School Transformation Services

Thriving Leaders Collaborative, LLC, utilizes Strengths-Based Transformation Services to effect change within your organization. Our transformation services extend to leaders, campus staff, parents and community members.

When individuals become aware of their own strengths and the strengths of those around them, they learn to be RESOURCEFUL. When they understand they have the required resources, our people become RESILIENT. Once we cultivate resiliency with our school community members, THEY become RELENTLESS IN THE PURSUIT OF IMPROVING OUTCOMES FOR STUDENTS!

TRAUMA-INFORMED LEADING AND LEARNING

Neuroscience teaches us that the brain is plastic—that it can and does change, for the better, or for worse.  The specialists at Thriving Leaders Collaborative, LLC bring DEFINITE HOPE to educators, their students, and their families.  Regardless of past social and emotional challenges, toxic stressors, cognitive developmental lags and other adversities, children suffering from the effects of trauma and/or poverty can learn. Informed and equipped by the latest understanding of how the brain learns best, our specialists will redirect deficit patchwork approaches and deliberately support our students’ education by applying a Strengths-Based Mindset that will change their brains for the better, no matter where we start with them, building on their resiliency.  This will drive sustainable change in our classrooms because at Thriving Leaders Collaborative, LLC we believe every student can achieve academic success.

BE THE CHANGE: Combating the Effects of Trauma, Poverty and/or Chronic Stress in our Schools and Classrooms

Full-Day Training

Did you know solid research confirms...?

  • Every classroom has at least one student affected by trauma, poverty and/or chronic stress.
  • 68% of children and adolescents have experienced at least one potentially traumatic event by the age of 16.

This one-day professional development is imperative for school personnel seeking to help struggling students THRIVE in school and  the classroom. Utilizing our own unique S5 Training Model (described in learner objectives), participants will gain powerful knowledge and skills to effectively combat the effects of trauma, poverty and/or chronic stress on students. Participants, YOU can be the change!

 

Learner Objectives
  • S1- STRUCTURE Learn the definitions and  realities of trauma, poverty and chronic stress and identify their impact on  the body and the brain in development.
  • S2- STATISTICS Understand and acknowledge how  prevalent the issues of trauma, poverty and/or chronic stress are among your  students.
  • S3- SYMPTOMS Identify the effects of  trauma, poverty and chronic stress on students. Recognize the manifestation  of the Fight, Flight and Freeze reactions. 
  • S4- SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES Strategically respond to  the negative effects of trauma, poverty and chronic stress with evidence-based  instructional and relational strategies. Effectively recognize and maximize  the resiliency within struggling learners.
  • S5- SKILLFULL SELF-CARE Embrace the importance of  “putting your oxygen mask on first.” Identify some of your own triggers and learn  how to stay in control during a challenging situation.
Strengths-Based Teaching and Learning in Classrooms of Students from Poverty and Trauma

TRAINING OFFERINGS:

3 Hr. Workshop

1 Day PD (Recommended)

The deficit model for addressing the needs of student from poverty and those who have experienced adverse childhood events fails to build on the existing resiliency in even the most harmed student.  A Strengths-Based Mindset is an asset approach to professional development that uses the latest insights and skills in brain-based learning and strategies for trauma informed learning with students who have lived in the effects of poverty and those who have been abused and neglected.  This session will guide educational leaders and their teachers to build upon the resiliency of their students through proven methods of toxic stress reduction, a return of control to students, and strengthening working memory.

Learner Objectives
  • Identify three ways the brain can and does change
  • Practice effective skills that demonstrate neuroplasticity of the brain
  • Understand the role of a Strengths-Based Mindset in teaching and learning
  • Recognize the impact of trauma on learning
  • Practice skills for teaching students self-regulation
Teacher as Facilitator: Strategic Questioning Techniques

TRAINING OFFERINGS:

3 Hr. Workshop

1 Day PD

What type of questions are you asking your students? Are the questions asked in your classroom simple/complicated/complex? Are they designed to make students reflectively consider and think about complicated concepts before responding or are they designed to give students easy-out answers? In this session, teachers will discover how to ask rigorous, thought provoking questions and how to use questioning techniques for improving student mastery of content and concepts. Teachers will also learn strategies to use during instruction to encourage students to ask complex questions to enhance their own learning.

