Using Pronouns to Support a Safe, Welcoming, and Inclusive Environment
Pronouns are used in everyday speech and writing. Positive experiences of social gender affirmation are critical to the health and well-being of transgender and gender diverse people. Social interactions where a person is addressed by their correct name and pronouns, consistent with their gender identity, are widely recognized as a basic — yet critical — aspect of gender affirmation. In this webinar, NEA ESP members discuss the importance of using pronouns and how to use them effectively in schools to ensure a supportive environment for everyone in the education community.
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Team Building for All Educators
This thought-provoking webinar will empower you with team-building tools. It offers a holistic approach to NEA's Leadership Competencies with a specific emphasis on "Leading Our Profession," supplemented with "Communication" and "Advocacy." You will learn to engage others by identifying strengths and strengthening weaknesses. Identify roles that players have on a team to promote team success and engage in activities that require you to think critically and solve problems as a team.
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Resilient and Ready: Practicing Resiliency in the Education Community
Knowledge of self-regulation, managing and coping with stress, perseverance, and empathy are essential foundations for academic achievement. As important members of the education community, educators embody the characteristics of education achievement and model them for students and colleagues. By further developing traits and strategies in resiliency, educators can manage and regulate their social-emotional learning and become a mentor and model for others.
In this session, educators will review the foundations of resiliency and self-regulation needed to support their work. Strategies and recommendations will be provided to support the specific roles of education support professionals (ESPs), specialized instructional support personnel (SISPs), and teachers.
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Our Bodies: Are We Paying Attention to the Signals?
Mental health and physiological health go hand in hand. There are many lifelong and recent factors that impact both, including external stressors, toxic systems, habits, and more that have been either activated or exacerbated by the pandemic. Our lifestyle, environment, and bodies are all trying to tell us something. In this webinar, we will examine the risk factors and resulting health problems that educators are experiencing, as well as provide strategies to improve personal health and mental well-being.
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Juneteenth: Taking Time to Unravel Unconscious Biases, A Case Study from Washington State
Learn about the history of Juneteenth, a celebration that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and its relevance to ESPs on the job and in our communities today. We will explore the impact of the racial and social justice reckoning and awakening seen across the country over the last year and its impact on the Washington Education Association (WEA). Participants will learn about the steps WEA is taking to unravel unconscious biases, develop awareness of microaggressions and eliminate discriminatory behaviors through a long term investment in professional development for all members.
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Bargaining and Advocacy in the Face of Crisis
Now, more than ever, ESPs have been forced to bargain and advocate as if their lives, and those of which they care for, depend on it, because it literally may. This webinar will focus on becoming better prepared as a union to tackle issues brought upon through crisis, such as protecting ESP careers and advocating for health and safety issues, as well as providing practical skills and resources that can make the union more effective advocates.
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Supporting Our Own through ESP Mentoring: Lessons from the Field
Education Support Professionals (ESPs) are an integral part of the education team that supports student learning. When ESPs are hired, they are often left alone to “figure out” what their job entails. This leads to poor job satisfaction, high turnover, and weaker performance. When ESP mentoring is done right, it can lead to improved outcomes for students, greater retention of ESPs, higher job satisfaction, greater confidence, and leadership development.
This session will explore ESP mentoring and how to justify the importance of mentoring to the district, build the program from the bottom up, and document the success of the program through data collection and analysis. Participants will receive information and materials they can bring back to their locals that can be customized to meet their needs. ESP mentoring uses the ESP Professional Growth Continuum (PGC) as its foundation, providing a vision for each ESP career family as ESPs develop their professional learning goals.
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Protect Our Schools Together (POST) tool
The Protect Our Schools Together (POST) tool, created by NEA, provides a powerful, real-time means to document COVID-19 safety concerns in schools, such as violations of health and safety agreements—or inappropriate management activity and responses—and other conditions which could lead to COVID-19 outbreaks. This training helps members to develop and implement effective use of the tool, including next steps and how to create a plan of action.
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Institutional Racism and Policing: Impact on ESPs
This webinar highlights how institutional racism is embedded in policing, and how it impacts the experiences of education support professionals (ESPs), especially those of color, as they work to create safer learning environments for all students. We will examine institutional racism at the macro, meso, then micro level, and explore possible solutions with a panel of ESP members.
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Fighting Privatization in a Time of Crisis
The current state of affairs in our nation and schools should not paralyze our activism, particularly when it comes to resisting the privatization of Education Support Professionals. Social justice has always been a hard fight in this nation, and we have seldom been able to choose ideal timing or conditions in which to assert our rights. We can and will fight privatization today, and tomorrow, regardless of conditions. Participate in this webinar to learn logistics and techniques, and be inspired to do what is necessary to keep public education out of the hands of profiteers.
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Grief and Self-Care during the COVID 19 Pandemic
Stress experienced during the COVID 19 pandemic has changed our way of life and forced many to face new challenges. This webinar will provide an overview of the impact that profound personal losses suffered during the COVID 19 pandemic has had on many and suggest strategies that can be utilized to facilitate mourning as well as promote self-care, wellness and resiliency.
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Wellness Skills for Self-care and Health for Educational Support Professionals
This training will offer simple healing skills for self-care and for promoting health and wellbeing for Educational Support Professionals (ESPs). The program was developed by Capacitar International for work with schools and educators in the U.S. and in other countries around the world. Based on popular education and energy-based methods, the Capacitar practices empower people to deal with traumatic stress, to stabilize and balance strong emotions and to awaken their own healing process. This workshop will include opportunities to practice and apply various healing methods. These methods can be used by all educators, families, and others in the community.
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Harnessing Social and Emotional Learning to Support the Well-Being of ESPs During the COVID-19 Crisis
It takes a whole village to support a whole child, and the strain on our school communities, including our education support professionals, is unprecedented. In this webinar, Dr. Chris Cipriano, Assistant Professor and Director of Research at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, will provide social and emotional learning (SEL) strategies to support ESPs within the school ecosystem to navigate the challenging emotions of these rapidly evolving times. Participants will have the opportunity to explore their complex feelings surrounding the uncertainty caused by COVID-19 and learn strategies for harnessing emotions to cope in healthy and productive ways. Resources for building resilience will be provided and tips for practicing self-care will be tailored to support the unique needs identified by participants.
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Tips & Tricks on How to Effectively Utilize Video Conferencing Platforms
Unprecedented times call for creative ways to stay connected with family, friends, colleagues and students. In this webinar participants will learn how to effectively utilize video conferencing platforms. Learnings will include customizing settings using Zoom or Google Meets, adding add-ons to enhance user experience on the Google Meets platform, understanding the difference in features when using a computer versus a tablet or mobile device, and learning how to access virtual meetings from your Gmail account.
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NEA Center for Great Public Schools Grants: The Ins and Outs
This webinar will provide an overview of the two NEA Center for Great Public Schools Grant Programs. We will review eligibility requirements and tips on how to write a successful grant proposal, as well as feature outstanding ESP projects that have been funded by the Center for Great Public Schools. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn the who, what, when and where of the grant approval process, so that they can walk away feeling confident in preparing a proposal for their next grant opportunity.
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