Collaboration Across Home & School: H.E.L.P.F.U.L. Mindset

Now, more than ever before, showing up with a helpful mindset can be the ingredient that takes recipes for effective collaboration and communication across home, school, and community support systems from “good” to “great.”

Check out our “H.E.L.P.F.U.L. Mindset” acronym below to see if you’ve got this essential ingredient!

I’ve previously written about many of the driving factors in educator burnout, and I’ve also spoken about the significant challenges that school systems face when attempting to support students in the ways that are necessary in 2024 America, with the resources and funding that reflect the needs and costs of decades ago…

For recovering idealists like myself, having to live in this space where we are promising families and students so much, yet struggling to carry-out the promises in a consistent way through well-defined strategies that are adequately-communicated…well, it can be like being asked to run a mile and then finding out on the day of the race that you’re shoelaces have to be tied together, and the mile is now entirely uphill. In other words, it’s an exhausting and disheartening experience.

A temptation that everyone can fall for is staying “stuck at the starting line” and slipping into a mindset of simply “admiring the problem.”

Regardless of whether you are a parent, school employee, or community agency or provider, we can all fall for it.

And in doing so, it’s easy to get stuck in an unhelpful mindset that results in feeling powerless over the situation(s). When people feel powerless, we can find ourselves engaging in ways that increase hostility, defensiveness, finger-pointing, apathy, etc. These actions can become pests in your learner’s collaborative kitchen, and once in the kitchen, they can wreak all kinds of havoc on the essential ingredients for effective collaboration and communication.

At the same time though, in order to move toward identifying and implementing solutions, we can’t fall for the toxic positivity trap…

Instead we need to approach things rooted in reality, while reaching out toward the opportunities that can be born through a commitment to navigating around obstacles.

In other words, we need to identify the problem(s) in order to generate, identify, and implement possible solutions.

Need help moving from admiring the problem to generating possible solutions? Just like cooking, collaboration is an “art.” Contact GPS Education Consulting today to help you to improve your “craft.”

Identifying problems can be really uncomfortable, and many times this is where things fall apart for teams.

It takes a delicate balance between being direct, but also offering opportunities for people to “save face,” while offering grace, and volunteering our assistance whenever possible and appropriate.

It is an art… and not everyone has a side-hustle as a diplomat. One of the key actions that you can take is intentionally showing-up with a helpful mindset.

This is easier said than done, and people much smarter than me have dedicated countless pages to positive psychology, and cultivating a helpful mindset.

What I’ll offer to the topic is an acronym that offers a blend of concrete strategies, mantras, and skills to develop that can increase your chances of showing up with a H.E.L..P.F.U.L. Mindset.

Have Hard Conversations with A Soft Startup

Emphasize willingness to be part of solution

Leave behind unrealistic expectations

Pause when getting upset

Forgive the small stuff & Find the “fixers”

Understand others’ perspectives and the underlying factors at play

Locate the Incremental Progress (and Celebrate it Together)

In my next post, I’ll give some concrete steps and suggestions for carrying out each aspect of the acronym. Stay tuned : )

 Best,

Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP

Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.

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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!

Collaboration Across Home & School: Empathy

Time to see if you have the essential ingredient of empathy in your learner’s collaborative kitchen. Empathy is, “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.”

How can a parent who has never worked in the schools, and a school staff member who has never been the parent of their student understand and share the other person’s feelings?

In my experience, hearing parents/caregivers and students share their stories and provide a glimpse into their worlds often helped me to get a sense of their responsibilities, worldviews, priorities, passions, fears, previous experiences navigating the systems, personalities, and dreams.

It often gave me a glimpse into what life looks like for them once the student and family leave the school building at the end of the day. Often times, people would label their emotions as they spoke, other times, reading body language provided some good clues. And usually, reflecting those emotions back through active listening helped me get a sense of whether I was on the right track.

Sometimes, their experiences hit close to home, and it was pretty easy to connect my experiences and feelings with what they may be experiencing/feeling. In fact, the challenge was usually pausing to intentionally disconnect with the situation and not internalize it as my own. Other times, I have to pause and actively envision myself in their situation to understand and share their feelings.

One challenge that parents often face when attempting to cultivate empathy in their relationship with school staff is that there are professional boundaries that make it very challenging and nuanced for school staff to be able to share a glimpse into their worlds.

