Over the past six months, I’ve had the great pleasure of traveling to districts across the country to speak with and learn from our new school partners who are committed to integrating important Mindsets, Essential Skills, and Habits (MESH), such as growth mindset and social awareness, into their daily practice. At the start of most of these engagements, educators tend to ask me one question more than any other: “Where do we begin?”
What does social emotional learning look like in the elementary school classroom? How do students develop the mindsets, essential skills and habits necessary for success in school, and in life? Social emotional learning is everywhere. It is all the time. It is invisible, yet you can see it everywhere you turn. And it is essential. Social emotional learning unfolded during the first 20 days of the school year for me and my 3rd graders in Wilmington, Delaware in many ways.
On October 26th, a packed ballroom joined Transforming Education, MassINC and the Rennie Center in Boston to learn more about the latest research, policy, and practice in social-emotional learning. We've highlighted key moments of the event along with resources.
Students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be the last group of students one would think of when thinking about teaching MESH (Mindsets, Essential Skills & Habits) or the first depending upon one’s perspective. For me, the answer to the question, “Can we students’ diagnosed with ASD learn MESH is a resounding YES! Therefore, we must teach MESH to all students! MESH involves teaching children about the mindsets, essential skills and habits they need to succeed in school, work and life...
I racked my brain on deciding what anecdote I could share that would illustrate what’s been on my mind lately. Like the vivid memory I have as a six year old of waking up in the morning and not understanding why I felt a sudden sensation of desperation. I also thought about the time in high school when...
This isn’t going to be polished, because the process of thinking through issues of equity is messy. This isn’t going to be definitive, because no one has all the answers, least of all me. And it isn’t going to be confident, because writing about this feels very risky. But it is going to be authentic and, to the degree possible, self-aware.
