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Strengthening Family and School Partnership at Sunnycrest Elementary
Kelley Schottle is the Principal at Sunnycrest Elementary in the Federal Way, WA, School District. In the summer of 2023, Schottle participated, along with half of her school staff, in the BELONG Partners workshop Rooted Relationships: Growing Equitable Classroom Communities workshop. After taking that workshop, Schottle was interested in other components of the BELONG Partners […]
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Co-Regulation is Not Just a Buzzword, and It Can Be Practiced by Everyone
Co-regulation may be the new parenting buzzword, but human beings have utilized co-regulation strategies since time immemorial. Ancestral knowledge teaches us that singing together in ceremony (which stimulates the vagal nerve), drumming (which stimulates both sides of the brain), and spending time in nature (which soothes our nervous systems) are all regulating practices. The strains […]
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Mentor Teachers Provide Inspiration and Support for New Teachers
Kalmiopsis Elementary School in Brookings, Oregon, is in the third year of its journey to whole-school transformation in partnership with BELONG Partners. Roxana Amaral, BELONG Partners Director of Strategic Partnerships, describes Kalmiopsis as “an innovative school community who cares deeply about fostering the agency and voice of young people. Educators at Kalmiopsis are driven by […]
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Co-Regulation Supports Parents and Their Children
Have you ever been in a long line at the grocery store with your toddler on the brink of a tantrum? You are not alone. Our society teaches parents that children are meant to obey adults, which leaves parents feeling frustrated when their children are unable to obey due to big emotions. As we learn […]
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Teaching Brain Science Demystifies Emotions and Behaviors
One way to deepen your understanding of behavior and emotions is to learn, and help your students learn, about brain science. When one of your students melts down and it turns into a domino-effect meltdown for multiple other students in your class, it can feel defeating. When we understand the basics of how the brain […]
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An Interview with Matthew Reynolds
Matthew Reynolds ((they/he/we), does transformative work in the education equity space. They are a practitioner of equity and healing, an author, facilitator, educator, and brilliant human being. We met Matthew through our work with schools and districts in Southern Oregon. We are grateful they took the time to share their wisdom and journey with us […]
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How Educators Can Co-Create Equitable Learning Communities
This month, we are highlighting the transformative work of Matthew Reynolds (they/he/we). We met Matthew through our work with schools and districts in Southern Oregon. Since that time, we have had the opportunity to get to know them through their work as an equity consultant with our district partner, the Southern Oregon Education Service District. […]
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Advocating for Equitable Discipline Practices – the South King County Discipline Coalition (SKCDC) A version of this article was originally published in April of 2019 in the South Seattle Emerald. Disproportionate discipline practices fuel the school-to-prison pipeline, and oftentimes parents feel powerless to change disproportionate discipline outcomes for their children. One group of dedicated Black […]
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Our Thoughts on PBIS and What Truly Motivates Behavior
Recently, one of our colleagues posted this article in our Slack #Learning channel – Problematizing PBIS: Resource Round-up, by Alex Venet (on the blog Unconditional Learning). It inspired a conversation about how we approach our work in schools here at BELONG Partners. In the article, Venet points out that the roots of PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions […]
Sound Discipline is now BELONG Partners!