I remember often thinking, “If you only knew about the other ‘fires’ we’ve been putting out today, you might understand why we’re walking into the meeting already stressed-out.” However, drawing on my customer service jobs and training since the age of 15, what usually came out was, “I’m sorry.”

Not a bad response, since giving a peak behind the curtain requires a delicate approach…but it doesn’t do much to build empathy with receptive parents. It also doesn’t help the team to cultivate those other essential ingredients needed for effective collaboration across home and school.

So, what can you do when the people in your kitchen aren’t able to have those difficult, emotionally laden, and precarious conversations with one another?

The long-term solution is to work toward cultivating the other needed ingredients. However, the real world doesn’t always make that possible.

Here are a few things to try while you’re cultivating those other needed ingredients:

• Attend Parent / Caregiver meetings and Parent / Community Member grassroots initiatives,

• Find books/podcasts/documentaries/movies that are realistic depictions of what it’s like to navigate systems of support as a parent, or work to support kids needs within overburdened and bureaucratic systems,

• Read blogs and social media posts from folks who have been in that position and are in a place where they can share about it,

• Find friends/family members who have worked in schools, or who have parented children who require some extra creativity in the classroom, and ask them off the record about what that looks like,

• Volunteer in the schools to build trust, and to see a bit behind the curtain,

• Follow trusted news coverage about the strengths and needs of school systems and healthcare systems,

• Connect with the Teacher and Administration Union-Representatives, etc.

As you learn more, you may find that:

• You’re better at separating the person/people from the disagreement and focus on the ways that the systems in place are breaking, or broken.

• You have some additional solutions to offer, and those solutions focus on repairing the broken pieces instead of cleaning up each mess caused by the broken parts.

• You feel more empowered to be a change-agent in a seemingly grid-locked discussion.

• As the team focuses on solutions and systems-change (when appropriate), the more likely you’ll be able to cultivate the other necessary ingredients together as a team.

 Best,

Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP

Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.

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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!

Collaboration Across Home & School: “Food for Thought”

It’s been a minute since I’ve jotted down some thoughts with the hopes that they help you to help your learners navigate the path to school success…Like most of you, I’ve been busy lately… While I’m not sure what has kept you busy…I’m happy to share that my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world in May! Since then, we’ve been busy showering the little man with love, and doing our best to show up for him in the first few miles of his (and our) journey together towards his personal growth. I know that for me, this has already led to many opportunities for my own personal growth. It’s also led to some opportunities for binge-watching “The Bear” on FX.

With my recent thoughts often focusing on new beginnings and laying a strong foundation for growth (and also some culinary/kitchen drama), I wanted to offer some tips and strategies for parents/caregivers, school staff, and community helpers to make the most of the new opportunities and experiences that typically accompany a new school year. And remember, whether you’re reading this on the first day of school, or the last day of school, you can always make today the start of a new year.

Regardless of whether you’re a parent, grandparent, foster parent, guardian, caregiver, school employee, or community service provider, you are a “Champion for Children.” 

As a Champion for Children, reader, it’s my hope that this series of posts (and possibly videos) will provide you with “Food for Thought.” I hope that you’ll walk away from this content hungry for opportunities to implement these tips and strategies. Even more so, I’d love for you to try some of these strategies in your work with school staff, parents, community providers, etc.

We are at a time where it’s extremely challenging to be a:

• Parent / Caregiver trying to support your kid’s needs both in school and outside of school,

• Teacher, Special Educator, School Psychologist, School Counselor, SLP, Paraeducator, Administrator, ____ [Insert Any Other Staff Title Here]… attempting to support your students’ needs both in school and outside of school, AND

• Community Provider attempting to provide wrap-around supports for the needs of kids both in school and outside of school.

I don’t say this to increase fearmongering, invalidate personal experiences, or contribute to a culture of pointing fingers and judging or criticizing others. I share this to let you know that now, more than ever, we need to offer solutions and help wherever and whenever we can.

So, with that in mind, based on my experiences as a school psychologist and as a non-attorney educational advocate and educational consultant, I’d like to share some essential ingredients you’ll need in your kitchens in order to start-off the school year with a strong foundation for collaboration and communication across systems of support.

