NSRF Connections Online

Welcome to NSRF Connections!

Knowing that educators are some of the busiest people on the planet, we are offering Connections in bite-sized pieces, more often. Each post below shows a brief summary, so you can decide whether you want to click through to read the whole article, and each article is designed as a relatively quick read. We will add content often, but only email you with an “index” of recent posts about four times per year.

Please fill out the form to “subscribe” so you can be informed whenever the content is updated.

You can also read this and any other older issue on our Connections Archives page.

Guest podcast: Using protocols to facilitate intentional and equitable conversations with Michele Mattoon

Kim Cofino and Clint Hamada of the Coach Better podcast and Eduro Learning interviewed NSRF Executive Director Michele Mattoon about NSRF protocols and Critical Friends Group learning communities. (2 min. read, hourlong podcast)

The Gift of Joy: Just One You

Happy Holidays! Given it is the season of giving and JOY, NSRF offers Kaethe Perez’s adaptation of the "Joy: Just One You" activity as a transitional activity you can use in both virtual and in-person gatherings throughout the coming new year! (2 min read)

A Time and Place for Pie

A few years ago, I decided to start every Monday in one of my 7th grade social studies classes with the Transitions Activity ... It was going to be powerful. I just knew it ... (10 min. read)

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

NSRF appreciates educators 24/7/365! For Teachers' Appreciation week we want to help you CELEBRATE! (2 min read)

“The Importance of Belonging” by Better Leaders Better Schools with NSRF’s Michele Mattoon

Daniel Bauer of Better Leaders Better Schools and NSRF's executive director, Michele Mattoon, discuss growing up in cultures around the world, Critical Friends Group® work, the necessity of a "sense of belonging," and how NSRF's protocols can work to build this sense of belonging in classrooms and also in our professional meetings. (30+ min podcast)

Making Zoom more human, humane, inclusive, and equitable: A TEDx talk

Director of NSRF Virtual Learning, Luci McKean, spoke at TEDxBloomington in April 2021 on Making Zoom more human, humane, equitable and inclusive. Watch her talk here!

To mute or not to mute? by Michele Mattoon

Muting ourselves during an online meeting is often polite and expected, but there are times when being "unmuted" can grow a sense of belonging ...

Pecha Kucha talk at NAIS Conference, Feb 2020

Six and a half minutes on the basics of protocol use, CFG work, and why we have presenters "separate" in some protocols, delivered at the NAIS conference in Feb 2020. (2min read + video)

Job opening for an admin with CFG experience

Job opportunity for a CFG coach! Check it out.

Graphic Scribing in Critical Friends Group Training

Working with a professional Scribe added value for the participants of this CFG training, and for me! (6.5 min. read)