Education is experiencing high turnover rates, low educator engagement, and poor educator health. Nationally districts and schools are struggling to find and keep high-quality teachers. Educators have experienced an unprecedented year full of stress and trauma, which will change education forever. This session discusses how to understand and value educators beyond a school t-shirt and potluck. During the school re-opening Ogden School District made Educator Wellbeing an intentional focus and made small but meaningful shifts to better humanize the workforce. This lead to higher teacher engagement, increased teacher well-being, increased teacher retention, decreased student behavior and increased student SEL even in a pandemic year. Each participant will leave with an action plan to engage in similar small shifts to focus on Educator Wellness/SEL to make the teaching profession sustainable and increase positive student outcomes.
Aspen Florence has been in education for the past 18 years. She has taught in most every educational setting. She was the Director of Student Advocacy for Ogden School District and created and implemented both student and staff SEL and wellness programs. She has a B.A. in Psychology, a Special Education teaching certificate, a M.ED in Curriculum Design and Instruction. a M.ED in Educational Leadership, and is currently pursuing her PHD is Educational Policy. She is passionate about learning and ensuring education is equitable and accessible for all. Her most recent focus is making education a healthy working space for all educators. She is also a mom to four amazing children that she spends as much time with as possible. She is a trauma-certified Member of the Panorama National Advisory Board YALE RULER trained CASEL trained.