Behavior is the Language of Trauma

I have been approached by many people recently about dysregulation. Students are dysregulating. So are educators. So are parents. So are families. So are individuals in relationships. So are workers. So are travelers. So are drivers of vehicles. So are folks across our nation. Look at the above image. On the left side at the …

Karen Gross of Gloucester, MA participated in the U.S. Army War College annual National Security Seminar in Carlisle, Pa., June 5-9, 2022.

Karen Gross of Gloucester, MA (1st row, 2nd from left) joined the U.S. Army War College student body for the National Security Seminar, June 5-9, 2022. Selected representatives from across the United States were invited to join the graduate-level seminar and exchange thoughts about national security topics in the capstone phase of the USAWC graduate …

Trauma-Sensitive book “My Pocketbook” promotes an understanding of the import of transitional objects for all.

Karen Gross’ books … leave you hanging on every word. She always captures you, embraces you, educates you and leaves you with a huge smile on your face with a sense of understanding and total glee.” — Jackie Coogan, Adjunct Faculty, Bunker Hill Community College, Spring 2022 BOSTON, MA, USA, June 22, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — …

Most Schools Are Not Prepared to Be Places for Grieving Students (Yet)

Recent students are identifying how many children lost parents and guardians and primary caregivers during the Pandemic across the globe. By any measure, the numbers are staggering. If you add in the number of grandparents and relatives and educators who have died, many children will have experienced death during the past 18 months (and that …

Idea: Replace School Police Officers with Mental Health Teams Now

The Brookings Institution (Brookings) just released a report on the value of cities using mental health teams rather than police to address many of the issues that arise in communities. It is an idea that has already received traction in some circles and there is federal funding for these efforts. See I want to use …

The verdict sends a powerful (although still incomplete) message to children of all ages

As an educator, I think the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial provides teachable moments that should not be lost. They need to be discussed and processed with students (in many ways and on many levels) so that they can come to understand this moment in time in America and the possibility — the real …

Educational Leaders Who Fail Us

I have become increasingly worried about a too-large group of educational leaders (presidents; superintendents; chancellors; provosts) who are failing at their jobs and those failures can take many forms. In the interest of full disclosure, I was one of them. But with the benefit of now more than half a dozen years and a well-cleaned …

The Power of Poetry and the Teachable Moments related to Amanda Gorman

When Amanda Gorman read her poem The Hill We Climb (or did Spoken Word in a sense) at the Inauguration of Joe Biden, a nation stopped and listened. Well, at least most people did. Poetry at an Inauguration is not something extraordinary (although this young poet is). I still remember Robert Frost reciting a poem at John …

Sometimes, You Get a Book Review that Truly Hits Home

I have been privileged over the years to get wonderful reviews of my adult and children’s books. (Yes, there were a few really nasty ones for a book released in 1997 — and there is one reviewer with whom I have simply agreed to disagree.) Reviews are often general and not personal to the reviewer …

Why Choosing a College is NOT like Choosing a Mattress

A recent article from the Christensen Institute stated overtly that choosing a college is like choosing a mattress. In short, the argument proffered in that both choices involve lack of information symmetry, are difficult to understand and present vocabulary that is impenetrable to the layperson. And, there are so many choices, we can’t actually choose …