EMerced Learning

For real though! 💯

One of my most favorite things about teaching is watching my littles grow. This cutie dressed like me for a spirit day when she was in kindergarten and she did it again today as a 5th grader 💕

What an honor it is when a child looks up to you! I feel the weight of that everyday. Children look to us for everything. I hope my actions are ones that are worthy of those little eyes and minds.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ckbhu05gMm2/?igshid=NjZiMGI4OTY=

Elizabeth (She/Her) on Instagram: "I had another reel that was similar but the captions didn’t stick 🤦🏻‍♀️ Teaching the difference between tattling and informing helps empower students, saves time, and teaches students skills they will Elizabeth (She/Her) shared a post on Instagram: "I had another reel that was similar but the captions didn’t stick 🤦🏻‍♀️ Teaching the difference between tattling and informing helps empower students, saves time, and teaches students skills they will need for a lifetime. Not every compl...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjXuw3SOB17/?igshid=NjZiMGI4OTY=

Elizabeth (She/Her) on Instagram: "Teaching the difference between tattling and informing helps empower students, saves time, and helps teach skills students will need for a lifetime. Not every student complaint is “tattling” and not every... Elizabeth (She/Her) shared a post on Instagram: "Teaching the difference between tattling and informing helps empower students, saves time, and helps teach skills students will need for a lifetime. Not every student complaint is “tattling” and not every “tattle” is just tattling. Teaching my...

This sweet girl and I have been together almost nonstop since March 2020. Tomorrow we both officially renter our separate school buildings and I have so many feelings!

I’m so thankful I was able to stay home and make sure she was safe.
I feel blessed we were able to create so many amazing memories.
I feel worried that she will have trouble adjusting.
I’m scared she may end up sick again.
I’m excited she will make new friends and continue to learn and grow.
I’m feeling nervous- do I still know how to teach?

Just so many things.

As the school year begins for so many remember that there are always mixed feelings at the beginning of the year and for some there may be more than you know.

This post is for those who had to isolate more during the pandemic and are now transitioning back into their “normal” routines.

My daughter has risk factors that made it much safer to keep her at home or in a super small exposure bubble until she could be fully 💉 Now that she is we are being super intentional about supporting her re-entry to the world.

As with most things with kids I’m starting with the end goal then breaking it down into small skills we need to support.

Big goal-full time back in school, before and after care, possible activity such as dance.

We started at the end of last school year with after care one day a week at the same place she used to go and will return. Since she was virtual I dropped her off.

This summer she’s doing two days of camp a week at the same location. This is to practice separating from me in a familiar location with some familiar people.

She just started dance at a location where I drop her off. This is a new location with new people. This is to practice being away in a new location just like her new school. She’s never been inside her elementary school without me.

Some days still suck. Some nights she has anxiety and can’t sleep. Some mornings she becomes incredibly dysregulated and meltdowns. The years of identifying and naming our emotions coupled with strategies to regulate have been so helpful.

Today I drew matching hearts on our wrists so we would still be connected (while respecting her big kid need to not be embarrassed).

If you also had to isolate until your child was 💉 know that the transition back may be hard. Focus on the end goal and build out small steps for your little to grow into.

I shared these sentiments in my stories yesterday and many of you messaged and asked for something more shareable since you had the same feelings.

When tragedies happen it is important to hear from those who have been directly impacted BUT can we give them time to process? The same information can be disseminated without using children who are still processing an event that impact the rest of their lives.

To be clear I don’t necessarily fault the parents. They are most likely still dealing with trauma from the day as well. I do take fault with the media agencies that are using “exclusive” interviews with traumatized children to gain views. Views translate into revenue. Essentially they are using traumatized children to make money.

Personally I will not allow my views to reinforce this style of journalism.

I had a heavy realization yesterday.

Educators regularly think about how to keep our students safe. We want nothing more than healthy, happy, well educated students. Unfortunately we can’t do that alone.

What action steps are you taking to ensure our students and educators are safe?

Long, but good read on child mental health.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/03/21/childrens-mental-health-crisis-politicization/?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wp_main&crl8_id=8bae4721-71e2-46e1-b701-fb658a63561b

The children’s mental health crisis didn’t start with the pandemic Here's why that matters.

In her stories today Sharon shared this and it is worth emphasizing.

Educators are leaving the profession in higher numbers than ever. This is NOT due to *just* the stress or safety concerns of the pandemic.

Educators (like me) who left this year are finding employment in the private sector where they are paid more, their skills are valued and the workload isn’t crushing. Why return from that?

Those that remain in teaching are facing staffing shortages like never before. That means the typical difficulty of taking off while sick has become nearly impossible, teachers having their prep removed so they can cover classes, and specialists and academic coaches are not able to do their jobs because they are in classrooms subbing.

