Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators

Our mental health series continues with Dr. Rina Bajaj. This conversation brings us great ways to reframe our inner monologue and strategies to refresh our approach to caring for self and combatting burnout.

This series is sponsored by Money Pickle, learn more about ways to connect with an advisor today: https://www.moneypickle.com/shiftingschools

Learn more about our guest:

Dr Rina Bajaj is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist with over 17 years of experience within the field of mental health. In 2017, she founded her private consultancy, Rina Bajaj Ltd, which offers a specialist therapeutic service for adults and young people providing therapy, business consultation and coaching. She has worked with many international corporate companies providing workshops and training on areas including staff well-being, mental health awareness, mindfulness, creating a positive mindset, motivation, habit building and stress management.

Rina is a regular contributor to national and international media and her recent media contribitions can be viewed via: linkt.ree/drrinabajaj Rina has worked with many interesting clients over the years including celebrities, entrepreneurs, professional athletes, musicians and artists. Rina is trained in a range of therapeutic approaches and believes in matching the therapy to the client, rather than the other way around. Her areas of speciality include relationships, anxiety and trauma. In May 2023, she released an Amazon best-selling self-empowerment book called “The Magic in Me”. Broken down into three main sections; the relationship with the self, relationships with others and connecting with individuals’ own identity, wants and needs; the book offers readers daily exercises designed to help them strengthen their connection to their true authentic self. Spanning a recommended thirty days, with journaling space provided within the pages, readers will be encouraged to make time for reflection to boost their inner confidence, self-worth and purpose.

www.RinaBajaj.com

Instagram @DrRinaBajaj

tiktok @drrina8

recent media contribitions can be viewed via: linkt.ree/drrinabajaj

Want to tell us more about how your school will action ideas from this episode?

Reach out to Jeff and Tricia at [email protected]

Learn more about our work and opportunities to learn with us at www.shiftingschools.com

Thanks again to our series sponsor Money Pickle for supporting our entire series on mental health!

https://www.moneypickle.com/shiftingschools

In this episode Dr. Craft shatters misconceptions and reveals the power of gaming for building social-emotional skills. How can educators effectively integrate gaming into their SEL programs?

Are You Ready To Unlock the Power of Gaming? The power of gaming can be harnessed to forge strong peer connections among students. By instilling the elements of gaming in social-emotional learning, students can be encouraged to reflect on their emotions and reactions in gaming scenarios, apply insights to real-life contexts, and foster belonging within their peer groups. Thus, far from being a mere recreational activity, gaming can be a potent tool for facilitating improved student well-being and social-emotional growth.

Learn more about our amazing guest:

Dr. Kristen Craft has served as a teacher, principal, and district administrator in public education for the past 27 years. A champion of students, Dr. Craft is currently the Scholastic Esports Specialist for Generation Esports. She helps normalize esports in education by supporting schools and districts to create a scholastic esports pipeline.

Mentoring educational leaders, teaching aspiring principals at the university level, presenting at multiple conferences, and connecting with leaders across the country, Kristen knows the impact leaders can have on a school or district. The culmination of her time in administration at both levels represents a lifetime of love spent in the greatest profession.

She is the Gaming Concepts Podcast host and has been featured in several ed leadership podcasts and publications.

Kristen was named the 2021 Kansas Principal of the Year.

Twitter - @KristenEsports @GamingConceptsU @JoinGenEsports @HSELesports LinkedIn - KristenEsports, Generation Esports

Links explored in this episode

‍LGBTQ Students Finding Hope in Declining Mental Health via Esports in Schools

https://www.gamingconcepts.gg/

Huge thanks to our amazing Sponsor for this episode!

Mackin

For highlights from this conversation:

00:06:52 - Gaming as a Tool for Connection and Belonging Dr. Craft explains how gaming at school provides an opportunity for students to find their peer group, build friendships across different social circles, and strengthen connections, ultimately promoting a sense of belonging.

