The Teacher Toolbox for a Calm and Connected Classroom: Teacher-Friendly Mental Health Strategies to Help You and Your Students Thrive

by Joanna Schwartz, Michael McKnight (Foreword by)

Overview

The Teacher Toolbox for a Calm and Connected Classroom is a whole-child, whole-hearted approach to teaching, wellness, and student—teacher relationships.

Chock-full of practical advice and brain-based tools from an experienced teacher and counselor, this book solves the question of how psychology and education can enrich and empower both teachers and students' wellness. Peppered with relatable anecdotes from the authors' experiences, the book deals with how to help unpack the' "invisible backpack" that both teachers and students bring into the classroom. Chapters are broken down to show how to practically address common issues such challenging behavior, social-emotional learning, trauma-informed education, attachment theory, mindfulness, mental health and much more.

Each chapter outlines these common challenges but also provides an abundance of practical tools that can be used to help. Written accessibly, and with tools which are easy to implement, The Teacher Toolbox for a Calm and Connected Classroom is an indispensable guide for any teacher.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787754041
Publisher:	Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Publication date:	08/19/2021
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.82(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Joanna Schwartz, M.Ed, MA is an elementary school teacher and has trained and practiced as a family therapist, running trainings for schools and school districts. She currently trains 600-700 teachers and counsellors a year. Joanna's concept and pitch for her business Toolbox for Teachers won Mika Brezinski's (MSNBC' Morning Joe) popular Know Your Value Business Plan Competition.

Table of Contents

Foreword Michael McKnight 9

Acknowledgments 12

A Missing Wing and Where This Book Comes From 13

A Personal Note to the Reader 15

Preface: Standard Sizes and the Need for a Full Spectrum View of Schools 17

Part 1 The Case for Relationships

1 A Legacy of Relationships 24

2 The Invisible Backpack: What Counselors Know about Mental Health That Teachers Need to Know Too 28

3 Why Did You Do That? The Cognitive Triangle 32

4 Coping Skills: Dealing with What We're Feeling 40

5 Vital Signs: Easy Ways to Check in with Students 47

6 Curiosity: It May Have Killed the Cat, But It Can Save Your Classroom 57

7 The Story I'm Telling Myself: How to Repair Ruptured Relationships and Sidestep Hurtful Narratives 64

8 Cards on the Table Conversations: How to Find Out What's Really Going On 69

9 I Need a Lifesaver! Make a Plan No w for Difficult Behaviors 74

10 Like Porcupines on a Cold Night: How Attachment Theory Affects Your Classroom 78

11 A Feedback Sandwich: Connection before Correction 87

12 Do You Hear Me? Active Listening and Reflective Listening Statements 92

13 Schmooze Sessions and Just Because: How to Quickly Build Connections and Use Non-Contingent Positive Reinforcement 99

14 Classroom Relationship Map: Using Art to Uncover Hidden Dynamics 104

Part 2 How to Deal with Adverse Childhood Experiences, Trauma, and Chronic Stress in the Classroom

15 "What Happened to You? The Need for Trauma-Informed Education 110

16 This Is Your Brain on Stress 116

17 Trauma, Chronic Stress, ACEs, and Behavior 125

18 Part of the Equation: Teachers and Stress 136

19 Social Emotional Learning: A Trauma-Informed Best Practice 143

20 A Feather and a Rock: Balancing Kindness and Firmness 152

21 It's Not All Bad News: Oprah and the Power of Positive Childhood Experiences 156

Part 3 Weathering the Storm: How to Prevent and Process Meltdowns, Burnout, and Other Natural Disasters

22 The Storm and the Rainbow: Surviving and Thriving through Hard Times 160

23 Help for Your Nerves: Dealing with Anxiety and Anxiety-Related Behaviors 164

24 Like a House on Eire: Feelings First Communication 176

25 Stinking Thinking: How Cognitive Distortions Can Lead You Astray 181

26 Coming to Our Senses about Sensory Differences and Disorders 186

27 Highly Sensitive People 192

28 When You're Always Here: An Overview of Burnout 194

29 There's a Name for This? Dealing with Vicarious Trauma 197

30 One of These Things Is Not Like the Others: Avoiding the Negativity Bias 201

31 I Thought So! Watching Out for Confirmation and Implicit Bias 206

32 Room to Breathe: The Practice of Mindfulness 210

33 Finding the Good; The Practice of Gratefulness 220

34 Good Morning, Teacher-What's Ahead? 224

Part 4 Resources Section

Resources to Share with Students 229

Student Mission Statement 230

Check-In Wheel 231

Check-In Wheel (Cont.) 232

How I Am Peeling Today 233

Connecting Feelings and Sensations 234

Feelings List 235

Classroom Coping Strategies 236

Each Square Is Someone Who Cares-about YOU! 238

Mindset Bookmark 239

My I Got This! Plan 240

Mindfulness Activity Cards 241

Scripts and Templates for Teachers 243

Teacher Mission Statement 244

Sample Script: Sharing Confidential Information 245

Cards on the Table Conversations 246

Lifesaver 247

Pause and Ponder Equals Peace 248

Classroom Relationship Map 249

Steer Clear of Stinking Thinking! 252

Connect Correct Connect 253

Schmooze Session Prompts 254

Reality Check 255

Mindfulness Meditation 256

Full Spectrum View of Kids 257

Author Index 271

Editorial Reviews

I love this book. It is inspirational, practical, wise and vitally important. It covers much that I recognize from my own work in relational and restorative practice yet in a way that is fresh, informative and utterly compelling. How could anyone resist reading a chapter on attachment theory entitled - Like Porcupines on a Cold Night?

Dr Belinda Hopkins

As someone who supports educator leaders at the National Education Association, I know that a calm and connected teacher is a calm and connected leader. All educators should have the opportunity to read this book and the support to implement its practices. In a world consumed by a global pandemic, Joanna Schwartz's insistence on the importance of mental health in schools has never been more timely and important.

Annelise Cohon

We take for granted that educators know how to develop, maintain and enhance relationships with students of any age. This book is crammed with an extraordinary array of simple, easy and practical ways to connect with young people, to understand what their behaviour might mean, to understand our own assumptions and biases, and to help them (and ourselves) to cope when it is all too much.

Marg Thorsborne

I was blown away by the resources, the organization, and the ideas for connection found in this book. I was even more struck by the stories of children who needed us to take a second look at how we respond to their challenges. This book offers the right tools, strategies, and more importantly, the emphasis on relationship that a classroom needs to be trauma-informed and restorative in nature. It is great resource I imagine most teachers will return to over and over.

Joe Brummer

This is the book I wish I had when I first embarked on my journey in education. Joanna writes from the perspective of a fellow teacher who knows, who understands, and who has developed actionable opportunities for readers to foster their own vulnerability, empathy, and self-compassion in this work. Thank you, Joanna, for highlighting not only the importance of self-care but also the necessity of community-care...especially in the post-COVID education environment.

Danna Thomas

The Teacher Toolbox for a Calm and Connected Classroom is an eye opening, practical, and engaging book that is written to be revisited over and over. It provides tools to help our students thrive, with a focus on the importance of teachers caring for both their students and their own overall well-being. This is a must read for EVERY teacher, at every grade level.

Stacey R. Siegel