Learner Objectives
  • Secure a repertoire of strategic questioning strands to be used by teacher and students in academic conversations
  • Examine current questioning strategies and modify them to encourage deeper student thinking and reflection
  • Identify verbiage in questions that encourages higher levels of content/concept understanding
  • Improve "wait time" to encourage students to reflect on responses before responding
  • Demonstrate strategies for restating student responses to improve inferencing and summarizing student understanding
Strategies for ELLs: They Might Just be a Benefit to All Students!

TRAINING OFFERINGS:

1 Day PD

2 Day Institute

All students are learning language. Many are learning English, others are learning the language of specific content areas, a few may be learning the language of the school environment. Participants involved in this session will learn several well-placed, targeted strategies for accelerating language learning. The session instructor will model the strategies that will be followed by discussions as to why the strategies are effective, and how they can be implemented in any instructional program.

Learner Objectives
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the instructional needs of students learning new languages
  • Explore ways to incorporate listening, speaking, reading, and writing throughout daily instruction
  • Examine current language acquisition strategies, language level profiles and strategies to effectively build content language and concept understanding.
  • Maximize language usage and understanding by examining current instructional practices and adjusting them with language learner in mind 
  • Practice using strategies that encourage using new vocabulary and content language in academic conversations
Purposeful Teacher Feedback: Keeping Up the Good Work

TRAINING OFFERINGS:

3 Hr. Workshop

1 Day PD

"Good Job!" "Way to Go!" "Keep up the Good Work!" All of these phrases are used daily in classrooms. Do students really understand what they are doing when they do a "Good Job"? Do they know where they are doing when they hear "Way to Go"? Do they understand the good work they need to continue in order to "Keep up the Good Work"? In this session, participants will explore the importance of explicit feedback for improving student understanding of content and skills and discuss how critical feedback guides students to critically analyze their work.

Learner Objectives
  • Increase teacher awareness of explicit task-based feedback versus praise-based comments for improving student performance
  • Understand the restrictions of vague feedback and unfocused responses have on student learning
  • Cultivate learning environments where students are encouraged through explicit feedback to fully understand and use the processes involved for learning new concepts and content instead of being verbally rewarded for finding correct answers
  • Create instructional feedback strategies (including anchor charts, sentence stems) to encourage learner effort
Culturally Responsive Education: Diversity as a strength, not a weakness

TRAINING OFFERINGS:

3 Hr. Session

1 Day PD (Recommended)

2 Day Institute

Every student and teacher brings a uniqueness that is entirely their own. Regardless of age or background, every teacher and student brings to the teaching and learning relationship a plethora of life experiences. Prejudgment and implicit bias are issues we must contend with in order to eliminate the restrictions we have placed on ourselves and others. Developing cultural competence is a lifelong process that can begin today. This session is a starting point to understanding key issues regarding diversity in the classroom and bringing out the best in teachers and the students they support.

Learner Objectives
  • Develop a working vocabulary related to cultural competence and diversity issues
  • Increase awareness of “self” and how personal identity and culture affect values, behaviors and attitudes about the world
  • Understand the influence that "strengths-based mindset." “growth mindset” and “efforts-based” beliefs have on teacher expectations and student outcomes
  • Cultivate authentic relationships with students, parents and community members
  • Recognize that becoming culturally responsive is a lifelong process
Developing Capacity: The Key to Sustainable School Improvement

TRAINING OFFERINGS:

3 Hr. Workshop

1 Day PD (Recommended)

The responsibility of school principal is one of the most critical roles in school improvement. However, as long as school improvement is dependent on a single leader, or even a small group of leaders, in the end - these efforts are destined to fail. Every individual has leadership capacity. Successful principals develop skillful teacher-leaders who understand and buy-in to the shared vision of the school's goals with a bottom line of student success. Sustainable school improvement depends on the breadth and depth of collective responsibility to move the vision forward and keeping it alive in the midst of change.

