- Participants will learn the science of forgiveness and why it is crucial to our well-being and resilience.
- Participants will receive strategies to release resentment and give authentic apologies.
- Participants will walk away with tools for implementing transformational discipline in their classrooms and school sites.
Mind Matters: Science & Strategies for Strengthening Mindset and Mindfulness in Education
Cultivating a growth mindset in the classroom can help students positively navigate complex tasks and experiences and provide them with tools to handle future struggles and stressors. Additionally, research has shown that implementing mindfulness practice in the classroom created a 24% increase in positive social behaviors, a 24% decrease in aggression, a reduction in depression-like symptoms, and an overall improvement in classroom behaviors and test scores. In this interactive and engaging session, participants will learn the research-based reasoning for mindfulness and growth mindset in the classroom and gain tools and strategies for weaving mindfulness and growth mindset into daily life and academics.
Objectives:
- Participants will learn the research-based reasoning for mindfulness and growth mindset in the classroom.
- Participants will gain tools and strategies for weaving mindfulness and a growth mindset into daily life and academics.
- Participants will receive ready-to-use resources for setting goals and persisting through struggle.
- Participants will learn the four types of mistakes and how to rebound from them.
Difficult Discussions: Creating Safe Spaces for Challenging Conversations
Our students have access to more information than any generation before them. This means that educators sometimes find themselves faced with navigating difficult conversations around issues such as current events, politics, race, identity, and religion.
This session aims to provide educators with the tools they need to navigate tough conversations in the classroom– from establishing a classroom climate of respect and belonging to sentence frames for respectful dialog. We will examine ways to structure classrooms for optimal connection and student empowerment, discuss the importance of knowing our implicit biases, and share activities and approaches designed to help develop students’ listening and speaking skills.
Objectives:
- Participants will learn how to create a classroom environment that fosters a sense of belonging and security.
- Participants will receive strategies for empowering students to engage in difficult conversations and guiding them through these conversations openly and respectfully.
- Participants will leave with activities and approaches to help develop students’ listening and speaking skills.
The Classroom Behavior Lab: Strategies and Tools for Managing Classroom Behaviors Effectively
The Classroom Behavior Lab focuses on equipping educators with strategies and tools to effectively manage classroom behaviors, enhance student engagement, and promote a positive learning environment. Participants will emerge as behavior “specialists” who can identify challenging behaviors, build meaningful relationships, provide logical consequences, and change a student’s behavior. The Classroom Behavior Lab emphasizes a comprehensive approach to behavior management, blending proactive and reactive strategies to create a calm and engaging classroom environment.
Key components:
1. Understanding Behavior: The basic principles of behavior, including why students behave in certain ways and how our own actions can influence student behavior.
2. Proactive Strategies: Setting up the environment and routines to prevent misbehavior before it occurs.
3. Reactive Strategies: Responding to misbehavior in ways that minimize disruption and teach appropriate behavior.
Objectives:
1. The participants will identify and analyze the root causes of student behaviors and the role of educator response in shaping these behaviors, leaving with a behavior framework they can apply in their classrooms.
2. The participants will create and implement proactive strategies that establish clear expectations and prevent misbehavior providing them with a toolkit of classroom management techniques.
3. The participant will develop and practice reactive strategies that minimize classroom disruption and promote positive behavioral changes.
Session for Students:
SYNERGY DAY for Students: An Experiential Learning Experience to Boost School Climate
SYNERGY DAY puts a diverse group of students through a full-day experience that will change their paradigm and their lives. This incredibly powerful full-day event builds relationships and breaks down barriers. Participants share that it creates a climate change on campus, boosting acts of kindness and compassion and lowering incidents of violence. Facilitators also tie in connections to Social Emotional and Academic Learning… intentionally and explicitly having students participate in activities that give them the opportunity to boost their self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships, and decision-making skills.
What Students Say About Synergy Day
- “I loved how everyone shared their thoughts, and some shared their story. I loved the feeling of being trusted. One thing I loved about today’s session was the amount of trust and how much closer I feel to my peers.”
- “This was an amazing day and helped me learn so much about those around me and myself.”
- “I learned that you can help people out by just being there, you never know what people are going through and you always want to be supportive and kind even if you don’t know the person.”
Objectives:
- Participants will engage in activities designed to break down social barriers, helping them recognize commonalities and build deeper connections with peers they may not usually interact with.
- Participants will enhance their self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship-building, and decision-making abilities through structured exercises and shared experiences.
- Participants will leave with an increased sense of empathy and compassion, leading to a more inclusive, kind, and supportive school environment while reducing incidents of conflict a violence.
Educational Programs:
Bite-Sized SEL Toolkit (Elementary, Middle, & High School)
Harvard and CASEL research has determined that the most effective way to teach SEL is in “kernels,” or small bite-sized pieces that are manageable and easy to facilitate. Research also shows that creating a sense of belonging and connection in the classroom can decrease behavioral challenges and increase academic outcomes.
The Bite-Sized SEL Toolkit addresses these goals and allows teachers to promote SEL in a way that is easy to facilitate and flexible. It comes in the form of a Google slide deck and contains 180 slides. Each slide has five activities: a weekly check-in, a This or That activity, a drawing or writing activity, an SEL lesson, and an optimistic closure or circle question. A specific character trait intertwines into each of the monthly lessons. The values covered are compassion, dignity, empathy, forgiveness, gratitude, humility, Integrity, justice, kindness, and love.
The Bite-Sized SEL Toolkit is available at elementary, middle, and high school levels and sells as a license per teacher. The license does not expire. School site licenses are available for sites with more than 14 users. Check out our SHOP page for details
Social Skills Toolkit (K-8)
This research-based, teacher-designed Social Skills Toolkit is a Google slide deck containing tools to empower positive behavior. The toolkit is the perfect instrument to meet the needs of your MTSS Tier 1 universal program and is an excellent way to address Tier 2 students who need more support.
Based on 8 teacher-recommended skills, this toolkit’s key advantage is the minimal number of skills and steps the teacher and student need to remember. Reteaching is easily facilitated. Go to the SHOP Page for more!
joelle@thrivingYOUniversity.com