• Empathy

• Helpful Mindset

• Self-Awareness

• Rapport

• Relationships

• Welcoming Environment(s)

• Trust

• Transparency

• Honesty

• Time-Management

• Boundaries

• Knowledge and Familiarity with Support Systems, and

• A Desire to Understand Unique Circumstances

Over the coming weeks, I’ll address each ingredient, along with a look at the pests that often eat the ingredient, and a few ideas on how you can work toward cultivating the missing ingredient. If you’re wanting to have your dessert before dinner, check out our old posts (Post 1, Post 2, Post 3) for more tips on laying a strong foundation of collaboration across home and school.

Just like cooking, though, collaboration is an “art.” There will be many moments where you walk in with a vision for your dish, and you have the ingredients to make it, and you think you followed the recipe, but what you end up has no resemblance to the product you envisioned. Other times, you’ll be off by just a bit. At GPS Education Consulting, we’ll meet you where you’re at and help you to improve your “craft.” Connect with us to set-up a free consultation to see how we can be useful for your learner(s).

 Ready, Chef?  

 Best,

Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP

Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.

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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!

School Assessments: Moving Forward with an Advocate

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Let’s continue our series exploring services that help get your learner on a path to school success!

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been doing a deep-dive into the often emotionally-charged and confusing world of school assessments and psychological reports. We summarized some obstacles that are encountered when hardworking school professionals attempt to juggle competing demands within overburdened systems.

Last week, we detailed the frustrating and all-too-common experience for many folks attending a school meeting to review the results of psychological, educational, speech, language, OT (etc.) assessment results.

From that depiction of an effective school team juggling their many competing responsibilities within an over-burdened system, it’s easy to see how productivity and meaningful discussions compete for that scarce resource known as “time.”

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Next up: Obstacle #3:

  “Opportunities to collaborate…felt less productive.”

We laid out several ways GPS Education Consulting can help folks to meaningfully use assessment data to support learners’ strengths and areas of need (If you missed it, give it a quick read). As a bonus, those services also contribute to more productive collaboration across home, school, and community partners!

Here are a few of the many ways GPS Education Consulting will increase productive collaboration with schools:

1. Fewer continuation meetings due to breakdowns in preparation (e.g., documentation / prior-written-notice, meeting participants, meeting purpose(s), etc.).

2. Advanced opportunities to:

   • thoughtfully consider,

   • empower yourself with knowledge and resources, and

   • emotionally process the likely choices and outcomes that you will be presented with at the meeting(s).

3. Increased structure during meetings.

4. Less time spent on lower mutual-priorities and time-consuming explanations.

5. Getting key school system stakeholders/decision-makers involved earlier, which often leads to clarity and access to resources during complex situations.

6. More time to spend engaged in creative and solution-focused problem-solving with the experts who work with your learner.

Ready to stop spinning your wheels on the path to school success? Contact GPS Education Consulting today to schedule your FREE conversation to learn how we can get your learner moving forward!

Sounds great, right? Here’s how we do it:

• Our record review and one-on-one conversations prior to the meeting will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of personalized documentation proposed to bolster your learner’s interests and talents, and to develop skills in the areas that are harder for them.

• We’ll review possible interpretations of the information and proposed supports, detailing the ways that these could lead to choices and decisions for the upcoming meeting(s).

• With GPS Education Consulting representing you and your learner(s) as a non-attorney advocate throughout the process, you’ll have peace-of-mind knowing that we are putting our years of training and experience running thousands of IEP & Section 504 Meetings into advocating for your learner, while supporting the folks that work closely with them.

  • We will support the team using time-saving communication strategies ahead of time to establish common priorities for the meeting(s).

  • We will ensure that the necessary stakeholders participate in the meetings.

  • We’ll help the team to efficiently follow the established procedural safeguards and regulations for learners who require more creativity and support than their peers.

  • We'll employ our substantial experience with interpreting standardized assessments while important decisions are being made about your learner’s future.

  • We will lend our expertise and talents with complex problem-solving and solution-focused advocacy to overcome the obstacles often encountered in large systems like schools.

  • We will read between the lines using our training and experience in the school, and respectfully ask the challenging questions to get the answers your learner deserves.

  • We will review documentation from meetings and collaborate with the team to rectify errors and omissions.

  • We will support the team to envision and construct a path to school success for your learner.

  • We will guide you and the team to resources and additional professionals when the road is blocked.  

Ready to have PRODUCTIVE meetings with your learner’s school team? Fill out our short form to schedule your FREE Conversation.

Best,

Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP

Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.

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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!