Teachers are now having everything they do questioned. In VA our governor created a tip line to report teachers with little information provided on what should be reported, who was collecting the information, and what would be done with it.

States are banning CRT with language that ends up legally prohibiting teachers from teaching truthful history.

Many of the new pieces legislation are also aiming to prohibit social-emotional learning in schools. The same people arguing against SEL are demanding that schools reopen for face to face instruction with no masks to promote “the mental health” or “social emotional development” of students. They don’t seem to understand that without SEL teaching students to reflect on their learning, setting goals, working through a peer conflict or even comforting a child that has fallen and gotten hurt would be impossible, they are all part of social-emotional learning.

Why come back to or remain in a low pay, low respect field where the workload is ever increasing and you are not able to teach based on child development and brain science because those making the decisions have no knowledge on education and would rather encourage false narratives than ask questions.

This will NOT be a problem for just this year either. I personally know dozens of amazing educators who have left the classroom with absolutely no plan to return.

How effective will the remaining teachers be if we burn them out until they are just surviving and not thriving?

I admit I am extremely concerned about the education my daughter will receive for the remainder of her k-12 education.

If you want to truly make our country more prosperous take a minute (or an hour) and have a conversation with a teacher. Then find an administrator and have a conversation. Talk to your local bus drivers, specialists, teacher assistants, etc. Find out what is truly going on. Intentionally listen to understanding instead of making assumptions.

Education impacts everything in society. Let’s make sure we are basing policy on what’s best for developing students and not on what a politician or a pundit or even your “gut feeling” is telling you.

In the previous post we talked about this lyric from in terms of how relational dynamics change over time. Today I want us to look at the differences in shine versus burn.

Stars are used in this context to describe family members with a gift. Early we talked about how the lyrics “you are more than just your gift”, among others, really shows the pressure that those labeled with a “gift” can feel. Pressure to be perfect, pressure to give to others, a pressure to always use their gift to the fullest.

Shining generally means “a brightness, especially from a reflected light” whereas burn “produces heat” (Oxford online dictionary).

Why does that nuance matter?

Shining shows that you are simply reflecting the greatness of those around you. It indicates you are living in harmony WITH others. Shining doesn’t destroy. It can continue on as long as the relationship with the light source continues.

Burning destroys. Literal definition continues to say “be damaged, injured or destroyed by heat or fire” (Oxford online dictionary). Burning doesn’t require you to build off the brightness of others.

The phrase “burn out” (which many of us are experiencing right now) comes from this idea that using all of your own energies, becoming too independent, not working as a collective can cause “physical or mental collapse” (Oxford online dictionary).

In the movie the very next line implores the family to remember they are more than their gifts. They are a constellation, working together to create the bigger picture.

Let’s reflect on whether we are burning ourselves out by being too reliant on our own talents and abilities or if we are shining by reflecting the talents of others.

So many ways to take this set of lyrics from
I want to take a quick look at two of the angles.

The first idea is that in a family each member is important, they help complete the “constellation” that creates the whole picture of the family dynamic. Without one member the constellation isn’t what it once was, it changes (more on that in a bit).

How does that fit into your family dynamic? Does each member feel like they fit? Is everyone accepted? Does each member’s uniqueness help complete the constellation?

What about in your classroom? Is each individual accepted for who they are? Is their uniqueness treasured and showcased as an asset?

The constellation shifts. People change. Family needs change. Nothing in life is permanent.

While we create safe places for our family members to be accepted as their whole selves (or as a classroom leader your students) know that those dynamics are living things that change over time. Relationships should grow and change and need to be fed through connections.

Labels are a funny thing. See most people think that if the label is “good”, one that describes a talent, a gift if you will, that the label is beneficial.

What ends up happening is our brains begin to see that person as that gift. We begin to lose the nuance and fullness that person brings to the world.

Those labels add pressure to preform, upholding the expectation. It becomes hard to be more than a caricature.

Gifts can be a valuable part of who someone is, but they are never ALL of someone.

What labels have you held? What labels have you given? Have you ever had a “gift” become a curse?

More lessons from

When children believe there is one “right” answer to a problem, one version of “perfect” they work inside the box. They fear mistakes.

Companies, families and the general public often ask schools to create critical thinkers who can solve the world’s still unknown problems. They want a workforce that can take initiative, sees both micro and macro problems and creates innovative solutions.

The way we currently run the education system largely dissuades that type of thinking. There is little room for divergent thinking and “perfect” answers are glorified at the expense of innovation, engagement and even self-worth.

Personalized learning, focusing on growth, and learning to think innovatively is so much more powerful than being “prefect”. Being the best you is powerful.

