What Every Educator Needs to Know about the Brain

This week we are joined by Jessica Sinarksi, LPCMH, an author and thought leader in neuro-science who specializes in training educators about the brain and how to teach students of all ages how the brain works, and why it matters!

In this episode, Jessica explains how the brain functions and how to teach students to recognize when they are operating out of “downstairs brain.” Jessica also shares strategies educators can use to teach students to calm themselves in stressful situations and how to navigate difficult moments with others so that they can ultimately succeed in the classroom and in life. 

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

https://bravebrains.com/resources/ (Free!)

https://www.rileythebrave.org

This week we speak with author and counselor Tracie Berry-McGhee about the work she does with the SistaKeeper Empowerment Program in St. Louis and discuss strategies educators can use to help girls in their schools improve their self-image and reduce relational aggression.

In this episode, we speak with author Robert Jackson and discuss his Gold Excel award-winning book, Becoming the Educator They Need: Strategies, Mindsets, and Beliefs for Supporting Male Black and Latino Students and preview his upcoming Pre-Conference Session for the August Innovative Schools Virtual Summit titled Salvaging Our Sons: Helping Educators Reach, Teach and Empower Young Men.

Robert will present both a Pre-Conference Session and Keynote during the August Innovative Schools Virtual Summit August 5-8. Learn more at www.InnovativeSchoolsSummit.com/Virtual

With a majority of the nation’s schools being closed, teachers are facing a litany of challenges -- ranging from keeping students engaged in an online classroom, to monitoring student progress in a virtual setting, to handling the fact that not all students have the same access to technology.

To learn more about how to overcome these challenges, I am joined by Dr. Marquita Blades. Dr. Blades is an award-winning educator, an international speaker, and an author. She is also the host of the Dr. Marquita Blades Show – an internet-based broadcast dedicated to discussing current trends and issues in education.

On this episode, I speak with Mike Paget, M.Ed. about how classroom teachers can help students struggling with anxiety.

We discuss Mike’s Top 3 Strategies for helping students with anxiety conditions, how to recognize signs of anxiety and strategies teachers can use to educate all students on how to manage their anxiety.

We worked with Mike to create a free 90-minute online training titled Anxiety in the Classroom: How Educators Can Support Students with Anxiety Disorders and we are making this training available for free to all podcast listeners. 

To access this training visit InnovativeSchoolsPodcast.com/Resources

Mike will be presenting at several upcoming Innovative Schools Summits and you can find information on training he does around the country at WiredSeminar.com.

This week we speak with Kim Johancen, LPC about key warning signs that a student may be self-injuring, what a teacher should do if they discover that a student is self-injuring, key risk factors that increase a student’s likelihood of self-injuring and what school leaders can do to educate all students on mental health.

Kim is a counselor who has worked for a number of years with students who self-injure or who have experienced trauma. She is co-author of the newly released book, Traumatized Students: School-Based Interventions for Reaching Below the Surface, and will be presenting at Innovative Schools Summit Las Vegas July 6-10.

One recent study found that nearly 1 in every 6 American teenagers engage in self-injury. This equates to about 7 million students nationwide – which is more than the population of several states.  And the numbers are on the rise. Another recent study found that the self-injury rate among 10 to 14-year-old girls has nearly tripled since 2008. 

With these numbers in mind, we thought it was important to have Kim on the show to learn what educators can do to help students struggling with this behavior.

Here are links to resources relevant to the topics discussed in the episode:

Traumatized Students: School-Based Interventions for Reaching Below the Surface.

WebRemix: ACEs-Informed Schools: Take-Aways from Classroom Case Studies

WebRemix: Engaging the Traumatized Student