Supporting Social Skills

Distanced learning during the pandemic created gaps in student social skills. How can we support students as they rebuild and renew social skills in the new normal? These strategies can help! Practice good manners. After living and working in our homes for over a year, many people have forgotten good manners. Setting norms for good …

Emotional Awareness

Key elements of building social-emotional health are learning to recognize and manage emotions. There are three strategies to support emotional management: emotional awareness, mindfulness activities, and perspective taking. We hope that you can use these strategies to support student social-emotional health. These strategies can be used in conjunction with Mind Missions or as a part …

Social Emotional Skill Recovery

This year has highlighted the importance of supporting social-emotional skills and emotional intelligence. Teachers worked valiantly in 2020 and 2021 to transition familiar routines and relationships to the virtual setting. Through breakout rooms, educators created social groups that would provide camaraderie for distanced students. Through chats, videos, and home visits, teachers connected with students. Teachers …

Building Executive Function

Building Executive Function Executive function is the set of skills that enable students to manage time and self-regulate learning. They are a set of essential tools that empower students to perform at their best. According to scholarly research, executive function may be a better predictor of school readiness and academic achievement than IQ. (e.g., Blair …

Famous Flops!

Perseverance pays off. Just use these famous examples of flops to inspire perseverance. Mistakes are simply opportunities for learning. Bill Gates dropped out of college. His first software company (Traf-O-Data) failed. He went on to create Microsoft and become a billionaire. Theodor Geisel was an author. His first book was rejected 28 times, but he …