Class Catalyst

For those of you in the Forest Park area, check out the 2025 Forest Park Education Summit this Saturday! Open to educators, families, and community members. Join my session on Collective Well-Being! Register here: https://lnkd.in/dHrZMdsQ?

School Leaders: Where Are You on the Adoption Curve? School administrators, a question for you: When implementing new technologies or programs, how often do you consider where you and your staff fall on the adoption curve? It might seem like an unusual consideration, but understanding this curve can explain why some initiatives thrive while others struggle to gain traction. If you're unfamiliar, the adoption curve typically looks like this: - Innovators (2.5%): The first to embrace new ideas - Early Adopters (13.5%): Opinion leaders who see potential - Early Majority (34%): Deliberate adopters who need evidence - Late Majority (34%): Skeptics who adopt after most others - Laggards (16%): Traditional thinkers who resist change In our work at Class Catalyst, we've observed fascinating patterns with schools implementing well-being check-in systems. The most successful implementations share a common thread: leaders who recognize where different staff members fall on this curve and build appropriate supports for each group. I'm curious: - Do you explicitly consider the adoption curve when rolling out new initiatives? - What strategies have worked for you to bridge the gap between early adopters and the rest of your staff? - How do you identify and nurture potential champions among your team? To explore this concept further, we've published a detailed blog post on how understanding the adoption curve can transform implementation success: https://lnkd.in/gNydbBfZ #EducationalLeadership #SchoolAdministration #EdTech #StudentWellbeing #ChangeManagement

AI's Evolution: What Does It Mean for Education? Even if you're not using AI or are using it but don't think it lives up to the hype, OpenAI's latest announcement deserves attention. In short, they're offering PhD-level AI agents at $20,000/month. Long-term, this technology is designed to replace human roles and is priced accordingly. The significance isn't whether we've reached this milestone yet, but that this reality is approaching faster than anticipated. Which roles these AI agents will fill and how they'll compare to humans remains to be determined. As many experts in the field note, today's AI systems are the worst they will ever be—they will only improve from here. With that in mind, as educational leaders and those supporting education, what does this mean for our roles in preparing the next generation? What skills must we teach, and what will make a human employee valuable when AI prices inevitably drop and that PhD-level agent costs less than a minimum wage employee? How will new workforce entrants compete? Or how will experienced employees adapt in this rapidly changing landscape? (This will be one of a series of AI/tech posts) #AIinEducation #FutureOfWork #EdLeaders #DigitalTransformation

Proud parent moment: My children Dottie (9) and Remi (6) organized their first fundraiser supporting children with traumatic brain and spinal injuries at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. Their inspiration came from our family's personal connection—when their beloved nanny George suffered an accident requiring intensive care. While he fortunately made a full recovery, the experience opened their eyes to the challenges many families face. This weekend, they hosted 50+ supporters and exceeded their fundraising goal by 200%. George was there to cheer them on. To everyone who attended and donated: thank you for helping these young change-makers make a difference. They're already planning next year's event!

Last year, through Class Catalyst's check-in platform, a student confided to their SEL coordinator that "she didn't want to be here anymore." Because of this digital safe space, the support team could immediately respond and connect her with vital resources. I'm sharing this story now as winter months historically present increased challenges for student wellbeing. This story, while difficult to share, highlights a crucial reality: Many students struggle silently. Traditional observation methods often miss these signs until they escalate. Recent data shows: - 44% of students experiencing mental health challenges don't seek help - Early intervention significantly improves outcomes - Digital channels often feel safer for students to share sensitive concerns To our education partners: As winter's emotional challenges intensify, consider how your student support systems identify struggling students. Are you catching these signals early enough? #StudentWellbeing #MentalHealth #Education #SEL #StudentSupport Want to learn more about implementing proactive student support? Let's connect.

The power of breathing. For those of you that have never taken a yoga or meditation class it may surprise you how simply focusing on your breath can impact your physical state. For me it's been a long time since going to a yoga class, (pre-pandemic I believe) but last night I walked my daughter through the process as a way to calm her down as she goes to bed. Often bedtime is when all the worries of the day, that were kept at bay by being busy, quickly fill the quiet of night with a flood of anxiety. Last night we did our usual routine, getting stressed during the brushing of the teeth and peaking with the wishing of goodnight to the family. To wind down, first we read books, her favorite pastime, and then I read to her. At this point she was calmer but still fidgeting meanwhile I was falling asleep???. So I turned out the light and walked her through focusing on her breath. I didn't ask her to breathe in any particular way, just to focus on the breath and how it feels entering and exiting her body. Just a few breaths into it, her body was calmer, she noticed the difference and thanked me. I then had her continue focusing without my voice as guidance. It wasn't long before she was sound asleep, stress free. The beauty of breath work is it can happen anywhere or anytime. Even better, science has validated the positive impact breath work has on the nervous system. What is your favorite or go-to breathing exercise? (comment below)