Educational Consulting

Proven coaching methods for teachers, school leaders, and entire school systems.

Mindful practices are the key to heal our classrooms, our teachers, & our students

The effects of Covid-19 have changed the face of the educational landscape in a way that we have never seen before and that our current methodology and pedagogical frameworks are not equipped to navigate in a way to truly recover all that has been lost.

We know that academic interventions are necessary due to the learning deficits that America’s schoolchildren are bringing to school each day . We know that state assessment measures are a reality we will most likely never escape. And we also know that teacher effectiveness is critical to the success of all schools.

However, we also know that if teacher well-being is not a priority in our schools, our educators will never be able to meet the extreme challenges of this ever-changing landscape.

Teachers know their content. They know instructional delivery. And most of them know the developmental needs of the students they are responsible for teaching. But in today’s schools, those pieces of knowledge are not enough. There are more important questions that must be answered if we want to help our schools heal from the challenges this pandemic has brought.

  • Do teachers truly know how to nurture their own social, emotional, and mental health as well as they know content and instructional delivery?
    Do they know how to utilize tools to foster their own self-regulation in order to create safe, regulated, and peaceful environments where all kids can not only learn, but can thrive?
  • Do teachers know how to activate their students’ parasympathetic nervous systems, thus allowing kids to move out of this high alert state of fight, flight, freeze in which they seem to be stuck?
  • Do our building and district leaders know how to create systems within the district to support teacher well-being as well as they know how to create benchmark assessments at the end of each grading period?
  • And do ALL of our educators (classroom teachers and administrators, alike) know how to authentically reteach socially and emotionally acceptable behavioral choices to all students in order to stop the massive amount of out-of-class placements that are occurring daily in our schools from grades PreK through 12? (And can they do it without resorting to punitive measures as choice #1?)

 

If you are struggling with the answers to any or all of these questions, we can help. The Educational Consulting component of The Pranayama Group was founded on the nearly three decades of experience and success that Dr. Kelli Sammis experienced as a teacher,as a building level leader, and as a district administrator.

More About Kelli & Educational Coaching

Dr. Kelli Norgaard has coached thousands of teachers toward improvement in their craft as educators and, just as importantly, in who they are as people and as public servants of their community. 

A few examples of her coaching are: 

  • Designed campus and district-level induction and mentoring programs for preservice and novice teachers who are stepping into their own classrooms for the very first time
  • Created coaching plans for teachers in need of improvement with the ultimate goal of helping them to establish classroom management structures that would create a community of self-managing learners (and then lived out those plans alongside those teachers) 
  • Supported veteran educators who realized they needed new instruction and management methods designed with student needs in mind rather than doing things the way they had always done them.
  • Mentored building principals in organizational health for their campuses so that as their capacity grew, they could grow their teachers' capacity. 

She has also written and implemented social-emotional curriculum and programs at the district level so that all stakeholders (from students to superintendents) were given tools to increase self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness daily, thus equipping them to make more responsible decisions. 

As a Director of Professional Development for a Title One urban school district, she was able to implement the following:

  • PBIS and MTSS
  • Conscious Discipline
  • Restorative Circles
  • SEL as a Safe Space for the Elementary Classroom 
  • Alternatives to Aggressive Behaviors through Yoga & Mindfulness
  • Capturing Kids' Hearts

All of these district initiatives and programs that she facilitated, together with her own experience and knowledge through her doctoral studies in Curriculum and Instruction, the curriculum books she has published, and her extensive years of experience in high-poverty, high-trauma environments have inspired her to create Mindful Educational Consulting through The Pranayama Group. 

Learn More

Dr. Kelli Sammis is available as a resource for the following:

  • Keynote addresses for back-to-school convocations and professional development events
  • School/district-wide professional development that aligns with the school’s comprehensive needs assessment and Campus Improvement Plan
  • Building level coaching (at the leadership AND classroom levels)
  • Supporting schools and districts in designing their sustainable plans for developing teacher well-being, thus increasing teacher retention and satisfaction in their positions
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students in savasana
class of student yogis
kids doing yoga in the lunchroom
Kelli Norgaard Pranayama Group

Are You Ready for a Consultation Call?

Via a Zoom call, Kelli will learn about you, your campus/district, and the biggest struggles facing your school community right now. That information will allow her to bring back REAL-WORLD solutions for your school’s needs that WILL make a difference.

Request a Consultation
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