March 14, 2025 PD Day

In order to develop the self-management skills needed to set goals, maintain motivation, and achieve success, we must first activate our skills of self-awareness. In this workshop, educators experiment with a suite of exercises that enable them to reflect on and share about their identities, experiences, emotions, strengths, interests,
values, and/or sources of power. They then develop action plans for incorporating these tools in their classroom settings in order to teach students the self-awareness skills needed for well-being and success.

Providing 5-12 students with a cognitive behavioral approach to teach how to identify and to process feelings will result in developing strategies to cope with difficult situations. These skills will lead to improved self-regulation in students as well as increase increased ability to be actively engaged in learning.

A survey will be emailed to you prior to the session - please complete before 3/14. Thank you!

Creating a trauma-sensitive classroom fosters an environment for all students to learn because educators are uniquely positioned to help students overcome challenges and build resilience. Participants will review preliminary information and definition of terms and explore ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) before delving into academic instruction techniques and relationship building for teaching students impacted by trauma. This workshop will also examine misconceptions about trauma, the effect trauma has on the brain, and review common challenges when working with students impacted by trauma. Participants will have an opportunity to share and reflect on their current practices and to learn ways to improve their self-care to ensure that the classroom is a safe space for all learners to grow.

Zoom Link:
https://bpsdk12-org.zoom.us/s/82532446113
Meeting ID 825 3244 6113
Passcode 730929

About the Speaker: Lisa Kingkade, LMHC, M.Ed., (she/her) is a dedicated educational leader with over two decades of experience in supporting the social and emotional well-being of students. Until recently, she worked within the Milford Public Schools system, where she held a variety of key roles, including adjustment counselor at Milford High School, Assistant Principal of Stacy Middle School, Assistant Principal of Woodland, and ultimately, Director of Social Emotional Learning. Throughout her career, Lisa demonstrated a strong commitment to equity, serving also as the District McKinney-Vento/Foster Care Liaison, 504 District Coordinator, and Civil Rights Coordinator, working to ensure all students had access to the resources they needed to succeed. 
 
 

Teaching is a deeply rewarding profession, yet it also comes with unique challenges that can impact well-being and effectiveness. Educators juggle multiple responsibilities, from supporting students’ academic and emotional growth to managing their own stress and energy levels. This interactive workshop provides practical mindfulness strategies to help educators cultivate balance, reduce burnout, and feel more empowered in their teaching.
Participants will deepen their own mindfulness practices, develop strategies to manage stress and enhance focus, and learn to identify moments when students or the classroom as a whole could benefit from mindful interventions. They will explore practical methods to integrate these mindful moments into their lessons. Through hands-on exercises, guided discussions, and planning opportunities, educators will gain concrete tools to enhance their well-being, foster a supportive and balanced classroom environment for themselves and their students, and support social-emotional learning initiatives.
 

Participants will explore what it means to belong and how that impacts our instruction of students. Participants will review the CASEL standards for Social Awareness and Relationship Skills and explore tips and tools they can use in their classroom to both explicitly and implicitly teach those skills to their students. Participants will be asked to reflect on their own practices as well as how the school is teaching these skills to students. At the end of the workshop, participants will be given time to explore the tools that were shared and identify or create resources and/or lesson plans that incorporate these CASEL standards.

In this interactive workshop, educators explore interactive pedagogy strategies, aligned to the practices in the Curriculum Frameworks, for increasing the motivation, engagement, and achievement of all students in their classrooms. During this session participants practice high-engagement routines for teaching and assessing the communication and collaboration skills that students require for academic success. They then make concrete plans for embedding these routines into their lessons. 

In this workshop, we will look and secondary trauma and self-care. Secondary trauma or vicarious trauma is “a normal response to the ongoing exposure to other people's trauma.” Working to support people who have experienced trauma, and hearing, seeing and learning about their experiences, can have a cumulative effect on you and many aspects of your personal life.
Self-care is important for people who have experienced vicarious trauma because it can help them cope with the emotional toll of being exposed to other people's trauma.
Self-care includes, meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, exercise such as yoga, journaling, massage, and practicing progressive muscle relaxation, as well as creating a work-life balance and learning to delegate.

ZOOM LINK WILL BE EMAILED TO YOU PRIOR TO 3/14 - DO NOT SHARE LINK AS IT IS PERSONALIZED TO YOU

Session runs from 12:30 - 2:30pm
Time outside of session will be spent on reflection on how session will change your practice

Providing K-5 students with a cognitive behavioral approach to teach how to identify and to process feelings will result in developing strategies to cope with difficult situations. These skills will lead to improved self-regulation in students as well as increase increased ability to be actively engaged in learning.

Teaching is a deeply rewarding profession, yet it also comes with unique challenges that can impact well-being and effectiveness. Educators juggle multiple responsibilities, from supporting students’ academic and emotional growth to managing their own stress and energy levels. This interactive workshop provides practical mindfulness strategies to help educators cultivate balance, reduce burnout, and feel more empowered in their teaching.
Participants will deepen their own mindfulness practices, develop strategies to manage stress and enhance focus, and learn to identify moments when students or the classroom as a whole could benefit from mindful interventions. They will explore practical methods to integrate these mindful moments into their lessons. Through hands-on exercises, guided discussions, and planning opportunities, educators will gain concrete tools to enhance their well-being, foster a supportive and balanced classroom environment for themselves and their students, and support social-emotional learning initiatives.