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Tag: Resources
MAY 2024 SEL THEME – RESILIENCE & PERSEVERANCE – Picture book list
Looking for picture books to support a lesson or discussion on resilience or perseverance? Check out one of these great titles!
What other books about resilience and perseverance do you love?
Relationship mapping tool
This week, I talked all about the importance of connecting, and building relationships, with kids over on YouTube. One of the strategies I discussed was relationship mapping. I found this excellent tool for use by any teacher/school looking to do a more formal relationship mapping of their students.
I realize that this might be a difficult task to undertake for educators working in larger schools, but if you’re in a smaller school or up to the challenge, this tool really is fantastic and well worth the time it would take to complete.
I’d love to hear from you, if your school has done any kind of relationship mapping! How did you do it? What were the take-aways?
MAY 2024 SEL THEME – RESILIENCE & PERSEVERANCE – The 7 Cs
Whenever I hear the word “resilience,” my mind immediately starts to think of certain sets of student siblings or family members that I’ve had over the years. I’ve always been intrigued by the question, “What causes one sibling to be on an uphill trajectory in life while another sibling makes worrisome choices?”
While we know that the answer is resilience, what does that mean really? How does one build resilience? What traits must they possess to become resilient?
These are just a few of the questions I will address over the course of this month, as we dive into our monthly SEL theme of resilience and perseverance.
First, we know that there are a plethora of traits associated with resilience building, including the following:
- Optimism
- Gratitude
- Strong moral compass
- Desire to help others
- Sense of purpose
- Humor
- Positive role models
- Social connection
- Supportive family relationships
- Willingness to confront and grow from fears
We also know that we can help people build resilience in a variety of ways.
The 7 Cs model of resilience building was first published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2006. This model provides us with a roadmap for building resilience. By identifying aligned activities and implementing them in our classrooms or homes, we can set our children up to have the ability to bounce back from challenges and roadblocks.
Over the next few weeks, I am going to spend time here and over on my YouTube channel, breaking down each of the 7 Cs. Additionally, I am going to give you actionable activities to help grow resilient learners. I hope you’ll join me!
April 2024 SEL THEME – Empathy & Compassion – PICTURE BOOKS
Looking for a curated list of mentor texts to use during an empathy and compassion unit or lesson? Look no further!
I also shared about one of my favorite (and new to me!) books on empathy and compassion on YouTube earlier this week. You can watch the video here.
What other books would you add to this list? I’m sure there are so many good ones out there that I don’t even know about!
MARCH 2024 SEL THEME – CONFLICT RESOLUTION & PROBLEM SOLVING – Strategies for Teachers & parents
As promised last week, today I’m sharing a few great conflict resolution/problem solving strategies for kids.
- ASWATA – This stands for ask the person to stop, walk away, talk to an adult. This strategy is one to teach kids to use when someone is bothering them or they are dealing with a minor annoyance. First, we politely ask the person to stop doing whatever it is they are doing. If they don’t stop, we walk away. If they continue or follow us, that’s when we talk to an adult. This is a simple strategy that can be used to solve all sorts of minor conflicts between kids in the classroom or at home and puts the focus on the child solving the problem, not the adult.
- “I feel…” Statements – I feel statements are a critical component of the conflict resolution process. Why? Because rather than pointing the finger at the other person (which often leads to more anger and hostility), they put the focus on how that person’s actions made you feel. For example, saying “You never listen to me” is just an invitation to escalate a conflict. The other person will go on the defensive, and before you know it, the conflict has grown beyond its initial problem. However, saying “I feel frustrated and hurt when it seems like you aren’t listening to me” is not nearly as defense-inducing and potentially hurtful. Additionally, it’s hard for the other person to argue how you feel and these statements open the possibility of an honest conversation versus an anger-filled fight.
- Rock, Paper, Scissors – As a teacher or parent, you probably already know that a large percentage of the conflicts our kids encounter are minor and don’t require extensive problem solving. In fact, some of them are so minor that a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors can get the problem solved and all parties moving on with life quickly. It’s a simple but effective strategy for things like who gets the front seat of the car or the line leader position. Don’t waste a bunch of time on these conflicts AND put the ball in the kid’s court! This is the perfect time for them to practice their problem solving skills!
