A question for you!
Plus a free webinar and my spring grad class
It’s a new year. The turning of the calendar feels like it should be a fresh start, but things don’t work that way. We face the same intractable problems, the same challenges in relationships with our students and colleagues and ourselves, and the same impossible conditions surrounding our work as educators. There’s no magic reset button, despite the fresh numbers on the calendar.
So what can we do? I keep returning to the idea that we each have our unique work to do, at the intersection of our skills, our care, and how we’re situated in the work and the world. We each can identify how we’re working for change. We each can build relationships to make that change more possible. And when we get overwhelmed, we can pause and feel that for however long we need, and then return. Return to one small thing you can do today. Return to experimenting with a way forward. Return to how you know you can tangibly make a difference.
If you’re having trouble with that return (or if you aren’t sure where to get started), I wrote a book for you a couple of years ago. I’ve been honored to hear from educators in the past year and a half about Becoming an Everyday Changemaker and how the tools within it help them to navigate a path forward during challenging times. I hope it can be useful going forward.
Speaking of being useful, I have a couple of offerings to share and a question for feedback. Let’s get into it.
Question: what topics do you want to see from my pay-what-you-can webinar series this year?
Over the past couple of years, I’ve facilitated more than 40 pay-what-you-can webinars on a whole range of topics connected to trauma-informed practices in schools. It’s a delightful learning community and I’m excited to keep it going in 2026! As I plan out this year, I’d love to hear from you! Here are a few of the previous topics of these webinars. Chime in in the comments of this post (or shoot me an email) and let me know which you want to see return, and if there are any new topics or questions on your mind you want to see me cover this year.
Creating Felt Safety with the Four Priorities of Trauma-Informed Education
Trauma-Informed Transitions at School
Teacher Boundaries: Doing Human-Centered Work Without Burning Out
Why Points, Prizes and TigerBux Don’t Work (and what to do instead)
Sustaining care for the kids (and coworkers) who challenge us the most: unconditional positive regard in tough times
Understanding Student Dysregulation (and Supporting Student Regulation)
How do I make change when I’m just one teacher?
Any of those sound good? What else? Let me know!
You can also expect to see the return of some year-end reflective time, Changemaker Community Conversations, and a new offering this summer on writing about our human-centered teaching work!
Free webinar next week
Next week I’m joining Think Bigger Do Good for a webinar on a policy paper I co-authored with my colleague Dr. Ruth Shim about promoting youth mental health in schools through equity-centered trauma-informed education. You can register for free here. We’ll be paying special attention to how policymakers can support educators to implement trauma-informed practices!
Spring graduate course
My spring graduate course at the VTSU Center for Schools is open for registration! It’s fully virtual and open to anyone (no need to be in a program). Radically Rethinking Classroom Management is for you if you want to take apart all your thinking about classroom community and build it back up with intention and care. We start the first week of February!
(Note: the dates on the website for the zoom meetings are slightly incorrect, if you’re thinking about registering before they’re updated just send me an email for more info!)
Thanks everyone, and hope to connect with you all this coming year!