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HELPING STUDENTS IN A POST-PANDEMIC FALL

Educators face a range of mental, psychological, behavioral, and learning issues when schools return this fall from the pandemic's impact on children, their brains, and learning. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that from April through October 2020, the proportion of children between the ages of 5-11 visiting an emergency room because of a mental health crisis climbed 24 percent compared to that same time period in 2019. Among 12-17 year-olds, the number increased by 31 percent. A recent study by Harvard University researchers found that about two-thirds (67%) of the children they studied in ages 7-15 between November 2020 and January 2021 had clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and depression, and 67% also had clinically meaningful problem behaviors. That compares to only 30% with anxiety and depression symptoms and 20% with behavioral problems in a pre-pandemic study. A March 2021 report by Horace Mann found that more than half of educators (53%) reported a “significant” loss in students’ academic learning, and another 44% of educators agree there is “some” loss.

This conference will provide new research on the impact of the pandemic on student anxiety, mental health, and learning. Discover strategies to reduce anxiety and depression; reverse learning loss; reengage students; manage disruptive behaviors; improve trust and mental health; help children with ADHD and autism adjust to a new normal; and create calm, caring, connected, and trauma-sensitive schools.

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This conference will be presented as a hybrid conference.  You can either attend in person in Boston or participate virtually.  Click here for more details.

Click here for COVID-19 policies at the venue and for COVID-19 cancellation policies.


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You will gain knowledge about:

  • Calming students in an age of rising stress and anxiety
  • Promoting mental health in school, youth, and young adults
  • Ways to re-engage and help kids as they return back to school
  • The science of trauma and creating trauma-sensitive classrooms
  • Strategies for managing difficult behaviors and school situations
  • Creating caring, trusting, connected classrooms in challenging times
  • Achieving success with defiant, emotional, and disengaged students
  • Intervention and acceleration for "COVID Slide" in reading and math
  • Helping students with ADHD and autism adjust to a new normal
  • Science-based strategies for reducing anxiety and depression
  • Research on the pandemic's impact on child mental health

 

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Educators, Parents
Curriculum, Staff Developers
Speech-Language Pathologists
PreK-12 Teachers, Administrators
Learning Specialists, Special Educators
Psychologists, School Psychologists, Counselors
Early Childhood Educators, Professionals
Literacy, Reading, Math, STEM Teachers
Superintendents, Principals, School Heads
Adolescent Educators, Clinicians, Counselors
Social Workers, Mental Health Professionals
Guidance, Career, College Counselors
College, University Professors
 

Featured Speakers

Reestablishing Attention and Synchronicity in Children Exposed to Trauma

Bessel A. van der Kolk, MD

Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion

Wendy A. Suzuki, PhD

Under Pressure: Confronting the Pandemic of Stress, Anxiety, and Mental Health Concerns in Adolescents

Lisa K. Damour, PhD

Handle With Care: Managing Difficult Situations With Dignity and Respect

Jimmy Casas, EdS

Bridging the Gap Between Innate and Learned Behaviors: A Parent's Role in Promoting Child Survival

Bianca Jones Marlin, PhD

Collaborative and Proactive Solutions: Moving From Power and Control to Collaboration and Problem Solving

Ross W. Greene, PhD

Unwinding Our Anxiety in the Brain After the Pandemic

Judson A. Brewer, MD, PhD

Reaching Teens in Times of Trauma, COVID, and Uncertainty

Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD, MSEd, FAAP

1) ANXIOUS BRAINS: CREATING CALM, COPING, MINDFUL STUDENTS

Unwinding Our Anxiety in the Brain During a Pandemic

Judson A. Brewer, MD, PhD

Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion

Wendy A. Suzuki, PhD

The Science of Adolescent Mental Health: Can Mindfulness Help?