These are just a few of the hundreds of problem solving strategies we can teach our kids, but they have served me well as a teacher and a mom! What are some of your go-to problem solving strategies?
February 2024 SEL THEME – Kindness – PICTURE BOOKS
Looking for a curated list of mentor texts to use during a kindness unit or lesson? Look no further!
I also shared about a few of my absolute favorite books on kindness on YouTube earlier this week. You can watch the video here.
What other books would you add to this list? I’m sure there are so many good ones out there that I don’t even know about!
FEBRUARY 2024 SEL THEME – KINDNESS – TIPS & STRATEGIES FOR Teachers
Over on YouTube, I’ve shared two really great strategies for educators to instill kindness in students.
The first is a “take what you need” board. The idea is that you fill a bulletin board with quotes or affirmations that students can take when they are feeling overwhelmed, lacking self-confidence, etc.
To create a “take what you need” board, you first want to brainstorm the emotional supports your students may need. For instance, do you notice many students struggling with low self-esteem? Do they seem to need a reminder that they can and will rock exam week?
Once you identify several categories of supports, go in search of inspirational quotes and affirmations that may be helpful to them. Print or write them out to attach to the board. You can even color code the categories to make it easier to replenish as they are taken.
This is a fantastic idea for middle and high school educators and you can definitely get your student council or other similar club involved in helping.
Be sure all the students know about the board, where to find it, how it works, etc. Make sure it is accessible to all. You may even consider adding in some resources for students who are struggling with mental health issues or crises.
The second idea I discussed over on YouTube was a student and/or staff shout-out board. For this, you need to create a form that students or staff members can use to recognize one another. You make these forms available in a central location and have a system for them to be turned in. The forms can be attached to a bulletin board for everyone to read or can be read during morning/afternoon announcements.
This is a great way to encourage your school community to recognize the kind acts/great things happening in the building. Plus, it just makes people feel good to know they have been seen!
If you want to learn more about these strategies, head over to the following links to listen…
What are some other ways you can instill kindness in your students?
JANUARY 2024 SEL THEME – GOAL SETTING – Wrapping up
Well, it’s time to wrap up our very first SEL theme of the month – goal setting. If you’ve been following along and setting goals for yourself or with your kids or students, you might be wondering how to keep the momentum going throughout the year.
Here are a few things you can do to ensure achievement of your goals:
- Break them down into smaller pieces – It’s a dream for a reason! It’s going to take time and effort to achieve. Do yourself a favor and break it down into more manageable chunks.
- Celebrate the small wins – Don’t wait until you achieve the goal to celebrate! Celebrate all the small successes you have along the way. You deserve it!
- Be consistent – It takes time and consistency to achieve a big goal. Keep at it and try not to get discouraged when it takes longer than you think it should.
- Stay organized – Have a system in place to map out the small steps you will take to reach your goal. Write it in your planner, add it to your calendar – whatever it takes to keep you on track!
- Visualize your success – What will it look like, feel like, sound like, etc. when you achieve your goal? Visualize every little detail of that success!
- Set up an accountability system – Find yourself an accountability partner to keep you focused and on track.
Now that you are well on your way to achieving your goal for the year, you may be wondering where we are heading for February and our next SEL theme. Well, I’ll tell you…tomorrow!
JANUARY 2024 SEL THEME – GOAL SETTING – Resources and Picture books
As we begin to wrap up this first social-emotional learning theme of the year, I want to share a few resources that I have come across over this past month. These can be used by parents or teachers, at home or in the classroom.
- This is a great list of goal-setting activities from Big Life Journal. Some are individual, some can be done as a family and many can be adapted to work in a classroom.
- Also from Big Life Journal, check out this handy dandy set of tips for goal-setting with kids.
- This is a great set of activities from Edutopia to foster a goal-setting mindset in the classroom.
- Below is the list of picture books I have curated over the past month while researching goal-setting.
Be sure to check out my YouTube channel for so many other goal-setting activities and resources! I hope you’ve enjoyed this first SEL theme of 2024! I will be announcing February’s theme very soon!
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