You all know about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, right? Do you know what this hierarchy was originally called? It was a new learning for me while listening to the recent webinar by Drs. Jessica and John Hannigan, SEL from a Distance: Building a Framework of Processes into your School/District to Guarantee Student Success.

Students need to understand the relationship between their emotions and behaviors and acquire the SEL tools needed to access their learning and life. This should without a doubt be a top priority and integrated in the fabric of any school in any setting.

We created the LETRS® Literacy Champion Program, which has been recognizing heroes for the past year, to celebrate literacy champions everywhere. These are the educators who go above and beyond, and who believe every student deserves the chance to learn to read. They never give up hope or give up on a struggling reader.

In October 2020, the Science of Reading—What I Should Have Learned in College Facebook group reached 50,000 members and continues to grow at a rate of about 1,000 members per week. Many, if not most of these new members, are new to the science of reading. Our mission is to continue to share with the membership opportunities to learn how the science can be implemented at home or in their classrooms.

The patterns associated with poverty in America have created a new bias in the school setting. It is difficult for teachers to see a Black student and not subconsciously associate them with the behaviors commonly exhibited by low socioeconomic students, and research confirms this.

How can educators maintain a certain sense of well-being at the start of the new year given legitimate fears about health and safety, educational gaps, and a social and emotional disconnect from students? How do we put 2020 in the past (where it belongs) and look to a happier, healthier 2021?