As I reflect on the days when I started teaching 5th grade math in 1994 - I really wish there had been

(and would have mentally and emotionally benefited from) the location of safe spaces on campus - during the school day for conversations about real self care i.e., taking real good care of ME.

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I remember all of the spaces created to exchange instructional best practices - staff meetings, professional development, PLCs and grade level team meetings - but there was never a deliberate space or time dedicated to the exploration and expression of best practices for personal wellbeing and self care.​

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As a first year teacher - I needed to be given guidance on how and reminded to:

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• create a plan for my own mental and physical health while I was creating lesson plans with my grade level team 

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• carve out time to implement a morning routine that helped me ease into each new school day with a greater sense of calm and gratitude

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• care for and tend to my own needs as much as I was caring and tending to the needs of the students I served 

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• cultivate a way of living (outside of school hours) that made life feel lighter and more relaxed

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• collaborate with coworkers to build a great teaching career and build a life outside of that teaching career that was loaded with meaning and fulfillment.

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I needed my school and district administrators to communicate to me that my personal success mattered just as much as the academic success of my students did.

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Research shows that the best way to communicate to people that their

needs matter is to care for them.

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Care for who they are...

Care about what makes them unique...

Care about what they value...

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It's not soft.  It's science.

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Ready to redesign and transform the way your school, organization or district

gathers for conversations about self-care and personal wellbeing? 

Need training on how to make these spaces safe?

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Let's start the conversation here.