I wrote two weeks ago about our first 2020 education conference: Educating Anxious Brains, in San Francisco — February 14-16.
Jessica Minahan
As you saw in that post, educators have lots to concern us: trauma & stress, and their effects on minds and brains. (Dan Siegel will have lots to say on these topics.)
Happily, the conference will get beyond the problems to practical, research-based solutions.
Below, I’ve described just a few of the speakers who will offer wisdom, practical guidance, and humor.
Creating Calm and Mindful Schools
Janine Halloran
Jessica Minahan has guidance (and practical strategies) for reducing anxiety and improving behavior in the classroom. (Her first book, The Behavior Code, helps us decipher patterns in students’ actions, and so choose the optimal approach for helping redirect behavior.)
To think about behavior from the students‘ point of view, you can hear Janine Halloran. Her perspectives, and age-appropriate workbooks, help students develop the coping skills and social skills essential for school.
Christopher Willard
Christopher Willard has been a frequent presenter at our conferences. If you worry about anxiety in schools, you’ll love hearing his approach to mindfulness as a way to rewire stressed brains.
Sara King
Speaking of rewiring stressed brains: you can also meet Sará King — a yoga instructor with a degree in neuroscience from UCLA.
Connecting with Students (Especially Teenagers!)
Christine Carter
Have you got a stressed-out teen in your classroom? In your house? Christine Carter — author of The New Adolescence — will offer perspectives on structure, autonomy, distractions, and (my favorite) “strategic slacking.”
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, one of the founding voices of the Mind/Brain/Education perspective, will talk about “embodied brains”: in particular, the effect of social environment on neural and cognitive development. (You can read my recent interview with her here.)
Clayton Cook
You’ve heard a lot about “positive greetings at the door,” and the effects they can have on shaping classroom culture. If you’d like to meet a key researcher in this field, come hear Clayton Cook talk about creating positive relationships.
If I know Lori Desaultels, she’ll be talking from her heart about combining regulation and connection to improve student well-being. (Check here to see what I mean about “talking from the heart…”)
Lori Desaultels
I wish I could introduce you to all the speakers we’ve got coming. Happily, you can do that yourself. Register ASAP. (No, seriously, it’s going to sell out…)
Interested in our May 2020 education conference, Schooling the Self? I’ll be introducing that conference soon…
