It was 2004, the fifth hurricane of the season was about to arrive in Florida, and my mom declared that she wouldn’t evacuate her home ever again. “I’m too old for this,” she insisted. Knowing that I was not going to change her mind, but unwilling to let her go through this alone, I decided [...]
Today’s blog is co-authored with Tara Skiles, Director of Professional Development for the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education and a member of our Optimistic Leadership Council.
I was in New Mexico facilitating a workshop for a group of Navajo educators. During the lunch break, one of the teachers, Miss Augusta, offered me feedback. “Your words make us very tired, I just wanted to let you know.” I thanked her and she gave me a hug. Her feedback was an invitation to [...]
For me, cultivating self-awareness is like opening the windows and letting some fresh air in. It means allowing myself to be curious, rather than judgmental, about what I don’t yet know or understand about myself. And as Nichole Parks, LFC’s Associate Director of Programs, so wisely said: cultivating self-awareness is hard work. That’s why people [...]
When I was in my twenties, I was teaching third grade at a school in New York City. I had many close friendships among the faculty and got along with just about everyone. Early one year, the Director organized a whole-school professional development retreat at a beautiful location just outside the city. We were seated [...]
When I think back to my freshman year in college, I recall a professor returning my very first paper with a comment on the front page. It said: THIS READS LIKE THE YELLOW PAGES. His comment was humiliating and painful. It certainly didn’t offer me tools to improve the paper. Instead, the impact of his [...]
We know that young children thrive in an environment of trusting relationships with the adults who care for and educate them. All aspects of children’s development — intellectual, social, emotional, physical, behavioral, and moral — are shaped by the relationships they have with the adults in their lives [1]. Now, imagine this environment of nurturing [...]
In our Facebook Live Event in June 2020, Robin Hancock, Board Member of Leading for Children, shared some insights from her work in Global Education for young children.
In this article originally published in Child Care Exchange, Judy Jablon, Executive Director of Leading for Children, explores how we can practice the Five Commitments of Optimistic Leadership By Judy Jablon, Executive Director, Leading for Children Child Care Exchange, 2018
