Presented by Dr. Jessica Hannigan, PBIS Behavioral Consultant and Professor of Educational Leadership, California State University, Fresno; Michael Murphy, Dean of Discipline, Harold L. Richards High School, Community High School District 218 (IL); and Tina Tyler Smith, Director of Student Services and Dropout Prevention Specialist, Delano Union School District (CA)
Moderated by Jessica Berlinski, Director of K-12, Ripple Effects

Sponsored by Ripple Effects

Watch the Recording Listen to the Podcast

Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.

“Behavior problems ranging from inability to focus in class all the way to deadly violence have gripped campuses,” The Washington Post recently reported. Indeed, students’ aggression, lack of motivation, anxiety, and depression have reached record levels as the pandemic drags on.

In this edWebinar, one of the country’s most sought-after behavior consultants joins leading district administrators and shares how to:

• Effectively address students’ aggression, fighting, and bullying
• Implement SEL and behavioral supports that get at what’s underneath students’ externalizing behavior, so the behavior stays stopped
• Use digital tools to support students’ mental AND behavioral health, and why they’re working
• Get students back on track while keeping staff feeling supported when things don’t work

School and district administrators, teachers, and school support staff learn concrete steps they can take to support students’ behavior and address the challenges and trauma that fuel that behavior—even as they continue to grapple with the challenges of COVID-19.

This recorded edWebinar is of interest to PreK-12 school and district leaders, deans, teachers, school counselors and social workers, federal program coordinators, and those involved in supporting student mental and behavioral health.

About the Presenters

Dr. Jessica Djabrayan Hannigan is an assistant professor in the Educational Leadership Department at California State University, Fresno. She works with schools and districts throughout the nation on designing and implementing effective behavior systems. Her expertise includes Response to Intervention (RTI) Behavior, Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), social and emotional learning (SEL) and more. The combination of her special education and student support services background, school- and district-level administration, and higher education research experiences has allowed her to develop inclusive research-based best practices around systemic implementation of behavior initiatives throughout the nation.

She is the co-author of the following educational books: The PBIS Tier One Handbook, The PBIS Tier Two Handbook, The PBIS Tier Three Handbook, Don’t Suspend Me! An Alternative Discipline Toolkit, Building Behavior, The MTSS Start-Up Guide, and Behavior Solutions. Some of her recognitions include being named California Outstanding School Psychologist of the Year, Administrator of the Year, Outstanding Faculty Publications and Service Award recipient, being recognized by the California Legislature Assembly for her work in social justice and equity, and receiving the inaugural Association of California School Administrators Exemplary Woman in Education Award in 2017 for her relentless work around equity in schools.

Michael Murphy is a dean of discipline at Harold L. Richards High School in south suburban Chicago. Trained as a secondary English teacher, he grounds himself in his administrative roles through his roots in innovative instructional design and a staunch belief that every student’s individuality should be cultivated and celebrated. Teaching and coaching in the richly diverse environs of Community High School District 218 for the past 13 years, he understands that honest, equitable approaches to learning, discipline, and social-emotional wellness are paramount to outcomes of student successes in today’s educational arena. Michael is an integral cog in the MTSS wheel at Richards and is spearheading Ripple Effects programming in his district as a means of reimagining the idea of “discipline” and restorative practice in the high school setting. He holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary English education from Governors State University and two master’s degrees from the American College of Education (educational leadership and instructional design and technology).

Tina Tyler Smith is the director of student services and a dropout prevention specialist. Within her role, she also functions as the Foster Youth and McKinney-Vento liaison for Delano Union School District where she serves 12 schools in the areas of child welfare and attendance, enrollment, MTSS practices, behavior support, SEL, and mental health supports. She is a former middle school teacher, and middle/high school vice principal and principal where most of her work has been in the areas of behavior intervention and culture/climate change. She is originally from the Los Angeles area where she has spent her career supporting rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities with high-risk factors to help create an environment for all students to learn.

About the Moderator

Jessica Berlinski is the director of K-12 for Ripple Effects, an innovative social-change enterprise focused on leveraging personalized SEL to improve students’ behavior and academics and achieve educational equity. She brings over a decade of experience leading organizations dedicated to supporting the “whole child” through academic and SEL tools and programs to her work. Jessica co-founded and served as Chief Impact Officer of SEL tech start-ups, If You Can and Centervention (formerly Personalized Learning Games). In these roles, she commercialized the first evidence-based SEL assessment and learning game for K-12, and the first SEL iPad game for the consumer marketplace. Previously, she served as Managing Director of GameDesk, a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded non-profit focused on innovative learning models, and as National Director of Character Counts. Jessica speaks on technology and SEL at education and social-change conferences nationally, and her work has been featured on National Public Radio, and in Forbes and Newsweek. She graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in philosophy, with a focus on ethics and philosophy of religion.

Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.

Join the Social-Emotional Learning community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.

Ripple Effects is the only digital SEL and mental health program for students and staff that is proven to improve student behavior, academics and SEL skills, and reduce drop-out rates and depression scores. The CASEL aligned Ripple Effects program empowers K-12 learners to build resiliency assets around their personal needs and traumas via over 400 interactive lessons (e.g. anxiety, loneliness, getting help, unplanned change, substance abuse.)