Practical solutions and online training tools to counter the isolation felt by K-12 students in a resource-challenged education system In Reconnect: Building School Culture for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging, a team of distinguished educators from Teach Like a Champion and Uncommon Schools deliver practical guidance and concrete advice for teachers, administrators, and community members who seek to dramatically improve the lives of children and young people by fostering a sense of belonging in schools. In the book, you'll find hands-on solutions to build or rebuild students' sense of shared work and community in an era of increasing isolation and disconnections. The authors draw on extensive experience with high-performing schools to show you how to build environments that allow young people to thrive and socialize them to become citizens who seek the well-being of those around them.

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- About the Authors -- Introduction: What's the Problem? -- A Pandemic Within an Epidemic -- Loss of Faith in Institutions -- The Tension Between Individualism and Belonging -- We're Optimistic, Actually -- Notes -- Chapter 1 How We're Wired Now -- Argument One: The Imperative of Belonging -- Small Moments and the Gestures of Belonging -- Flow and Its Role in Belonging -- Argument Two: Schools and the Smartphone Epidemic -- A Generation Both Connected and Isolated -- Combating the Smartphone Epidemic -- Argument Three: Schools Must Rebuild Faith in Institutional Viability and Reliability -- A Village Emerges -- Notes -- Chapter 2 A Great Unwiring -- Pluses and Minuses -- Network Effects and Zoom -- Access for Parents -- Access for Students -- Managing the Downside -- Yes, It Can Be Done -- Knowledge (of the Why) Is Power -- The Why, Part 1: The Attention Problem -- The Why, Part 2: An Anxiety Machine -- The Why, Part 3: A Single Phone Affects Everyone -- Building in the Antidote -- Notes -- Chapter 3 Rewiring the Classroom: Teaching That Amplifies the Signals of Belonging -- His Students Are So Motivated -- "Snaps If You Agree" -- We Call This "Props" -- "Habits of Attention": The Hidden Power of Students Tracking Each Other -- Getting Started with Habits of Attention -- Habits of Discussion: Talking to, Not Past, Each Other -- The Tools in Synergy -- Yes, But How Do I Do That? -- Habits of (Littler) Discussions -- It Might Get Loud: Adding Turn and Talk and Call and Response -- Means of Participation Makes "How to Participate" Transparent -- Active Observation: Hidden Driver of Relationships -- Putting It All Together -- Summary: Techniques That Amplify Belonging -- Coda: Orderly Classrooms Are Caring Classrooms -- Notes. Chapter 4 Wiring the School for Socioemotional Learning -- Start with Virtues -- Knowledge, Perception, and Reasoning -- Build Them into the Fabric of Your School -- The Case for Gratitude and Resilience -- Building Resilience -- How a Moment Becomes a Mechanism for Development -- Visual Culture -- The Mechanisms of Wiring -- Arrival -- Meals -- Hallways -- Strategic Intervention -- Notes -- Chapter 5 Case Studies in the Process of Rewiring -- Leadership for Community and Belonging -- Start with a Clear Model -- A Culture of Connection and Belonging Will Require Constant Attention -- Preparing for When It Breaks Down -- Preparing for Breakdown, Part One: To Teach Well You Need a Curriculum -- Lessons from the Field -- Preparing for Breakdown, Part 2: Teachers Need Training -- Private Deaning in Six Steps -- Closing: Deaning for Connection and Belonging -- Notes -- Afterword: How We Choose -- Index -- EULA.