SEL

Suggested Reflection Questions

1. Your role at Burke's

2. When did this opportunity take place?

3. Summary of workshop/ opportunity

4. Goals & Collaborations:

   - What were your big takeaways from your workshop or project?

Attending my first ever independent school counselor-specific PD in April was so meaningful. I am so grateful to CSEE for so effectively organizing the summit in Baltimore for the 60 counselors that were able to attend.

The biggest takeaway for me was related to the Open Hearted Approach that was presented and discussed by presenters from SEE Change consulting. While I value a trauma-informed lens clinically and professionally (and for some time that vantage point was lacking in our broader society), it is now at times become pathologizing and patronizing or undermining. I appreciate the goal of considering a person's or student's experience through the open-hearted wonder lens. Some of the indicators from this approach are: Wellbeing is more fully defined, students are more themselves, interactions feel well, not strained and the focus shifts from product to understanding. This means entering each conversation, issue, conflict and dynamic with wonder and…

June 23-24, 2025

Role: 5/6 Science Teacher and 6th Grade Advisor

The PD was held by IFSEL founder Nick Haisman-Smith, who framed this training as a means to become familiar with tenets of SEL and to get teachers to hopefully treat the advisory space not as a passive homeroom, but as the primary structure through which students develop a sense of belonging and connection. The idea was to build teacher competency about evidence-based approaches to belonging and SEL practices, and included a variety of different activities we could bring to our own advisory spaces and conduct with our student populations.

My big takeaways from this training were that as an advisor to 6th graders, I should keep a few main goals at the forefront, namely, establishing trust with students and fostering trust in each other, creating predictable routines, encouraging them to find and use their voice, reducing fear of judgment…

This was a full-day online workshop. I hadn't taken an RC workshop in just about 10 years, but I was so pleased that I still do so many practices we discussed, but I also learned a lot of new information. Linda Izzo was an amazing presenter--clear, organized, kind, and informative. It was interesting to talk with other specials teachers especially about opening and closing class. The workshop inspired me to offer more academic choice, especially to 3rd and 4th grade students. I also used to think it was ok to say "Thank you (name) for doing (desired behavior)" but learned it's better to not use the student's name for a couple of reasons. I think Responsive Classroom is fantastic, and it was great to do a PD to review and learn so much more. I highly recommend this PD to any specialists who haven't taken it!