Social and Emotional Learning Archives

November 25, 2020 Find Your Five: Cultivating Gratitude During Difficult Times

I simply love Thanksgiving. The planning, the prepping, the cooking, the hosting, and most importantly -- the time spent with those that I…

November 23, 2020 Say What?: Teaching Media Literacy to Students

When I was a sophomore in high school, one of my teachers shared a rather disturbing article with our class. It was a report on…

November 20, 2020 Giving Thanks: Celebrating Thanksgiving with Your Students

2020 has been…a lot. First COVID, then the election, plus fires and murder hornets galore. Honestly, it’s exhausting just thinking about everything the year has…

November 4, 2020 The Great Divide: Modeling Virtue in the Classroom

I am writing this at 5:41 a.m. It is Tuesday, November 3rd, which means that between you and me, Reader, there has been…

October 30, 2020 Engaging Students Across the Generational Divide

The world was a much different place when I was a kid. There were no smartphones or social media. Computers, for the most part, were…

October 26, 2020 A More Perfect Union: Teaching SEL During the Election

Hey, did you know 2020 is an election year? Sorry, bad joke. By now you’re probably sick of hearing about it. News and social media…

October 21, 2020 A Light in the Darkness

I attended a concert recently, although the performers didn’t know it. They were collegiate musicians practicing outdoors beneath a tent; I overheard the…

October 16, 2020 Changing the Conversation: Praising Effort over Ability

Praise can be incredibly powerful. It’s that spark we see on our students’ faces when we offer a bit of useful positive reinforcement…