John D.E. Gabrieli, PhD

Director, MIT’s Integrated Learning Initiative; Grover Hermann Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and Cognitive Neuroscience; Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Co-Director, Clinical Research Center; Associate Director, Athinoula A. Martinos Imaging Center, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Co-Author, “Reward-Related Neural Circuitry in Depressed and Anxious Adolescents: A Human Connectome Project” (2021, Journal of the American Academy), “Mindfulness Supports Emotional Resilience in Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic” (2022, MedRxiv), “Sleep Quality, Duration, and Consistency Are Associated With Better Academic Performance in College Students” (2019, NPI Science of Learning), and “Greater Mindfulness Is Associated With Better Academic Achievement in Middle School” (2019, Mind, Brain, and Education)

Coping Skills for Kids and Teens: Strategies for Stress, Anxiety, and Anger

Janine Halloran, MA, LMHC

ADHD and Anxiety: Understanding the Relationship and Developing Practical Strategies

Roberto Olivardia, PhD

Mindful Decisions, Resilience, and Mental Wellness for Educators: Understanding the Brain Science

Donna M. Volpitta, EdD

Resilience Upon Return: Helping Kids Bounce Back From Stress and Trauma

Caren Baruch-Feldman, PhD

Maximizing Mindful Learning: Reducing Anxiety and Improving Achievement

Janice L. Houlihan, MEd
Laura S. Bakosh, PhD

Stress, Resilience, and Wellbeing for Teachers

Janeen Antonelli, MA

Co-Founder and Chief Culture Coach, Thriving YOUniversity; Former Teacher, Principal, and County Office Administrator with expertise in reaching and teaching at-promise youth; Consultant; Professional Learning Designer and Facilitator
Jessie Fuller, MA
Joelle Hood, EdD

2) DISTRESSED BRAINS: CREATING TRAUMA-SENSITIVE CLASSROOMS

Reestablishing Attention and Synchronicity in Children Exposed to Trauma

Bessel A. van der Kolk, MD

Bridging the Gap Between Innate and Learned Behavior: A Parent's Role in Promoting Survival

Bianca Jones Marlin, PhD

Creating Caring, Trusting Schools During Challenging Times

Richard Weissbourd, EdD

How the Pandemic Contributes to Feelings of Threat and Disrupts a Child’s Ability to Connect and Feel Safe: A Polyvagal Perspective

Stephen W. Porges, PhD

Trauma, Resilience, and the Developing Brain

Frank J. Kros, MSW, JD

Leading Schools Through Trauma: A Data-Driven Approach to Helping Children Heal

Michael Gaskell, EdD

Helping the Helpers: Recognizing and Coping With Secondary Traumatic Stress for Teachers

Mays Imad, PhD

Trauma Informed Practices for Educators

Janeen Antonelli, MA

Co-Founder and Chief Culture Coach, Thriving YOUniversity; Former Teacher, Principal, and County Office Administrator with expertise in reaching and teaching at-promise youth; Consultant; Professional Learning Designer and Facilitator
Jessie Fuller, MA
Joelle Hood, EdD

3) DISRUPTIVE BRAINS: MANAGING DIFFICULT CLASSROOM BEHAVIORS

Collaborative and Proactive Solutions: Moving From Power and Control to Collaboration and Problem Solving

Ross W. Greene, PhD

Handle With Care: Managing Difficult Situations With Dignity and Respect

Jimmy Casas, EdS

Brain Aligned Relational Discipline: Addressing Student Behavior

Lori L. Desautels, PhD

Achieve Success With Defiant, Emotional, and Disengaged Students After COVID

MaryAnn Brittingham, MS

Professional Development Consultant; Graduate Course Instructor, State University of New York at New Paltz; Co-Author, Transformative Teaching: Changing Today's Classrooms Culturally, Academically, and Emotionally (2015); Author, Motivating the Unmotivated (2008), Dealing With Difficult Parents: Powerful Strategies for Parent/Teacher Interactions (2005), and Respectful Discipline: Your Guide to Effective Classroom Management (2003)

Building Student Relationships

Craig J. Boykin, PhD

We Needed Executive Function During COVID-19 and Still Do: Implications for Assessment and Intervention

