Sticky Hope

Sometimes it is difficult for students to know how to get along with one another. They can exclude each other or be unkind. Sometimes a student makes a mistake and it's difficult to know how to forgive them and still be friends with them. We share two wordless picture books that will help navigate how to respond to these situations. Takeaways Wordless picture books can be powerful tools for teachi...

Tricky behaviors happen in all classrooms. When we have a plan for how to respond, we are able to relax and focus our attention on the the act of teaching. We share a simple framework to respond to tricky behaviors. It is called the OWL Framework and it helps us stay rooted in connecting to students and keeping our attention on learning. This is Sticky Hope. Takeaways Tricky behavior is common in...

As the newness of the school year wears off, we want to remember who we are, before we go on a quest to determine what to do with the tricky behaviors that are beginning to show up in our classrooms. When we know and commit to being the best versions of ourselves as teachers, then we can respond to tricky behaviors in compassionate and helpful ways. Timeline 00:00 Back to School Strategies 02:30 W...

Sometimes it feels like we're doing all of the things, but until we pay close enough attention to track behaviors we can be fooled by our brains. There are many empty promises when it comes to navigating tricky behaviors, but we know that trauma doesn't play fair. A first step to discovering how to nourish heatlhy regulation is to get an accurate understanding of the tricky behaviors happening in...

We take some time to consider how to nourish the identity of a learner within students, and then what habits we can encourage. We consider creative and tactile ways to help students accept the identity of a learner as part of a classroom vision or mission. Timeline 00:00 Building Identities in Education 03:05 The Power of Self-Identity 05:34 Creating a Classroom Community 08:07 Art as a Tool for I...

This season we are focused on the power of connection to nourish healthy regulation. We discuss the importance of awe -- that feeling of seeing a beautiful sunrise or when someone overcomes a trial -- and the way awe can help us stay grounded and calm. We also share ways to create a sense of belonging in our classroom communities. Timeline 00:00 The Joy of Teaching and Belonging 03:00 Finding Awe...

This season we are focused on connection first and the power of connection to nourish healthy regulation. One way to build connections is through books, so we decided to include a few book-ish episodes in our line up. Stephanie Affinito, host of the KidLit Love podcast offers three thoughtful and unexpected books to start the school year (and return to again and again). Timeline 00:00. Book Recomm...

We are happy to welcome Stephanie Affinito to the podcast. Stephanie is a beautiful soul who wants to share the power of literacy to nourish healthy regulation. We discuss the power of reading and writing to help all of us -- educators and students -- to be healthy.   LINKS Stephanie Affinito's website: A Lit Life

This season we are focused on the power of connection to nourish healthy regulation. Episode 28 considers the mindsets we, as educators, can establish to have the stamina to teach. This is Sticky Hope. Links Make sure to follow us on Instagram! @sticky.hope Here is an article from Cleveland Health about the impact of snoozing on your body . If you don't get our Sticky Hope Notes in your inbox, sig...

Taking breaks and having space is an important part of nourishing healthy regulation. We're talking about finding our own rhythms for breaks and how to help students discover the power of breaks.  

The journey of developing a tool to help respond to behavior continues with more reflection and revisions. We've developed a student-facing behavior sheet and a parent-facing behavior sheet. It's exciting the way we can support students' regulation from many different angles.   Timeline 03:17 Tracking Progress and Consistency in Behavior Management 06:23 Real Classroom Applications and Teacher Ins...

We're presenting in Chicago at the joint NCTE/NCTM conference. Our session is with Jodie Bailey about a strategy called still thinking. We talk about this complex thinking strategy and share a variety of ways to use it. Links Choice Literacy Article: " Still Thinking: An Opportunity to Pause and Think Deeply " by Jodie Bailey Jodie Bailey on LinkedIn The Big Red Lollipop by Rukasana Kahn Timeline...

There are many different kinds of families and people who invest in students. How can we honor different families and their traditions of celebrating? Timeline 00:00 Celebrating Diverse Family Structures 02:54 Honoring All Caregivers 05:39 Nourishing Webs of Support 08:45 Equity in Celebrations and Acknowledgments Key Takeaways It's critical to represent family structures in education. Celebration...