There are so many lessons in !

In “Surface Pressure” Luisa sings this line “Pretty sure I’m worthless is I can’t be of service”. I’ll give you a second to reflect on that.

So many of us, especially if you run a household, are a parent, or work in a service oriented field have felt that. As though our worth is based on what we produce for others. Have you stopped to think about where that originates?

While there are many places the need to produce in order to have worth can come from, I want to address one that we can control as parents and teachers- praise.

When we say “good girl”, “good boy”, or even “good job” repetitively when our child or students complete a task we are connecting the value of being “good” with the satisfactory completion of a task.

Why might this be a problem?

In classrooms the goal is continuous learning. That inherently means that mistakes will be made. Placing the emphasis on the final product robs students of their ability to learn how to learn. It creates fear of failure and fear impedes learning.

In our homes saying “good girl”, etc communicates to our children that they should hide their failures from us, that who they are isn’t enough.

This does not mean that we shouldn’t celebrate wins and successes. It means we need to focus on providing strong feedback. What SPECIFICALLY did you like? Did they work hard on that puzzle even when it was tricky? Did they ask for support when they needed it? Did they try several strategies or a strategy you taught them?

Feedback provides room for growth. Feedback also strengthens connections by showing the recipient that you truly see what they are doing and who they are.

Want more info on the power of feedback?
I’ve learned quite a bit from the works of Carol Dweck (Mindsets), .boaler (Mathematical Mindsets) and ._.kohn (too many to mention them all but Punished by Rewards is a great one to start with).

It’s time to start teaching skills, building relationships and

When I provide work for my students to complete I observe them (in kindergarten many of our assessments are observation based) or assess their work with the ultimate goal of better understanding what my students know.

I look for overall patterns that could indicate the whole class has similar misconceptions or gaps in knowledge which would indicate I need to reteach the whole class. If it’s just a few students or a variety of misconceptions I can work on differentiating small groups to provide specific supports. If it’s one student that is lacking mastery I find supports whether it is something it can change or supports outside the classroom from other professionals.

We should view behavior the same way. Behavior can be viewed as a set of social-emotional skills that need instruction and support. Each interaction with a student can give you valuable information on what you can teach, support, or modify.

As students progress developmentally their ability to master skills becomes deeper. This is true with both academic skills such as reading comprehension or number sense as well as with social-emotional skills. This is why it is so important to have an idea of what students are developmentally ready for as well as how the skill progresses.

When we begin to see behavior as formative assessments on what a student has mastered we begin to shift away from punishments and rewards and look more at how we can support and teach.

One of the major arguments I hear about getting rid of clip charts and point systems is that it works for most students.

What if I told you those systems often create a since of unbearable pressure and anxiety for many students, especially the “good” ones who are always on “green” or the top of the point leaderboard? Since I started I have heard from so many family members and students about how stressed those systems made students.

The pressure to be perfect, the pressure to meet unrealistic expectations, the pressure to not let others down it’s real and behavior systems that do not provide developmentally appropriate skill support are damaging.

My daughter is currently loving the new movie Encanto and the song “Surface Pressure” has so many lyrics that hit this topic of inner pressure so much better than I could:

“don't ask how hard the work is
Got a rough, indestructible surface
Diamonds and platinum, I find 'em, I flatten 'em
I take what I'm handed, I break what's demanded, but

Under the surface
I feel berserk as a tightrope walker in a three-ring circus
Under the surface
Was Hercules ever like "Yo, I don't wanna fight Cerberus?"
Under the surface
I'm pretty sure I'm worthless
If I can't be of service

A flaw or a crack
The straw in the stack
That breaks the camel's back
What breaks the camel's back

It's pressure like a drip, drip, drip that'll never stop, whoa
Pressure that'll tip, tip, tip till you just go pop, whoa
Give it to your sister, your sister's older
Give her all the heavy things we can't shoulder
Who am I if I can't run with the ball
If I fall to”

Look up the whole song and reflect. Do we want to create an environment where pressure like this can hinder learning, create stress, and foster a dislike of school?

Honestly I may have to make the takeaways from Encanto a whole series at this point.

I couldn’t help but say it one more time.

Why do we expect so much more from children than we are capable of ourselves?

I want to be clear that I’m not saying we shouldn’t hold students accountable or have high expectations, I absolutely believe we should do both. The most important part of seeing progress when holding children accountable is to support the development of the skills needed to achieve success.

If students aren’t remembering routines and procedures what supports are in place to help them be successful?

I consistently see memes saying “remind me to take attendance”. Not gonna lie, I’ve had to set an alarm to remind me to take attendance And even then it hasn’t always gotten done without an email or phone call from the office.