Jack A. Naglieri, PhD

Managing Overwhelming Frustration and Anxiety in the New Normal

Jed E. Baker, PhD

Relationship-Based Pedagogy in Service of Youth With Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties

Justin D. Garwood, PhD

Building Connections and Community: Promoting Positive Relationships in Schools

Glenn Manning, MEd

Reducing Stress and Anxiety in Children on the Spectrum

Marcia Eckerd, PhD

4) DISENGAGED BRAINS: REDUCING LEARNING LOSS & RE-ENGAGING KIDS

Using Insights From Cognitive Neuroscience to Support Reading and Reduce Reading Loss

Kenneth R. Pugh, PhD

Re-Engaging Student Minds During and After COVID

Kathleen M. Kryza, MA

Master Teacher; CIO, Infinite Horizons; Co-Author, Transformative Teaching: Changing Today's Classrooms Culturally, Academically, and Emotionally (2015), Developing Growth Mindsets in the Inspiring Classroom (2011), Inspiring Elementary Learners (2008), Inspiring Middle and Secondary Learners (2007), and Differentiation for Real Classrooms (2009)

Providing Academic Support for All Students to Address Learning Loss

Kathleen Lynch, EdD

How Tutoring Works: Strategies to Raise Motivation and Accelerate Learning for Learning Loss

John T. Almarode, PhD

Professor of Education, James Madison University; Co-Editor, Teacher Educator’s Journal; Co-Author, How Tutoring Works: Six Steps to Grow Motivation and Accelerate Student Learning (2021), How Learning Works (2021), Clarity for Learning (2018), From Snorkelers to Scuba Divers: Making the Elementary Science Classroom a Place of Engagement and Deep Learning (2017), Visible Learning for Science (2017), and Captivate, Activate, and Invigorate the Student Brain in Science and Math, Grades 6–12 (2013)

Rethinking Motivation and Mindsets: Strategies to Reengage Students

Andrew C. Watson, MEd

Classroom Teacher; Founder/President of Translate the Brain, a professional development consultancy; Author, The Goldilocks Map: A Classroom Teacher’s Quest to Evaluate ‘Brain-Based’ Teaching Advice (2021), Learning Grows: The Science of Motivation for the Classroom Teacher (2019), and Learning Begins: A Teacher's Guide to the Learning Brain (2017); Blogger, Learning & the Brain Blog

5) DEPRESSED BRAINS: PROMOTING MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING

Under Pressure: Confronting the Pandemic of Stress, Anxiety, and Mental Health Concerns in Adolescents

Lisa K. Damour, PhD

Reaching Teens in Times of Trauma, COVID, and Uncertainty

Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD, MSEd, FAAP

Youth Stress Vulnerability During COVID: Promoting Mental Health and Protective Factors

Maya L. Rosen, PhD

When the Kids Come Back: A Return-To-School Guide for Mental Health During COVID-19

Elizabeth K. Englander, PhD

Understanding and Addressing Mental Health in College Students: Findings and Lessons From the National Healthy Minds Network

Sarah K. Lipson, PhD, EdM

Microdosing Bravery in and Face of Fear: Cultivating Courage and Resilience in Today’s Mental Health Crisis

Kristen Lee, EdD, LICSW

The End of Adolescence: Supporting Youth and the Lost Art of Delaying Adulthood

Nancy E. Hill, PhD

Less Stress: A Data-Driven Guide to Better Decisions Making in the Early School Years

Emily Oster, PhD

Happy Teachers Revolution: Supporting the Mental Health and Wellness of Educators

Danna Thomas, MSEd

Why Cultivating Belonging in Your Classroom May Have the Biggest Impact on Student Mental Health

Casey M. Pettit, LICSW
Tristan Love, MEd

Co-Sponsors Include:

Integrated Learning Initiative, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

School Development Program, Yale University

Laboratory for Learning Engineering & Neural Systems (brainLENS), University of Connecticut and University of California, San Franscisco

The Neuro-Educational Initiative, Johns Hopkins University

National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)

The Dana Foundation

LEARNING & the BRAIN® Foundation