News & Events
The Connections Model
Knowing how to manage emotions is the foundation for learning.
It’s Tuesday at noon. Recess is over and it’s time for math. Your class returns and you give them the direction to take out their notebooks and work with their neighbor on a math problem. Everyone gets to work except for Jason. Jason is in the back of the room going through the crayon bucket. He ignores your request to sit down and instead continues to dig noisily through the bin. You give the class a 5-minute warning to complete their work. You ask Jason to put the crayons away and again he ignores you. It’s starting to get attention from the rest of your class. Time is tight and you need to move on. So you let Jason be and ignore his behavior. You’ll catch him up on the math tomorrow—when you’re also catching Julie up on the lesson she missed when she was upset after lunch on Monday. You think to yourself, “What’s going on here?” as you turn your attention to the 32 pairs of eyes waiting for you.
We Are Teachers mission is to inspire teachers and help them succeed by sharing practical classroom ideas, the best freebies and giveaways, and teacher-to-teacher advice and humor.
Adults also need to start having meaningful conversations with children about their feelings and provide strategies to remain physically and mentally healthy through this uncertain time.
Conversations about the Coronavirus outbreak are now shifting towards temporary or extended school closures, both in the U.S. and globally. In fact, this has quickly become a reality for many schools, first in cities like Seattle, and now in multiple states across the country. As a result, we can expect that children of all ages are likely feeling higher rates of confusion, anxiety, and fear of the unknown.
Thrive Global is the leading global behavior change tech company helping individuals and corporations unlock human potential, ultimately ending the stress and burnout epidemic. Thrive Global was founded by Arianna Huffington in August 2016.
Garfield Elementary School kicked off a new partnership this semester with Sudbury-based education technology company The Connections Model, whose KidConnect solutions help students develop emotional regulation, the necessary foundation for all learning. Starting this semester, five first-grade classrooms with nearly 125 total students have begun to pilot the KidConnect Ready2Learn Curriculum, a proactive social-emotional learning (SEL) program that helps educators provide direct instruction to teach the foundational skills needed for emotional regulation.
Spotify
In the premiere episode of Education Today, host Dr. Rod Berger interviews educational psychologist Lori Jackson gives her perspective on the episode's Data Insight and shares her expertise on SEL in schools.
edCircuit
Steve and Lori column discusses how educators should approach students Social Emotional Learning (SEL) needs. Critically in SEL, as in other subject, its important for educators to not make assumptions about students knowledge, competency, or understanding. SEL skills can and must be taught to students to ensure they are available for learning and prepared for life.
edCircuit combines the news and information you want with the opinions you crave. We aren’t just going to provide stale education happenings in the same boring formats. edCircuit will give you the power of video, voice, and platform to experience the conversations powering the new narrative in education! We are a collection of thought leaders in education business, practice, policy, and innovation.
Revere Public Schools
Teachers at Garfield Elementary School will pilot the KidConnect Ready2Learn Curriculum to directly address the key skills for student emotional regulation and behavior management.
Garfield Elementary School kicked off a new partnership this semester with Sudbury-based education technology company The Connections Model, whose KidConnect solutions help students develop emotional regulation, the necessary foundation for all learning. Starting this semester, five first-grade classrooms with nearly 125 total students will begin to pilot the KidConnect Ready2Learn Curriculum, a proactive social-emotional learning (SEL) program that helps educators provide direct instruction to teach the foundational skills needed for emotional regulation.
About Garfield Elementary School - Led by Principal Corbett Coutts, Garfield Elementary School serves 732 students, including 80 percent English as a Second Language (ESL) students and 42 percent who are English Language Learners (ELL) according to 2020 statistics. It is part of Revere Public Schools, located in Revere, Massachusetts, which serves more than 7,500 students district-wide.
Wisconsin Public Radio (NPR)
Listen to Wisconsin Public Radio The Morning Show's Kate Archer Kent talk with Steve and Lori about emotional regulation, emotional intelligence, and answer callers questions about teaching social emotional learning in schools.
Show Highlights: Research shows a significant link between emotions and behavior. Two educators explain how teaching emotions to children can help them academically. Plus, we take a closer look at the tools they’ve designed to help students develop better life skills.
"The Morning Show” is hosted by Kate Archer Kent. Join us weekday mornings from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and start your day with expert guests and insightful conversation to help you make sense of the news.
