77: Normalizing Teacher Self-Care (in a Pandemic) w/ Evan Whitehead

What this episode covers

Today we are joined by Evan Whitehead, a veteran educator who is the director of special services at a K-8 school in Illinois. Evan has served in a variety of roles, from crisis and behavior interventionist to Latino parent outreach coordinator to Title 1 director. Further, Evan actively presents on reaching at-risk youth, leadership, and self-care for everyone in education, and is a national consultant for the Aha! Process. We discuss how educators can best prepare for self-care, especially now within remote and hybrid contexts. Further, we focus on conversation on two themes: 1) how can we build systems (e.g. breaks, SEL check-ins) to ensure teachers are supported by administration, and 2) how can we ensure that toxic positivity doesn't ignore equity and social justice in the "name of" self-care? Transcript available here. [https://sonix.ai/r/TsC67mBpyCayHt3mExB7egmi/share] GUESTS Evan Whitehead, a leader in social-emotional learning, leadership, and self-care, and director of special services at a K-8 school. RESOURCES * How Self-Compassion Can Help Prevent Teacher Burnout [https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/self_compassion_for_teachers] * Dena Simmons: Without Context, Social-Emotional Learning Can Backfire [https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-05-15-dena-simmons-without-context-social-emotional-learning-can-backfire] FURTHER LISTENING * The Innovator's Mindset: Balance, Boundaries, and Breaks (YouTube) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZC0Gy74vWE]