Riverside County Office of Education
Wellness Wednesday – Induction

Wellness Wednesday

Cultivating Climate: Kindness, Empathy, and Gratitude in Education

Imagine implementing a program at your school or in your classroom that research has proven can reduce stress, increase happiness, decrease depression and anxiety, and increase student engagement and academic learning. Regularly practicing kindness, empathy, and gratitude with your students can result in these positive outcomes and more.


A recent poll showed that 80% of parents and teachers worry that the world is becoming too unkind for their children. Now, more than ever, we must weave kindness, empathy, and gratitude into our everyday instruction.


By cultivating kindness, empathy, and gratitude, we can increase students’ social awareness and develop their resiliency by teaching them how to reframe negative experiences. Using research-based strategies for strengthening these social-emotional skills will result in more positive student outcomes and increased job satisfaction and overall well-being for educators.


In this interactive session, participants will learn the science behind the positive physical, mental, and educational benefits of kindness, empathy, and gratitude practices; and discover 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.

Audience: CTI Induction Coaches and Candidates.

Presenter: Dr. Joelle Hood, Thriving YOUniversity Co-Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer

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Time: 4:00-5:30 PM

Responding to Tragedy and Traumatic Events-Strategies for Talking with and Supporting Students

It often feels like the news is filled with tragic and traumatic event after event. Even if we aren’t direct witnesses to these events, awareness of them can create a heightened sense of fear and anxiety about the world around us. This heightened sense of anxiety, stress, and trauma impacts students’ mental health and overall academic performance. We must develop strategies addressing events and work to build a community of care for our students.

Because students spend so much time in school, educators must create a framework for helping students navigate traumatic experiences and to help them develop skills for talking about difficult subjects openly and respectfully.
Having difficult conversations with our students can feel intimidating at first; we worry about saying the wrong things or the conversation getting away from us, resulting in hurt feelings or worse. But by implementing specific strategies, we can help our students work through their thoughts and feelings.

In this session, we will discuss the neurobiological impact of trauma on the brain and how traumatic stress may show up in the classroom and provide tools for creating a classroom that can be a safe place for having hard conversations. We will examine ways to structure classrooms for optimal connection, discuss the importance of knowing our implicit biases and coping skills, and share activities and approaches designed to help develop students’ listening and speaking skills.

Objectives:

Participants will explore the ways that traumatic stress can show up in the classroom as well as the neuroscience around post-traumatic growth.

  • Participants will learn how to create a classroom environment that fosters a sense of belonging and security.
  • Participants will receive strategies for guiding students through difficult conversations in an open and respectful way.
  • Participants will examine their own coping strategies and implicit biases.

Audience: CTI Induction Coaches and Candidates.

Presenter: Dr. Joelle Hood, Thriving YOUniversity Co-Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer

Register below

Time: 4:00-5:30 PM

Reflect, Repair, Restore: The Science of Forgiveness & 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. Hurt left unaddressed can lead to greater incidences of anxiety, stress, depression, and decreased well-being. These conditions make teaching and learning difficult.


For educators and students to give their best effort, day in and day out, it is imperative that we deal with underlying issues of hurt and resentment that impact them. Greater overall well-being has been linked to forgiveness and releasing resentment when people feel wronged.


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.


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.

Audience: CTI Induction Coaches and Candidates.

Presenter: Dr. Joelle Hood, Thriving YOUniversity Co-Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer

Register below

Time: 4:00-5:30 PM

The How of Happiness

Do you know what makes you happy? It sounds simple, like something that we should already know. However, research has shown that we often misunderstand what truly makes us happier. This workshop will address misconceptions and teach research-based strategies that actually make us happier.  Learn how happiness can be brought into your life and the lives of the people you work with, play with, and love.

 

Andrea Mazo has been working in education for 30 years.  Her first 20 years were spent as an Educational Specialist teaching students with Autism and Learning Challenges.  Andrea now works as a Coordinator for the Center for Teacher Innovation.  She finds her joy in supporting new teachers throughout Riverside County as they enter the teaching profession and work to clear their Preliminary credentials.

 

 

Originally from Minnesota, Dr. Joe Boffa has been working in education for over 30 years, teaching all levels and currently serving as an adjunct professor at California State University, San Bernardino. He now serves as an Induction Program Manager for RCOE’s Center for Teacher Innovation, where he greatly enjoys working with new educators and their coaches.  

Audience: CTI Induction Coaches and Candidates.

Presenter: Andrea Mazo and Dr. Joseph Boffa

Register below

Time: 4:00-5:30 PM