The Hardest Part of Creating Boundaries: Step 2
I am the ultimate people pleaser, so when I discuss boundaries it comes from a place of knowing what it's like to disregard your own...
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- Sep 23
- 6 min
Is Their Trauma Valid?
It's human nature to try to organize information onto a continuum or into boxes. Especially during the course of an increased level of...
- Sep 3
- 7 min
Advice for New Teachers - Know when to hang on, let go, and lean in
I am confident in saying that most educators remember their first year of teaching, or at least remember parts of it in the blur that it...
- Aug 7
- 5 min
Clearly Communicating an Ecosystem of Mental Health Support for Students
To help our students be successful, we know that teaching them to problem solve and search resources for what they need is a necessary...
- Jun 14
- 11 min
Who is responsible for educators' mental health and wellness?
There are few other professions or systems that need to be more closely aligned than education in order to function. Administration...
- May 31
- 9 min
How do we support traumatized students while still protecting those who aren't?
My youngest daughter is adopted. She was brought home as a 10-month-old baby from Guatemala all chunkiness and big brown eyes. We were in...
- May 17
- 3 min
Dealing with Overwhelm
Even people who speak on mental health and know the impact of mental health issues can struggle. I've been dealing with emotional...
- Apr 4
- 5 min
Dear Districts: Time to Wake Up, The Teachers Aren't Coming
There's an interesting phenomenon that happens when it comes to change where the catalyst is adversity - people don't want to believe...
- Feb 21
- 4 min
Why is Discussing Teacher Pay Important?
The idea of discussing teacher pay has long been largely ignored. At the root, it seems that as a society we underpay professions that...
- Feb 6
- 4 min
Five Focuses: A strategy for prioritizing and calming work chaos
For many of us, work has been a source of overwhelming emotions for the last couple of years, and even though my focus is mental health I...
- Nov 10, 2021
- 4 min
The Fight: Self-care vs. Systemic Change
As a mental health advocate and consultant, I speak about self-care. A lot. Districts ask me to come in and speak about self-care. A...
- Oct 14, 2021
- 3 min
The Wounded Healer - Teacher
The wounded healer is a pretty common psychological term that refers to the idea that people who consider themselves healers can only...
- Jul 29, 2021
- 3 min
Things I Will Never Do As a Mental Health Advocate
Since the day I started speaking openly about my own mental health issues roughly seven years ago, I have owned my issues and my healing....
- Jul 11, 2021
- 7 min
SEL Opportunities to Support Student Mental Health Post-Pandemic
I was recently asked why I have such a problem with the term “learning loss” (or any version of that term). It’s not that I don’t believe...
- Jul 2, 2021
- 3 min
How Resilient Do We Want Districts To Be?
Resilience has become a buzzword throughout the pandemic. I’ve used it myself – admittedly we need to cultivate resilience in ourselves...
- May 31, 2021
- 5 min
Dear Mandy, How do I heal this summer?
Dear Friend, You have come such a long way over the last 18 months, it’s truly incredible. Have you celebrated that? When you reflect...
- May 6, 2021
- 5 min
How Learning to Love Myself Impacts My Service to Others
Over the course of the Pandemic I’ve taken the opportunity to dive into reflection and learning more about emotions and how they control...
- Mar 2, 2021
- 3 min
The Potential for Sensory Overload Post-Lockdown
I like warm hugs. There, I said it. I’ve never considered myself much of a hugger, but since the pandemic, I have developed a new...
- Jan 20, 2021
- 5 min
Three Strategies for Fighting Educator Self-Abuse
I’m not smart enough to keep up with new technology. I’m not cut out for this new way of teaching. I’m not good enough to be able to keep...
- Dec 30, 2020
- 4 min
Can We Change the Lens in Which We View Parents?
I was a young mother. I had my eldest son a few months after turning 21. Having dropped out of college to do so, I was not my school...