Tending the Soil
Tools for Parents and Educators Navigating Uncertain Times
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Welcome Fellow Gardeners!
Every competent gardener knows that unless you nurture the soil you can't sustain a healthy garden. Our kids are that garden - and we are the soil. The social & emotional needs of our kids are best served when our social & emotional needs are served. We cannot give of ourselves what we do not have, and we cannot model for others what we do not practice ourselves. Our responsibility to our kids begins with our responsibility to ourselves.
That's what this newsletter is about. It will contain a mix of information, perspective, science, tools, resources, and personal experience. My hope is that in it you will find something that connects with you as a parent or an educator and empowers you to take better care of yourself so that you can take better care of your kids. The best social-emotional work we can do with kids is the social-emotional work we do with ourselves. I'm 100% convinced of that!
About the Author
Josh Bloom is a teacher at Palo Alto High School (Paly) and is presently a teacher on special assignment (TOSA) for Social & Emotional Learning (SEL). He has taught high school physics and astronomy for nearly 20 years and for 10 years has served as a teacher advisor for 10-12th graders at Paly. Before teaching, Josh was a YMCA summer camp counselor and director which is where he found his passion for youth development and teaching. He's also the father of two crazy amazing (amazingly crazy?) little kids.
Palo Alto High School
Josh Bloom
TOSA for Social & Emotional Learning
Astrophysics Teacher
Teacher Advisor
Email: jbloom@pausd.org