Musings from Mrs. Galvan

I am spending July at home, with the three kids, trying to be at peace with my pact to not do work and just enjoy time with my kids... But the baby is taking a nap and the older kids are occupied, so I am breaking my pact for just a little while to write just a short blog post on advisory and Council . --- I left the math classroom last August and entered administration as a middle school dean. While deaning  gave me plenty of opportunities to counsel students and talk shop with teachers, I really missed being in the classroom. Teaching is part of my identity. Discussing ideas with a room full of 14 year olds is exciting, inspiring, challenging and incredibly fulfilling.  So while the new gig didn't afford me the chance to teach math, it did give me a mini class to take on: advisory. While not quite the same as a class that meets everyday, the weekly hour-long advisory sessions and daily attendance encounters, were my favorite parts of my daily routine. Social-emotional ...

I look forward to going to the CATDC Women in Leadership workshop every year as I find it inspiring and reinvigorating to hear the stories of women who have sought out leadership opportunities. Their stories are powerful because they don’t hold back. They share, earnestly, stories of frustration, failures, risk taking and heartbreak, along side examples of opportunity, success and exacting positive change. This year we gathered at The Skirball Cultural Center and heard from several leaders in independent schools whose stories centered around the theme of Yes...and, culminating in an improv activity to encourage better collaboration and communication skills. From Dr. Bryson's slides We also heard from Dr. Tina Bryson who shared her research on the brain and how it relates to discipline and engaging cooperation. Her talk helped me to see the science behind attachment based teaching and parenting. Say your student (or coworker or child or spouse) is upset and behaving b...

What I love about conferences, is having the time to reflect on best practices and hearing stories that I wouldn’t normally encounter in my usual day to day. NAIS 2016 did not disappoint - I attended sessions that will inform how I relate to others and think about school for years to come. I also heard talks that while not clearly about school, challenged my thinking and broadened my perspective. The conference was also a time to spend with friends and colleagues at other schools. I reconnected with my Klingenstein cohort and chatted with former colleagues. Catching up with old friends feeds my soul and also counts at professional development as we invariably spend our time talking shop and sharing what we’ve been learning. The teachers that I love not only share my dedication to lifelong learning, but also enjoying sharing realizations and asking for ideas on working through challenges. I was at the conference Wednesday - Friday and will summarize my major take aways. W...