There is no such thing as a bad kid. So why do we make them believe that they are? In an effort to motivate students, support positive behavior, and encourage focused learning, many well-intentioned educators have been trained to implement various behavior modification techniques. You may know these techniques quite well. They include sticker charts […]
Social-Emotional Learning
Restorative Practices: Part 1
“To build a sense of community is to create a group that extends to othersthe respect one has for oneself, to come to know one another as individuals,to respond and care about one another, to feel a sense of membershipand accountability to the group.”– Thomas Lickona Ph. D Close your eyes and consider for a […]
Mindfulness and SEL for Educators
As the evidence-based research is mounting that children’s capacity to cope with emotions influences their ability to learn, there has been a national movement in education to integrate social and emotional learning into the classroom. Often times, the implementation of SEL curriculum is driven by the goal of supporting the attainment of specific skills for […]
Balancing the Nervous System
For many children, their behavior is unintentional and unplanned. Their behavior while disruptive and difficult to manage, is most often motivated purely as an attempt at communicating a need and reflecting their internal state. Our most primary need? Safety. Their external behavior is communicating a loud resounding message of, “I do not feel safe right […]
The Power of Unconditional Love
I recently read an article about the research that is being conducted to better understand the relationship between animals and individuals on the autistic spectrum. In this article, children between the ages of 5-13 where given pet guinea pigs to hold while in the presence of other adults. The findings were quite remarkable. “They found […]
Literature Lesson Plan
Kindergarteners are so eager to learn and share their views and ideas. I love getting to bring yoga into their classrooms each week. Although I always plan to bring enriching lessons to their education, I ALWAYS find that I am the one who gains so much inspiration and knowledge from watching and listening to them. […]
