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The sky has changed. The sun has become brighter because the air pollution has been cleared in the sky. The air is purified, so that the flowers and leaves of the trees look more healthy and fresh. The noise is less calm and peace. The fear of being acquainted with one another has fueled the fear and color of the world. The social isolation created by doctors has led people to miss their close relationships. Everybody is staying clean and every time they wash their face, there is a strange...

By Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle, March 31, 2020 California schools will be unable to reopen this year given current safety concerns and ongoing social distancing, the state superintendent told county officials Tuesday. The letter, obtained by The Chronicle, was not a directive, but rather an acknowledgment that the still growing coronvirus crisis will mean schools must stay shuttered. While classrooms will remain closed, education will continue, Superintendent of Public Instruction...

Caring for Each Other: How to Use Sesame Street in Communities Resources for Health Emergencies with Families Now Wednesday, April 1, 2020 @ 3 PM ET We're all in this together, and that's why we're all coming together. Sesame Workshop and the Brazelton Touchpoints Center are partnering on a webinar series, beginning April 1st, to share online resources that can help us handle the sudden changes in our lives when we face health emergencies like the one that confronts us today. As a result of...

By Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post, March 26, 2020 “Anxiety” is one of the words you hear frequently about our individual and collective reactions to the coronavirus pandemic — which has stopped public life in its tracks in much of the world. Kids are anxious. So are their parents and teachers and principals and superintendents and friends and elected officials. For those people who were anxious before covid-19, the sense of apprehension has only deepened. Given that, this post offers...

Here's a link to the book I wrote to help kids understand social distancing and express their own emotions. This is really important or things stay bottled up inside. It is now in video version; podcast and ebook are coming. Feel free to forward to others -- kids of all ages across the nation and the globe.Reprint the link. Do an article on it. Share with friends. Circulate it. Tweet it. Free resource. Bottom line: make it viral. The cover is attached!!! I hope it helps. Navigating emotions...

Educators, I know many of you understand the important role strong families and communities play in the lives of your students. Ideas are included below to develop community resilience that, ultimately, support your students in the process. I have been fielding requests about community resilience development and want to share with all of you a document that others are finding helpful. I initially created the document (below and pdf attached) for our host entities to distribute to the cohorts...

By Karen Gross, Teachers College Press, March 20, 2020 Just as we are hearing about positive research efforts to combat the coronavirus in the relative near term, we are learning that some statewide school systems may stay closed through the end of the 2019–2020 school year. As of this writing, one state—Kansas—has affirmatively closed all its schools until the next academic year. Other states will likely follow in the coming days, including California, Arizona and Texas. The critical...

Hi ACE Friends and Family, I'm starting a FB Live Video for parents at 10am daily starting tomorrow (Thursday, 3/26/20), followed up with FB Live Video for children at 1030am. We'll talk about how to manage this new way of life and relationships while we "Shelter in Place." Here's the page please join us and share with others. https://www.facebook.com/dr.bconnections/ Love, Dr. B

On Monday we asked our community of educators what they need in the face of uncertainty caused by school closures and the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 2,000 educators responded, and the range of those responses illustrates the incredible responsibilities they feel for their students’ learning and well-being. More than 98 percent were facing school closures—and the ensuing consequences fell on educators quickly. Overwhelmingly, these educators requested resources they could easily share with...

From our friends at the Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (A SAMHSA funded TA center for the mental health field) School Mental Health Wellness Wednesdays! In times of uncertainty, there is one thing we do know: educators and school mental health leadership are resilient, creative, tenacious and…needing support to provide support. The context of our schools is changing, and the context of our work is changing. In times of uncertainty, unpredictability, and...

We have started, and are adding to daily, a free resource page for teachers, educators, parents, and students. It is filled with activities, educational & behavioral resources, and more. These are gathered from around the internet and my own stuff as well. We are offering daily tips, tools, and projects through our FB page linked here . The big message is all about Collective Resilience - Together We Rise. Be sure to like our FB pageso you can get notified when we put new stuff up!

Check out this podcast from the Trauma-Informed Educators Network Podcast ( https://soundcloud.com/mathew-portell-93233744/episode-14-dr-eric-rossen ) - focused on applying the 6 Principles of Compassionate, Trauma-Informed Schools, including during the current school closures from COVID.