Strange considering it’s a basic component of my job right? It’s expected and there are systems in place to complete it. I’ve been doing it for over a decade.

Yet at least once a week it’s forgotten.

We all have something we are supposed to do regularly and yet we forget- taking that medicine each morning, taking the trash out, that bill you forget because it’s not on autopay, something.

For most of us we find a way to try to remember through an alarm, being reminded by someone else, habit stacking, etc and when we forget we strengthen our system shrug our shoulders and move on.

Why is it for our students instead of teaching them how to support their success through systems or teaching them the difference between a big concern and a small one teachers often levy consequences? We often punish students for not remembering exactly where to put the completed work or how to get a new pencil.

They are only in our rooms for a school year. Would you rather teach them a system that is arbitrary and valid only for the temporary time they are in your space or the skills to self reflect and create systems that work for them?

Let’s rethink how we respond when students forget the routines when we return to mmm from breaks and instead focus on the skills they need to be successful in life. Give them the same grace and support you’d like to have for yourself.

Deciding on a word this year for my has been difficult. Recently I’ve used the words “empathy” and “stretch”.

Stretch has by far been my favorite. It reminded me to press into those uncomfortable feelings when trying something new., just like stretching after a workout. That’s where the growth takes place.

The problem with stretch was that I was saying yes to too much. I wasn’t being intentional with my growth.

This year I want to be intentional with my growth. I want to CULTIVATE my growth. I think this will be especially important as we *hopefully* start returning to “normal” after being so isolated due to COVID.

One of my favorite accounts to follow for intentional growth is my friend Meg over at She is such an inspiration when it comes to thinking through the impacts of your choices and how that aligns with the vision you’ve set for your life.

If you know me you know I am NOT a hugger. I’m not typically emotional. I am not super sentimental and don’t hold on to objects just for memories.

When my grandmother passed 7 years ago it was hard. Like couldn’t eat or drink hard. Like prescribed several medications hard. She was my best friend next to my husband.

One solace I had was that she knew how much I cared for her. I told her regularly that I loved her and that she had a positive impact.

This year one of my mentors passed this year and she also knew of the life changing impact she had on my life.

If you know me you know I will often stop and randomly tell you that I care for you or that you’ve had impacted my life.

Take a moment to tell people that you care for them, that they’ve impacted you, that you are thankful for them. Oftentimes people don’t know unless you tell them. Check out the talk on “lollipop moments” for a great example of not knowing the I pact you’ve had.

I challenge you to tell those around you what they mean to you right now. Don’t wait for the eulogy.

Anyone else looking forward to a new year??

It’s almost time for 2022 and I AM READY! In the words of “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22”.

Let’s set some goals and rock out ‘22

An interesting take. What if we took behavior out of the equation? Pretty sure you know my perspective already 😉

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NOGnZHsJFU0

A Mental Health Message From Santa Claus 50% of mental health conditions begin by age 14 - that's why this year, Santa is delivering a reminder to pay attention to children's mental health and look ...

This time of year I begin seeing "cute" Pinterest, Intsagram, and Facebook posts about ways to incorporate Elf on a Shelf and even "Santa cams" into your classroom. The theory goes that once you bring these into your classroom children will magically be able to use self-control and "behave" lest the magical elf in a red suit chooses to not bring you toys.

As many of you know already I'm big on the WHY. Head over to my blog to see why I believe this is a bad practice and what to do instead.

http://www.emercedlearning.com/yes-im-the-grinch/

Check out this article by my friend Kara with a QA by me.

Gifting My Son an Extra Year Before Kindergarten Seven weeks into our son's Kindergarten year, we decided we would gift him another year before he will start Kindergarten as a five-year old.

I know EVERYONE is stressed right now. Parents, teachers, students, everyone. When we are stressed we tend to revert back to old habits. I can only imagine that’s what’s driving the increase in behavior charts and DOJO points I’m seeing.

I just wanted to share a reminder that punishing undesired behaviors often creates unintended consequences such as lying about the behavior, hiding the behavior or another maladaptive behavior emerging.

Rewarding behavior without explicitly teaching the SEL skill creates a dynamic where students who already possess that skill, either through developmental readiness or prior skill instruction, get rewarded while those who are not ready for the skill or haven’t been taught do not learn the skill.

Instead of focusing on punishment and rewards let’s focus on supporting skill development.

It’s time to

I did a story series on this and had a few people ask to make it into a shareable post so here you go.

I’d love to hear what you think.

Continuing with part 3 of the SEL series.

Using common language helps communicate and create common goals. Today’s post shares the language surrounding SEL competencies as defined by CASEL.org Their website has many resources to check out.

In the comments share what your district is (or you!) use to frame conversations about SEL.