00:09:31 - Rethinking Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Dr. Craft reflects on traditional approaches to SEL and suggests that incorporating gaming into SEL programs can make them more authentic and relevant to students. By addressing real-life challenges and experiences in gaming, students can develop skills like anger management and empathy.

00:11:08 - Using Gaming to Teach Emotional Regulation Dr. Craft shares an example of using gaming to teach emotional regulation. By discussing instances of toxic behavior and anger in gaming, students can learn how to manage their emotions and react appropriately, not only within gaming but also in other aspects of life.

00:15:34 - The Stigma of Video Games The guest discusses the common misconception and stigma surrounding video games, particularly among parents. She shares her own experience and emphasizes the need to normalize esports in schools.

00:17:21 - Esports and Marginalized Populations The guest highlights the positive impact of esports on marginalized populations, specifically LGBTQ+ students. She mentions a study that showed significant growth in self-esteem among students who had mental health moments integrated into their gaming concepts curriculum.

00:18:13 - Rapid Transformation with Esports The guest discusses the transformative effects of implementing esports in schools. She shares the results of a study where students showed tremendous gains in self-esteem within just ten weeks. Esports provides a sense of community and inclusivity for students who may feel marginalized.

00:22:12 - Leadership Skills and Career Opportunities The guest emphasizes that esports develops leadership skills and opens up career opportunities in a rapidly growing industry. She mentions the diverse range of professions related to gaming, such as chiropractors, accountants, and lawyers. Esports prepares students for the future and helps them become successful adults.

00:25:50 - Getting Started with Esports The guest encourages educators to reach out for support in getting started with esports. She assures that starting is not as difficult as it may seem and that they can provide guidance and solutions for challenges related to attendance, grades, student engagement, and mental health.

00:30:25 - Combatting Pushback Dr. Craft discusses the importance of being prepared to comb...

Introductions

Justin Hardman and Chris Betcher joined David and Jeff.

|Essential Question|

How to expand the learning community to the parents?

Jeff> Look at your technology vision and plan to include the development of a school portal that provides the tools to make the components of your plan a reality.

David> See his recent post that focused on two themes. One being that schools should use their portal to build on current practices that are already in place to connect parents and expand the learning community. Making information access and communication digital definitely enhances communication opportunities. A second theme is to invite our corporate parents working in 21st century information-rich jobs to our schools to share their experiences and expectations what skills they want their employees to have. Their real world experiences can help in the shifting process as teachers connect what they are teaching to the real world assessments their students will be experiencing.

Take Away from the Discussion:

-The recent breakout of a virus in HK reminds us of the importance of schools having the capability to go virtual with a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

-Sharing of the myDragonnet online learning platform with three components: classroom management tool, curriculum mapping tool and electronic portfolio. Justin has many insights to share.

-Wetpaint as a very useful wiki provider.

-Value of individualization in developing VLEs by having a programmer on school staff.

|Blog Posts of the Week|

Jeff: Planning for 21st Century Technologies

David: Jonathon's Blog on VLEs

Chris: Clay's Wedding Always Learning

Justin: E-Framework Electronic School

|Sign Off|

-Next show is Thursday March 20th. Catch it live at 7:00 PMShanghai time.

-Our guest will be Jeff Nugent from the Virginia Commonwealth Univeristy. Check out his Techne blog.

-Essential Question for the show: How do adults learn?

-Don’t forget to post Web sites/blogs to the SOS Del.icio.us bookmarking site that support our upcoming EQ.

