It’s been a BIG year at REAL! Read more in our Annual Report
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What Teachers Can Do to Help Students Through Moments of Polarity This summer I spoke with hundreds of teachers across nearly a dozen workshops about a near-omnipresent anxiety: how can teachers help students navigate moments of polarity with their peers during this U.S. Presidential election season? It’s worth noting that at R.E.A.L.®, we are big…
Kids these days. Adults have been shaking their heads and repeating that phrase about younger generations for…generations. It’s as true today as it ever was, and the kids of Gen Z – who’ve grown up as digital natives, during a global pandemic, at the cusp of an AI boom – can sometimes seem impenetrable to…
Name/Hometown: Patrick Farmer, Newton, Massachusetts Current Role and School: Sixth grade lead teacher at Nativity Preparatory School of Boston. How did you learn about R.E.A.L.®? I used to work at Shady Hill School, where Liza had done her teacher training. One of Liza’s mentors is also one of my mentors, and she saw that we…
This summer, we were delighted to welcome another amazing group of interns to the R.E.A.L.® team. As the summer draws to a close, our interns are heading back to college campuses – and after eight weeks spent thinking, breathing, and living discussion, they have new approaches to in-person conversation. We asked four of our interns…
Dr. John Austin is the Head of School at Deerfield Academy and the lead author of “Thriving in a World of Pluralistic Contention: A Framework for Schools.” The Framework was produced by a Task Force of Heads of School in partnership with the E.E. Ford Foundation. What follows is a conversation between John and R.E.A.L….
Name/Hometown: Sumner McCallie, Chattanooga, TN, McCallie School Current Role and School: Dean of Faculty & Curriculum at McCallie School in Chattanooga, TN. How did you learn about R.E.A.L.®? [R.E.A.L.® Founder] Liza Garonzik had presented at a conference, and our Middle School Principal came back and said, “you’ve got to be connected with her. She has…
One Saturday night about five years ago, I found myself at TGI Friday’s at 10:30pm, just sitting down to dinner with a sports team full of disgruntled teenagers. The kids were grumpy after the afternoon’s loss and tired from a long day of travel; unsurprisingly, phones came out as we walked from the door to…
Penny Austen is the founder of ThinkGive, a SEL program that helps students build character, confidence, and connection. What follows is a conversation between Penny and R.E.A.L. ® founder Liza Garonzik. This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity. Liza: Penny, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to have you, as…
R.E.A.L.® Discussion is a program that equips faculty to teach, measure, and celebrate discussion skills – which students use in the classroom, in the cafeteria, on the court, and, even, at the grocery store (said one sixth grade girl) and on dates (shared a ninth grade boy)! The system is based on the four R.E.A.L.®…
As Susan Cain, the author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, said in a now-famous TED Talk, “Our most important institutions – our schools and our workplaces – are designed mostly for extroverts and for extroverts’ need for lots of stimulation.” Indeed, in rejecting the lecture-based classes of…
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