Author: Alex Shevrin

Alex Shevrin is a teacher/leader and techie at Centerpoint School in South Burlington, VT, an independent, therapeutic, special education school. She believes in the power of authentic relationship as a foundation to good work in education.
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#everydaycourage and trauma-informed education

#everydaycourage is always around us if we can slow down to notice it.

#everydaycourageI spent many years working in a therapeutic school with teens who were struggling with anxiety, depression, mental health, and the impacts of trauma. If you let the pace of the year carry you forward, it was easy to lose sight of the progress we were making.

I remember going to see a production of a musical with students from a mainstream school. I remember watching it and being incredibly impressed with their talents, skills, and bravery in performance.  And I felt sad. My students in our alternative school had faced so much in their lives, and it was unlikely that many of them would be able to do something like get up in front of an audience of hundreds and sing.

Those were the thoughts I had when I was swept up in the school year. But I wasn’t noticing the #everydaycourage and growth right in front of me.

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What to say instead of “21st Century”

Shifting the conversation from “the future” to my future

Alex Shevrin: Is extra credit an equity issue?When “21st century skills” first emerged as an educational term, we were just on the precipice of our new century, and talking about the next one hundred years felt future-forward. Now, fifteen years in, “21st century” to me implies current more than future.

“21st century,” then, as a descriptor for a set of skills, gets confusing.

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