May - 2021

May 28, 2021
2 min

Lessons from Astronomy for Everyone

By Christine Mason, CEI Executive Director Are you looking for something to excite your students? Something out of the ordinary? I remember fondly an experience I had in sixth grade when a local doctor brought his telescope to our class and talked about his passion for gazing up at the night sky. Fast forward a few dozen years, and I had the good fortune to meet Kevin Manning, an award-winning astronomer who tours the country in a bus giving presentations at libraries, sch

Exploring Mindfulness-based School Programs Around the World

Cristine Chen

May 24, 2021
3 min

Exploring Mindfulness-based School Programs Around the World

By Cristine Chen, CEI Intern Mindfulness-based programs (MPB) involve activities that enhance emotional self-regulation, focused attention, and social awareness (Khng, 2018). They improve students' social-emotional development and help reduce stress (Bauer et al., 2019). Exploring how other countries are implementing mindfulness in schools provides us insight into how to improve our current programs in the United States. We can also refer to these programs to ensure that our

Growth Mindsets and Mental Health Part I: “I Can—And Do—Change!” The Power of Growth Mindset Interve

Whitney Becker

May 17, 2021
5 min

Growth Mindsets and Mental Health Part I: “I Can—And Do—Change!” The Power of Growth Mindset Interve

By Whitney Becker, CEI Intern The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted educators to adapt in countless ways as they navigate teaching online, much changed in-person instruction, and hybrid models of the two. Educators have responded to the call, going above and beyond for the students in their schools. In addition to its disruption to the academic curriculum, the cracks caused by the pandemic have also illuminated an increased need for addressing the mental health of students. Educ

Part 2: The CASEL Guide to Schoolwide Social and Emotional Learning

Jennie Liang

May 11, 2021
3 min

Part 2: The CASEL Guide to Schoolwide Social and Emotional Learning

By Jennie Liang, CEI Intern CASEL, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, released The CASEL Guide to Schoolwide Social and Emotional Learning in the summer of 2020. Based on 25 years of research, this guide provides a step-by-step process for cultivating a school community that uses social and emotional learning (SEL) in every part of the students’ experience. The guide consists of four “focus areas” that are key to schoolwide SEL. This is part 2 of

Jackson Sims

May 11, 2021
5 min

Sleep Hygiene as a Self-Care Practice

By Jackson Sims, CEI Intern There’s only so much time in the day, so it can be tempting to stay up late when we don’t get to do everything we had hoped. For some people, a few hours of sleep is a necessary sacrifice to catch up on unfinished work; for others, missed sleeping time is spent engaging in leisure activities or enjoyable hobbies, a phenomenon loosely described as “sleep procrastination” (Magalhaes et al., 2020). You might enjoy taking the time for self-care activit

Mindfulness Practices for Educators to Rest and Restore Over the Summer

Aparajitha Suresh

May 11, 2021
3 min

Mindfulness Practices for Educators to Rest and Restore Over the Summer

By Aparajitha Suresh, CEI Intern Teachers don’t ever stop being teachers. From September to June, they face an array of stressors from both an institutional angle (increasing class sizes, shrinking budgets, changing curriculums) and students and their families. In classrooms with students who have experienced trauma, educators are likely experiencing compassion fatigue. Left unaddressed, these stressors can lead to burnout, “causing educators—often the ones who care the most—

Compassion Fatigue and Burnout: A Leader’s Responsibility

Center for Educational Improvement

May 11, 2021
5 min

Compassion Fatigue and Burnout: A Leader’s Responsibility

By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support As the end of one of the most difficult school years many have faced in decades is in sight, educators and parents are looking forward to the summer and the next transition. The feeling of burnout is nearly universal, no matter if your days have been spent hopping from one virtual meeting to the next, providing doses of the vaccine to community members, or juggling hybrid learning environments as a student, parent, o

Featured Fellows: Maranacook Community Middle and High School Principals

Center for Educational Improvement

May 11, 2021
4 min

Featured Fellows: Maranacook Community Middle and High School Principals

By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support A lesson that COVID-19 has reinforced for many school communities this year is that to overcome difficulties, we must work together to support each other. The trauma of this global pandemic has affected each of us in different ways, at different times, but having trusted colleagues in the fight alongside us has made shouldering the burdens of this challenge a little easier. Kristen Levesque and Dwayne Conway, Childho