Building Bridges and Cultivating Peace
Adam Rockenbach
I help schools promote student behavioral health while minimizing the impact on teachers' and staff workloads.
This month, we’re focusing on the power of connection and peace in schools. Whether it’s fostering positive relationships with Bloomsights' 16 Indicators of Connection, promoting peace through imaginative stories like The Year We Learned to Fly, or addressing modern challenges like cyberbullying, we’ve curated resources to inspire and support you. Plus, we’re thrilled to share an exciting opportunity: try Bloomsights for FREE from January through March 2025 and set your school on the path to enhanced student well-being.
Curious about how Bloomsights can benefit your school? Here’s some exciting news: you can try Bloomsights for FREE! Enjoy complimentary access from January 1 to March 31, 2025. Plus, when you subscribe for the 2025-26 school year, you'll get free access for the rest of the 2024-25 school year!
Click on the image above to complete a short form and get your school on the track towards student connection and positive student well-being.
In this episode of the Connections podcast, host Hart Education and guest Adam Rockenbach discuss the importance of building connections in educational settings through BloomSites' 16 connection points. They explore how these indicators can enhance student well-being, foster 21st-century skills, and improve teacher-student relationships.?
The conversation emphasizes the role of parents in supporting their children's social skills and the significance of actionable data for educators to create a positive learning environment. The episode concludes with reflections on the importance of character and connections in achieving academic success.
"The Year We Learned to Fly" tells the story of a brother and sister who, following their grandmother's advice, use their imaginations to escape difficult situations, learning to "fly" through their minds, overcoming boredom and challenges by harnessing the power of their thoughts.?
Here are 10 ways to include peace in your curriculum:
1. Start by defining the word “peace” with your students. You can ask children what they think it means; their answers will probably be very enlightening. They are often surprised to realize that peace can be found many places. It doesn’t just refer to “world peace”. They can have a hand in creating a peaceful environment wherever they are.
领英推荐
Peace may look a little different to everyone. To me, it doesn’t mean the absence of conflict. That would be an idealized world in which none of us live. Rather, it’s learning how to deal with conflict in a way that doesn’t put the rights, wants, or needs of one person over the other. It’s learning conflict resolution skills that stress respect for the individual and the group.
2. Declare your classroom a “peace zone”. Do not tolerate any kind of bullying. Lay down ground rules at the beginning of the year that are posted for everyone to see. Have all the children agree to the ground rules (even signing the list of rules) and hold them accountable.
Seeds of Peace and Peace Games share a number of important values and goals. Both support the knowledge, skills, relationships and opportunities that children and young people need in order to stay safe and healthy and to contribute to their communities. Education is a tool for transformation. Teachers play a vital role in this transformation. They help shape the quality and success of any classroom.?
Just like their students, teachers need to be given tools and resources to succeed. Peace Games forms long-term partnerships with schools that touch every part of the community, including the development of school curriculum, staff and volunteer workshops, support and materials, family newsletters and events, and general school climate changes.
After a hard day of teaching, I often plop down on my desk chair at home and gaze up at a framed drawing hanging on the wall above my desk that a dear friend of mine gave me. It is a detailed depiction of a pair of wood ducks serenely floating on a calm pond. One of the ducks is male, which has brightly colored feathers and beaks; the other is female, which is plain gray and nondescript. Yet both are at peace and comfortable with each other.?
Struggling to help students learn can sometimes destroy our internal peace and serenity, especially when students resist our best efforts. I'd like to share some things that help me to stay calm as a wood duck...
Today, a large part of the communication of children and youth takes place digitally, which has led to the problem of cyberbullying. Studies show that one in five students has received malicious or unpleasant messages or have had their pictures shared against their will on social media.
Many aspects of school bullying also apply to bullying in the digital world. However, cyberbullying has its own special characteristics, many of which are related to the ambiguity and anonymity of the digital world, and which raises some important questions, such as: Who is the sender of an unpleasant message, and how many people agree with it? Who posted a personal picture on social media, and how many people have seen it? Will there be more messages sent or photos posted? Who will be the next target?