The first few weeks of school is where we really begin to solidify classroom expectations for the semester and for the year. We often come in hot the first week, outlining what we expect from students, listing things such as "respect, due dates, attendance, cell phone policy," etc. However, aside from these basic rules to set a tone for the class, what are the other expectations, often communicated non-verbally or addressed only when they're breached? How can we establish these expectations, or perhaps better referred to as "mutual understandings," early on with our class to make sure our stud ..read more

Anyone else LOVE bringing their dog to school?! I don’t do it often, but when I hold weekend rehearsals, or we have Pro-D days and I have some kids coming in, I love bringing Duke to school with me! Duke is an 80-lb Shar-pei cross who joined my family 7 years ago. He’s now 11 years old, and has gone through a complete metamorphosis since coming into our home. He is healthier, happier, and so much sweeter and more loving than I could have ever imagined. Personal Anecdote Time! When I first started bringing Duke to work with me, it was when I worked as a counselor at an in-patient addiction trea ..read more

As someone who touts the importance of building relationships both on this blog and in real life, you're probably wondering what the hell this even means... Of course, I fully endorse teachers building relationships with students! However, there is this trend happening right now where other teachers, professional development workshops, and education experts emphasize the importance of relationship, but stop short of telling us *how* we actually build relationships. Furthermore, even those teachers who do give tips on how to build relationship, don't necessarily explain how to implement these s ..read more

When we start teacher college, we are often told how to establish professional boundaries with our students, which can include limiting our social media, not sharing our address/ phone number, and not giving students any personal information about ourselves. Although it is important to establish clear work-life boundaries, self-disclosure can sometimes be a grey area. (Note: this article will consider your own level of personal disclosure, how it relates to trauma informed principles, and ethical disclosure). Everyone has their own comfortability around level of disclosure. Some teachers refus ..read more

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that I am not only a counsellor, but also a theatre teacher. This is my passion subject and I love teaching theatre and I LOVE directing our musical every year! Now, I promise you, if you make it to the end of this article, you’ll find relevance, even if you don’t know your stage right from stage left! This article is not for theatre teachers alone! This is for you, too! All teachers are under tremendous amounts of pressure to meet deadlines, learning goals, and balance the needs of a diverse group. But one thing I always say about musical theatre in ..read more

There are many things teacher college didn't tell you - here I'll outline the 5 things I wish teacher college had told me to prepare me for my teaching career! When I started teacher college, I recall being told "Don't smile for the first month of teaching." Aaaanndd then it was another year of theory and pedagogy with very few practical tools or advice. Even a practicum, which is, by its very definition, a "practical" section of a course, is a completely inauthentic experience. We are encouraged to teach just like whoever is assigned as our supervising teacher. We make mistakes, and we're as ..read more

Although a Covid Trauma Response can look a myriad of ways, we will certainly see some of these issues arise in our students after spring break! Here I'll outline what a Covid Trauma Response may look like in school! Me on March 12, 2021: "Have a great spring break! See you in two weeks!" Student: "That's what you said last year..." This hit me hard. Although I'd certainly been feeling anxious about going on Spring Break (I mean, I've been burned before!) I didn't realize how much it was going to affect my students. As we wrapped up our final rehearsal for our spring musical on Friday before s ..read more

This last week my Musical Theatre students were faced with a bullying incident that compromised the feeling of safety that we've worked hard to cultivate over the years. Read on for how I addressed the bullying with my students, and how I attempted to navigate dealing with an anonymous cyber-bully! Each year, I have a graduated student return to help assistant direct the show. This is a great opportunity for them to learn the behind the scenes tasks needed to put together a production! Part of this learning involves advertising and managing our musical social media pages. For the past 3 years ..read more

Student resistance is a recurring theme throughout this blog and podcast - and for good reason! Resistance can be a teacher's best teaching tool! Although we see resistance as a positive in terms of resisting oppression, we typically only allow that definition on the grander scale, not acknowledging day to day resistance as being equally as powerful. Daily acts of resistance are often given a really bad rep, particularly with young people. We hear that our students are resistant to learning or in the case of mental health, we hear that young people are resistant to treatment or counseling. But ..read more

Welcome to What’s the T(rauma)! We’re so excited to have you here! This is where you get information and classroom resources to create trauma-informed classrooms, schools, and districts! The teaching world has a lot of buzzwords flying around, all of which seem to feed into the latest mandatory professional development opportunity. Some of the common ones we’re hearing these days are social-emotional learning, mental health, and classroom management. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with these professional development topics, they miss an important aspect of creating safer learning e ..read more