Directions 2023:  SEL, TRAUMA, & SCHool

connecting you to the experts

Each expert will be here for the day, presenting a longer, 85-minute session and two 55-minute sessions so you can either sample them all or soak up one for the whole time.

FREE!

It's free to attend again this year, thanks to the Hub 5 SEL Grant from the Illinois State Board of Education.  Due to space constraints, we'll be limiting registration, so be sure to get your name on the list (or the wait list!)​

Keynote:  Kristin Souers
Fostering a Trauma-Invested Learning environment
For over three decades, Kristin Van Marter Souers, MA LMHC, has dedicated herself to the improvement of people’s lives. She is an award-winning author of Fostering Resilient Learners: Strategies for creating a trauma-sensitive classroom environment (ASCD, 2016) and Relationship, Responsibility, and Regulation: Trauma-Invested Practices for Fostering Resilient Learners (ASCD, 2019) as well as many other publications and articles. 

Experts

Matt Dewar
Stress Better (TM): The Science of Stress Optimization
Why Teacher Identity & Self Care Matter
Enhancing the "Heart" of Learning
Carla Philibert
Social Emotional Learning in the Classroom
You Have an SEL Program:  Now What?
Evaluating SEL Curricula
Eboni Rucker
Self - Sacrifice Vs. Self Care, Restorative SEL
Abolitionist Education & Culturally Responsive Teaching
Introduction to Restorative Practices
Julie Smith
Media Literacy: The Hidden Key to SEL
What We Need to Know Our Social Media Use & TikTok in Particular
“I have attended 3 of these conferences now and love them every time.  Thank you!”  ~Brandi H.
“Thank you so much for this conference! I learned so much and really enjoyed myself. What I love the most about Directions Conferences is that I ALWAYS leave with tools that I will actually use in my classroom.”  ~Holly S.
“The conference was exceptional.  I feel more ready to take on the challenges of a new school year.”  ~Monica L.