Inspired by Foster Care Awareness Month, we share our experiences as foster parents and offer insights for educators who are working with children in care.

A simple and powerful practice is the discipline of gratitude. Often Becca closes the day with a gratitude circle. We share the way this practice fosters emotional regulation, empathy, and community among students. Links Mentioned Sticky Hope Kit Timeline 00:00  The Power of Gratitude Circles 03:23  Transformative Effects of Gratitude on Children 06:27  Gratitude as a Lifelong Practice 09:34  Neur...

We're talking about the importance of emotional awareness and different kinds of regulation strategies. We consider how to teach children to understand their emotions and develop coping strategies, emphasizing the role of emotional intelligence in the classroom. Links Mentioned Permission to Feel by Mark Brackett Mood Meter by Mark Brackett Sticky Hope Kit

Hope is powered by data is a mantra we've been exploring. We think about using data to track behaviors. Let's build habits and skills to navigate the world in healthy ways. Download the Roots to Response Behavior Sheet .   

As educators, we see lots of tricky behaviors, and it's natural to want to find labels to help us make sense of the way kids are behaving. In episode 19, we talk about helping students develop habits for positive behaviors without labeling students in negative ways. This is Sticky Hope. Links Mentioned Roots to Response Behavior Sheet Timeline 00:00 Understanding Student Behavior: A Teacher's Jour...

We're talking about positive ways to leverage attentional bias. Inspired by the kindness momentum from Amy Ludwig Vanderwater's book, The Sound of Kindness , we discuss ways to foster a positive classroom identity and uplift student voices. Links Mentions The Sound of Kindness by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater Brené Brown | Dare to Lead | List of Values Episode 6: Unconscious Thoughts (AKA Bias) Timeline...

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater joins us to talk about her book The Sound of Kindness . This is a delightful conversation about ways to help children process tough times and how to keep our own lights alive.  Links Mentioned  The Poem Farm Amy's Website Amy's First Post for National Poetry Month 2025: Hello, My Name Is   The Sound of Kindness  Magination Publisher Life is in the Transistions by Bruce Feile...

Becca shares a situation that doesn't sit well with her because it seems like there are conditions for students to other one another. We tug at the complexity of following school iniatives that don't feel right when they play out in our classrooms. Timeline 00:00 Celebrating Milestones in Kindergarten 02:57 The Impact of Extrinsic Motivation 06:03 Balancing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation 09:00...

It's (almost) April Fool's Day, and we're talking about the ways brains can fool us and how we can write shared narratives to help students process hard things. Timeline 00:00 April Fool's Day Memories 02:20 The Power of Self-Talk 06:23 Creating Shared Narratives 09:56 Overcoming Negative Self-Talk Key Takeaways Self-talk can empower students to face challenges. Creating shared narratives helps st...

Sometimes the behaviors we see in our classrooms are confusing and frustrating. An article in a local newspaper opened a conversation about understanding the way trauma changes the brain so punitive responses and blaming parents won't help position students to learn. We talk about looking at behavior through a lens of stress responses.   Timeline   00:00 Understanding Student Behavior and Trauma R...

The hippocampus helps process memory. When young children experience extreme stress, the hippocampus can be damaged. This shows up in our classrooms in unexpected ways. Ruth and Becca share a Behavior/Skills Tracker teachers can use to help document behaviors and the ways they've tried to position students to learn.   Timeline 00:00 The Power of Drafting and Collaboration 02:54 Understanding the H...

There are many realities of teaching that are different than how we imagined our teaching lives would go. One thing we can do is to learn to befriend uncertainty. This is more than a kitschy phrase, and we share the neuroscience behind learning to embrace uncertainty.   Timeline 00:00 Dreams vs. Reality in Teaching 03:09 Befriending Uncertainty 05:47 Curiosity as a Tool for Learning 09:13 The Powe...