Big Deal Media
Eileen Belastock, Director of Academic Technology at Mount Greylock, discusses novel EdTech approaches needed to help address students emotional needs. "Technology can be a valuable partner for educators, edtech leaders, support staff, and parents in the implementation of SEL. The National Education Technology Plan, which is the road map for the development of district technology plans, highlights the importance of “noncognitive competencies” or SEL skills."
Big Deal Media saves educators hours of research and thousands of dollars while identifying top-quality resources and OERs for schools and classrooms. It is a content-rich collection of trusted print and electronic publications that offer the information and tools K-12 educators need-all vetted through the prism of the curriculum. It consistently delivers wish lists of resources and funding opportunities, and has done so since 1995.
Big Deal Media publications provide timely, relevant, and reliable resources in a rapidly changing educational environment, created with insight and attention to detail by seasoned educational publishing professionals and practicing K-12 educators.
Safe Schools Conference
Schools (66%) are searching for Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs to help manage discipline. A staggering 62% of teachers described being unable to teach due to student behavioral issues. Almost 13% of youth have experienced a major mental health issue in the past year. These statistics illustrate a real, urgent challenge. We need new methods to support students. This session will explicitly outline steps to teach students how to understand and manage their emotions.
Ground Breaking Elementary SEL Education
Educational News: The Connections Model has launched the KidConnect Ready2Learn Curriculum to help teachers improve student behavior and proactively teach the foundational skills needed for emotional regulation.
edCurcuit
Steve Peck and Lori Jackson contribute to edCircuit with a monthly column focused on providing educators a new approach to Social Emotional Learning (SEL). The September column looks at the beginning of the new school year.
edCircuit combines the news and information you want with the opinions you crave. We aren’t just going to provide stale education happenings in the same boring formats. edCircuit will give you the power of video, voice, and platform to experience the conversations powering the new narrative in education! We are a collection of thought leaders in education business, practice, policy, and innovation.
edCircuit is now rich in high-quality audio and video interviews, as well as opinion pieces, written by some of education’s well-known thought leaders
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The Learning Council
The KidConnect Classroom App was recognized as the app of the week for helping students develop emotional regulation and improve behavior. It provides students with effective strategies to identify, understand, and manage their emotions so they are ready to learn to the best of their ability. Importantly, a student can work on the KidConnect Classroom App in a self-directed fashion without being removed from the classroom, and also without disrupting peers.
KidConnect is Finalist for The 2019 Edvocate Award
KidConnect Classroom App was recognized as a finalist for the 2019 Edvocate Best Classroom/Behavior Management App or Tool.
Endless Opportunities
Smart Brief
One of the most challenging aspects of being a teacher is being able to manage both the academic and social-emotional needs of all the students in the classroom, Students' behavior has the potential to interfere with enarly every aspect of the classroom, making it quite difficult to teach when behaviors aren't regulated. It's simply not enough to teach academics; we need to teach social and emotional skills as well. For early learners, in fact, this might be even more important than academics.
Schools are searching for programs that target the core competency areas as outlined by CASEL or the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, a leading source on SEL.
SmartBrief is read by over 6 million leaders, by combining a unique technology and editorial expertise, SmartBrief delivers the most relevant industry news – curated daily from thousands of sources – in partnership with leading trade associations, professional societies, nonprofits and corporations.
edCircuit
Steve Peck and Lori Jackson contribute to edCircuit with a monthly column focused on providing educators a new approach to Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Core to the Connections Model approach is the understanding that emotions drive behavior. The August article focuses on teaching emotional regulation as it builds the foundation for learning.
edCircuit combines the news and information you want with the opinions you crave. We aren’t just going to provide stale education happenings in the same boring formats. edCircuit will give you the power of video, voice, and platform to experience the conversations powering the new narrative in education! We are a collection of thought leaders in education business, practice, policy, and innovation.
edCircuit is now rich in high-quality audio and video interviews, as well as opinion pieces, written by some of education’s well-known thought leaders.
THE EDTECH AWARDS
Education Talk Radio
eSchool News
ONEDUCATION
Endless Opportunities
Learn why 6th grade math teacher Caroline Burkard and her students love working with the KidConnect App. Caroline also highlights the impact KidConnect has had on her students ability to learn and succeed in her Somerville, Massachusetts public school.
eSchool News covers education technology in all its aspects–from legislation and litigation, to best practices, to lessons learned and new products. First published in March of 1998, eSchool News provides the news and information necessary to help K-20 decision-makers successfully use technology and the internet to transform North America’s schools and colleges and achieve their educational goals. Read by more than 300,000 school leaders, and a companion web site—eSchool News Online—is visited by more than 500,000 unique visitors each month, including over 280,000 registered members.
