Advancing, promoting, and developing the social emotional skills of learners and educators.
Advisory periods serve a variety of purposes, especially as students begin the transition from middle to high school and from high school to post-secondary opportunities. Students often need support in navigating the many new found responsibilities and obligations that come with adolescence and an advisory period can be a great way to help build connections... Continue Reading →
If you were to ask ten people about what they most clearly remember of their educational experience as a child, you will likely get ten very different responses. For as diverse and unique as our individual learning experiences have likely been, so too are the teachers and adults responsible for the learning process that... Continue Reading →
The first week of a school year can be incredibly stressful. Whether you are a student worried about the social and academic pressures of a new building, a parent sending their kindergartener off "on their own" for the first time, or a teacher filled with anticipation for the challenges you will face in working with... Continue Reading →
Over the course of the last several years educators and families have been faced with what seems like an ever increasing amount of stress and anxiety in their students and children related to numerous acts of violence at schools across our nation. The 24 hour news-cycle, access to immediate and constant information via social... Continue Reading →
Parenting is hard. For anyone who regularly works with youth, this should come as no surprise, as many of the things we do as educators is mirrored in the work of being a parent and caregiver. The importance of positive and supportive relationships is vital in the context of a child's growth and development. The... Continue Reading →
In classrooms, lunchrooms, bus rides, and on playgrounds across the country educators can be sure of a few things. The first is that we will have a great deal of students who have the necessary social and problem-solving skills needed to handle frustrations and peer-related conflicts with only minimal support and intervention from the adults... Continue Reading →
Recently I have found the need for a middle ground post. A thought or perspective that doesn't quite fit into the 240 character box that Twitter provides, yet one that I haven't fleshed out to a full blog post just yet. I'll call these XL Tweets. Quick hits that I may build from later, but... Continue Reading →
 In recent years there has been a great deal of research on the concept of growth mindset. In Carol Dweck’s groundbreaking work on this psychological trait she found that “...talents and abilities could be developed and that challenges were the way to do it. Learning something new, something hard, sticking to things—that’s how you... Continue Reading →
Amazing example of empathy in action. Sometimes we need kids to lead and remind adults that awesome things can be accomplished through relationships and a genuine understanding of other people's perspective. This is SEL: https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNowThisNews%2Fvideos%2F2093861054031120%2F&show_text=1&width=476
Social Emotional Learning of Vermont, LLC 