Show Notes

|Introductions| Jeff and David shared their goals for doing the SOS: Shifting Our Schools podcast. The overall theme is to help individuals and schools make the shift in how they teach to expand their learning communities beyond the walls of their classrooms and schools. As international educators located in Asia and connected through the East Asia Regional Council of International Schools (EARCOS), Jeff and David designed the show for an international audience. Most folks connected to educational technology and the blogosphere know who Jeff is. So who is this David fella? David has been working as an instructional technologist, social studies teacher and counselor in international schools for the past 15 years. His most recent EARCOS school was Hong Kong International School where he taught in the Upper Primary school. He is now teaching at the very "shifted" Hsinchu International School. David's focus as an educator is to work as a learning partner with teachers in designing and crafting learning experiences for the students. His blog is entitled Lessons Learned. Jeff and David then discussed the format for the show. Each podcast will have its own Essential Question that connects to the overall theme of helping listeners make the shift. The hope is to include other educators along with a featured guest to have a discussion around the EQ. Everyone will then share his/her blog post of the week. These and other supporting online resources can be found at the SOS Podcast Del.icio.us site. Some time will also be set aside for any further discussions that come up including ideas and/or questions that come from the audience listening live via Ustream. David and Jeff will then sign off with a reminder of the next podcast date, guest and Essential Question. |Essential Question| Why shift? Both David and Jeff agreed that we need to do a better job in helping our students attain the 21st century skills they will need to be productive and adaptive citizens for a constantly changing world. Many of our schools are focused backwards on 20th century learning outcomes and teaching methods. We must transform how we teach and re-think what a school looks like, how it functions, as well as when and where learning takes place. Jeff:

• We have the technology so where is the shift in teaching?
• The world is becoming more connected, how does that shift the way we teach and the way students learn?
• It's recruiting time in the international world. How does a school with a mission to be a 21st Century school shift it's hiring practices?

David:

• The shift starts with good teaching and is enhanced by the use of technology and information literacy skills. It starts with focusing on what are the best instructional strategies that help our students construct their own meaning of the Essential Understandings that are the foundation of our concept-based curriculum.
• The technology especially with social networking and other Web 2.0 tools expands the learning of the classroom connecting students and teachers to other learners. So much of learning is about making connections and thinking laterally to new situations and being creative in applying one's new knowledge.
• For more of David's thoughts on why teachers and schools should shift, check out his blog post on the topic.

Take Away from the discussion: There is no set model for what a shifted classroom or school looks like. The shifting is a process that takes place on a continuum of learning and growth that professional educators are constantly pushing themselves to move along. Our passionate goal is to find new and improved ways to bring about true learning and understanding in our students. We work backwards via the curriculum review process in designing the assessments, instructional strategies and content/information resources that will guide our students to develop their individual understandings. We also build learning environments that continue outside the classroom with no time restraints on when learning takes place. These learning communities offer learners (students, teachers, administrators and parents) opportunities to...

Our special guest today:

Dr. Tony Walker serves on the executive team of The Jed Foundation (“JED”) – a national nonprofit that serves as a thought leader on school mental health and youth suicide prevention. JED works within Higher Education Institutions and PK-12 schools and districts to help leaders build systems that promote more positive mental health outcomes for youth. In his role, Dr. Walker leads JED’s Academic Programs team, supporting the implementation of JED’s programs and best practices of comprehensive school mental health and suicide prevention programming across our nation’s education landscape.

Previously, Dr. Walker worked in multiple roles in public education, including as a teacher, school counselor and most recently serving as an executive district leader over Student Support Services at Uplift Education, a high performing network of schools dedicated to providing excellent educational opportunities to more than 23,000 students in North Texas. Founding this work at Uplift in 2011, he established and supervised five large departments servicing 44 schools, including Counseling Services, Social Emotional Learning, Student Discipline and Restorative Practices, Prevention Programs, and Strategic Community Partnerships. Under his decade of leadership, Uplift developed and implemented one of the largest school-based mental health systems in Texas, allowing students and families direct access to licensed mental health clinicians in every school, robust SEL experiences, in-district family therapy services, and a full array of other wraparound programs and supports.

Further this conversation with the following links:

https://jedfoundation.org/

X (formerly Twitter) - https://twitter.com/jedfoundation

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/JedFoundation

Instagram - https://instagram.com/jedfoundation/

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