Teaching is no doubt a daunting task. Teachers need to regularly ask themselves, “Does serving my students on a daily basis energize or exhaust me?” If the latter, your professional situation may not be sustainable, leading to dissatisfaction and decreased morale, and the potential for leaving the profession altogether (Garcia and Weiss 2019). Whether exhausted or energized, teachers who team with their building’s mental health professionals best ensure a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning with maximum capacity to best support student success. Read more
Bradley Balch
Bradley Balch, PhD, is professor and dean emeritus at Indiana State University. He is currently a graduate faculty member in the Department of Educational Leadership, Bayh College of Education, and affiliate faculty member in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Business Education, Scott College of Business.
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Addressing the Whole Child with a Team Approach
Categories: Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)Based on Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams
Education is clearly in an era of rapid change, with many pressures bearing down on the teaching and learning environment—from student and family challenges to the need for continuous improvement while addressing the whole child.
This can be daunting, if not exhausting, for educators. In fact, many educators did not receive the pre-service training to address these complex and often competing pressures. Other educators may have access to quality professional development related to whole-child issues but have not been able to successfully translate these new learnings into new classroom skills or dispositions. Read more

The School Board–Superintendent Team Transformation: Effectively Addressing Today’s Demands
Categories: School ImprovementThis post is based on the book Building Great School Board–Superintendent Teams.
As the most basic governmental unit, the local school board–superintendent team has undergone much transformation over the last century. This transformation has significant implications for the future of this team. Read more