The edTech Guys
Podcast of The EdTech guys speaking with Lori Jackson and Steve Peck of The Connections Model about their app KidConnect and Teaching Emotional Regulation to K-8 students.
The EduTechGuys is a high intensity rollercoaster ride of super fun which takes mortal form in the two distinct entities which are David Henderson and Jeff Madlock. Crafted in the fires of Mt. Wannahockaluggie, these two self-proclaimed high priests of edtech first started navigating the world of educational technology on the web through a podcast.
Teacher Educators for Children with Behavioral Disorders
Lori Jackson and Steve Peck present research and proven techniques on classroom management and Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Advocating a whole class approach to teaching emotional regulation and an integrated model for students with EBD. Steve and Lori provide easy to use practical ideas educators can use immediately upon returning to their schools.
TECBD is an annual Teacher Educators for Children with Behavior Disorders conference. It is the premier educational research conference for teacher educators working with children and youth with severe behavioral disorders.
ASCD
Contributed article for ASCD's Manage Your Classroom with Strong Relationships Issue. Steve Peck and Lori Jackson provide insight on how educators can manage their classroom by teaching emotional regulation to their students.
For 75 years, ASCD has been at the forefront of education issues that affect learning, teaching, and leading. ASCD has developed trustworthy, research-based, and up-to-date information that shapes the international conversation on best practices to support the success of each learner. ASCD's members, authors, and expert cadres have read like a "Who's Who" in education.
TLTalkRadio!
Lori Jackson and Steve Peck kickoff the start of season 5 of TLTalkRadio! The episode discusses their work and how educators can make a difference with their students and schools. Discussion focuses on student emotional regulation, behavior and The Connections Model approach to Social Emotional Learning.
TLTalkRadio! is a weekly podcast with Randy Ziegenfuss and Lynn Fuini-Hetten as they share leadership stories, feature guest interviews and inspire educators to lead for the change we need in schools for the digital age.
An Alternative Approach to Managing Classroom Behavior
Boston College Lynch School of Education
Lori Jackson and Steve Peck regularly contribute and lecture on how emotions drive behavior and an alternative approach to managing classroom behaviors at the Lynch School.
The Lynch School of Education at Boston College endeavors to improve the human condition through education and applied psychology. As teachers, scholars, and learners, the Lynch School engages in collaborative school and community improvement efforts locally, nationally, and internationally. What unites their diverse work is the underlying aspiration to enhance the human condition, to expand the human imagination, and to make the world more just.
We Are Teachers
Article providing practical ideas for teachers on creating a positive classroom environment. Details actionable activities for the classroom to teach kids the connection between how they feel and how they act.
We Are Teachers mission is to inspire teachers and help them succeed by sharing practical classroom ideas, the best freebies and giveaways, and teacher-to-teacher advice and humor.
Professional Guidance
Lori Jackson presents how schools are faced with a growing population of students who have difficulty managing their behaviors. Based on research and extensive work with students, the Connections Model delivers a ground breaking program to teach emotional regulation to students. Using a new approach in the classroom to help these students both learn and manage their emotions in order to manage their behaviors.
TASH is an international leader in disability advocacy. Founded in 1975, TASH advocates for human rights and inclusion for people with significant disabilities and support needs – those most vulnerable to segregation, abuse, neglect and institutionalization. TASH works to advance inclusive communities through advocacy, research, professional development, policy, and information and resources for parents, families and self-advocates.
OCALICON
Lori Jackson presents research and proven teaching methods on how to meet the needs of students diagnosed with autism, ADHD, or other behavioral disorders. Research shows to change behavior, educators need to teach strategies to develop emotional regulation in and out of the classroom and enable students to develop new neural pathways to create lasting behavior change.
Established by Ohio state legislation in 2005, OCALI is a global leader in creating and connecting resources and relationships to ensure that people with disabilities have the opportunity to live their best lives for their whole lives.
Lori Jackson and Steve Peck present how schools are facing a growing population of students who require significant behavioral interventions. However, current special education supports are not designed to address the complicated needs of students with ASD and other emotional and behavioral disabilities. Learn about new compelling research in the area of Emotional Regulation that shows impacted brain region leading to a more comprehensive understanding of the type of therapies needed.
The Council for Exceptional Children is a professional association of educators dedicated to advancing the success of children with exceptionalities. We accomplish our mission through advocacy, standards, and professional development.