Learner Objectives
  • Understanding self as leader; embracing strengths and acknowledging areas of opportunity
  • Creating synergistic relationships through a foundation of trust
  • Developing a shared vision through a journey of leadership
  • Negotiating change while staying the course
  • Framing an action plan and delivering on the promise of sustainable school improvement
Culturally Responsive Leadership: Moving from Me to WE

TRAINING OFFERINGS:

3 Hr Session

1 Day PD

The beauty of our work in education revolves around the individuality of the people we serve. Every student, teacher, parent and community member brings with them a uniqueness that is all their own. Regardless of age or background, our life experiences have colored the lens from which we see and first understand or interpret a situation. As leaders, prejudgment and implicit bias are two critical issues we must all contend with in order to eliminate the restrictions we have placed on others and ourselves. Developing cultural competence is a lifelong process that can begin today. This session is a starting point to understanding key issues regarding diversity and bringing out the best in yourself and the people you lead.

Learner Objectives
  • Develop a working vocabulary related to cultural competence and diversity issues
  • Increase awareness of “self” and how my identity and culture affect my values, behaviors and attitudes about the world around me
  • Understand how I may be limiting the growth of those around me and how I can overcome these actions and help them maximize their potential
  • Cultivate authentic relationships with students, teachers, parents and community members
  • Recognize that becoming culturally responsive is a lifelong process
Creating a Village: “ You don't need to do this alone”

TRAINING OFFERINGS:

3 Hr. Session

1 Day PD

A traditional African proverb wisely advises, “ It takes a village to raise a child ,” and that village has never been more necessary than it is today! Some parents plan for their child’s financial success, others plan for their academic success, but how many stop and actually plan for their social and emotional success? Our students are living in a fast-paced, pressure-packed world and parents can’t be the only ones to meet their needs. This session allows guardians an opportunity to explore the world around them and determine who is in the village of their child’s life? Parent/Guardians will be surprised at how many untapped human resources encircle their children and are within reach of making a key difference in the life of their child.

Learner Objectives

Parent/Guardians will:

  • Develop an individual, personalized definition of success for their child/ren
  • Analyze successful and seemingly non-successful individuals to identify key attitudes and behaviors
  • Understand the influence of villagers in the life of their child/ren
  • Develop a vision board that will identify the role villagers will play in the vision of their child/ren
  • Create and secure a villager contract
Powerful Parents: FYI-What your child wants you to know

TRAINING OFFERINGS:

Full Day Session

Students are consistently crying out for parents to listen, trust, and love them. They want security yet freedom, answers but independence to choose. Often, parents mistake these cries for money, material things or possibly even disrespect. Have you ever stopped to think – a 5 year old has only been on this earth for 60 months?... a 10 year old for only 120 months?... and a 15 year old for only 180 months? They are all still learning how to communicate and many times their message is lost in the delivery and the same can be said for parents’ communication with their children. This is a full day training for parents and their students. The session allows parents and students the opportunity to start the day together; provides time to support them separately, and ends with reuniting parents with their students in order to practice their newly acquired communication techniques.

Learner Objectives
  • Analyze the relationship (and roles) of parent and child in the journey towards independence
  • Increase the knowledge of parent(s) perceptions of child(ren) and the root of the perceptions that may have developed from their own childhood
  • Increase student knowledge of parents, their decisions and why they might behave in different ways
  • Develop a common vocabulary and set of techniques that enhance clear, non-judgmental communication
  • Practice creating a relationship that fosters respect, love, and discipline
Collective Responsibility: This is Our School

TRAINING OFFERINGS:

3 - 3 Hr. Sessions (1 for each stakeholder group)

Full Day Session (Recommended)

Creating a School Community doesn’t happen by chance. Collective responsibility can only developed through purposeful collaboration. Every parent, community member, school staff member, and student has a vital role to play as a stakeholder in the success of the school. It is important that each individual knows the role they play in maximizing academic, social and emotional outcomes for students in the School Community. This session can be divided into multiple 3-hour sessions that addresses each stakeholder within their respective group (parents, community members, school staff) or 1-full day training where key stakeholders collaboratively learn together and have the opportunity to directly hear from one another and receive clarity on their role in the success of their school. This is a perfect opportunity to help build and/or strengthen the School-Based Decision-Making team or any variation thereof.

Learner Objectives
  • Develop an understanding of the stakeholder group roles and the strengths they bring to support school improvement
  • Analyze research on high achieving schools and recognize how the responsibility can be distributed
  • Develop a strategic School Community Call to Action that contributes to the vision of the campus and its effects on the community
  • Affirm a commitment to serve