Tips and Strategies for Listening in to Students and Yourself

“I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.” - Larry King

As parents and educators, we want to be champions for our students, but often we revert to doing things we think will help them rather than asking them what they actually need. Taking the time to truly listen to what they have to say about their experience in the world is one of the best ways we can support students.

In this newsletter, we share some of our favorite ways to embed “Listening In (#listen in) ” into your home or school. We also highlight our research recently featured on NBC (#nbc) and explore how educators and schools can engage in a partnership with us (#partner) for the coming school year. And, don’t miss our Well-Balanced Student workshop tomorrow ([link removed]) .

The Challenge Success Team
WORKSHOP FOR PARENTS - TONIGHT ()

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WELL-BALANCED STUDENT PARENT EDUCATION EVENT
Feb. 24th at 5:00pm PT | 8:00pm ET
When we are too focused on grades and performance, we deny our children the time and energy they need to tackle the demanding work of growing up. In this presentation, you’ll learn how you can establish a healthier home environment for your school-aged child, reduce academic stress without sacrificing achievement, and increase your child’s resilience, creativity, and well-being.

“I LOVE the interactive flow of this workshop. The speaker was very practical and gave us the right amount of interactive opportunities! This workshop enlightened me and gave me an awareness of all the stress factors that our kids go through.” - High School Teacher and Parent
REGISTER HERE ([link removed])
LISTENING IN ()

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“I WISH CAMPAIGNS”
An “I Wish” campaign is a simple yet powerful opportunity to listen in to students. Ask students to complete the statement: “I Wish My Teachers Knew...” or “I Wish My Parents Knew…” Educators can do this in-person by asking students to fill out notecards or post-it notes or remotely via an anonymous survey. Parents can carve out time and space at home to let their children reflect on this prompt.
Here are some of the responses from “I Wish” campaigns done recently by our partner schools:
* “I wish my parents knew that I'm actually learning a lot from the hybrid schedule even though they claim I'm learning less due to half days.”
* “I wish my parents knew that I am trying my best.”
* “I wish my teachers knew how tough this year has been on me and my family mentally. My family's investments for my college fell through because of COVID. Since May, I've been working 25 to 30 hours a week to save money up so I can go to college next year.”
* “I wish my parents and teachers knew that I think they’re doing a fantastic job.”

Hear more “I Wish” statements ([link removed]) recently featured on the TODAY Show. These were compiled by two students from Folsom High School, Scarlett Kniznik and Arash Dewan.

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QUESTIONS TO ASK STUDENTS
Consider asking your students some of these questions from ourStudent Survey ([link removed]) to find out more about their experience:
* How often do you try as hard as you can in school?
* How often do you enjoy your schoolwork?
* How often do you worry about school assignments?
* How much sleep do you typically get on a weeknight? On weekends?
* If you needed help with a personal problem, is there at least one adult at your school who you feel you could go to?

Find more questions to ask your students in our Survey Sample Questions ([link removed]) .

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LISTENING IN TO YOURSELF
In addition to listening in to your students, listening in to yourself is equally important. In our latest blog post, Amy Cislak, principal of a Challenge Success partner school, shares her personal experience as an educator when she was asked to listen in and consider how she incorporated Playtime, Downtime, and Family Time into her own life. R ([link removed]) ead Full Post. ([link removed])
ENGAGE WITH US ()

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FOR PARENTS: A HEALTHIER APPROACH TO COLLEGE ADMISSIONS
Mar. 11th at 5:00pm PT | 8:00pm ET
Learn strategies to help reduce pressure around the college admissions process and ways to support students' well-being and readiness for life in college and beyond during this 90-minute workshop. With the pandemic inserting even more uncertainty into this process, we will include a Q&A at the end to answer some of your most pressing questions.
“This presentation is excellent and essential for our students and their parents. Now, what we really need is for them to see it in ninth grade so it can guide their entire high school experience.” - High School Administrator

REGISTER HERE ([link removed])

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FOR EDUCATORS: JOIN OUR SUMMER LEADERSHIP SEMINAR
Join a dynamic group of K-12 school leaders and educators from across the country for a virtual leadership seminar ([link removed]) . Through interactive presentations, workshops, and dialogue with peers, you will learn new strategies to improve student well-being and promote academic engagement in your school community.
REGISTER HERE ([link removed])

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FOR SCHOOLS: TRANSFORM THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE IN 2021-22
Whether you are considering school-wide changes to improve school climate, adjusting student schedules, rethinking current assessment practices, or partnering more closely with parents and students through communication efforts, our change process can help. The Challenge Success School Program ([link removed]) is a year-long, collaborative partnership that helps schools transform their students’ experience.
INQUIRE HERE ([link removed])
CHALLENGE SUCCESS IN THE MEDIA ()

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NEW REPORT WITH NBC
Read our groundbreaking new study, Kids Under Pressure ([link removed]) , about the impact of the pandemic on student well-being and academic engagement or watch stories that aired last week on theTODAY Show ([link removed]) and NBC Nightly News ([link removed]) . You can also follow us on Facebook ([link removed]) or Instagram ([link removed]) to stay in the loop @challengesuccess.

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REACH BOARDING AND CHALLENGE SUCCESS LAUNCH PARTNERSHIP
REACH Boarding is now offering our Student Survey to the schools they serve. “The synergy between Challenge Success and REACH provides schools with a sophisticated tool that will highlight and detail how to fundamentally understand their students and improve the overall welfare and climate of the school,” said REACH Director Brian Murray. This is the first time our survey will be available on a mobile platform, and we look forward to “reaching” even more schools through this partnership. Learn more. ([link removed])

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"SCHOOLHOUSE ROCKED" IN STANFORD MAGAZINE
Stanford Magazine recently featured Dr. Denise Pope and Challenge Success in their cover story. Read the full article. ([link removed])
Photo credit: Stanford magazine and illustrator DaVidRo

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Strategies for Student Well-Being and Engagement with Learning

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