Social-Emotional Learning: Self-Management

Learning to manage our own emotions can only happen after we become aware of them. This is why SEL education is so crucially important in all levels of education - it doesn't matter whether you are 3 or 13 or 93 years old (or anything in between!), we still benefit from being able to manage our stress and motivations. I discuss SEL every day in my work - my students are teachers earning their M.Ed. degrees.

Before I started to really discuss and write about SEL and dig deeper into Resilience Science, I already knew that beach walks always made me feel better. Now I also know why it happens: managing my emotions helps me to adjust to external demands of work and life. For me, personally, the salty smell of the ocean and the sound of crashing waves is insanely relaxing. 

Resilience is like a muscle that we can train with practice (instead of an inherent trait of personality), and all our positive experiences can contribute for us to become more resilient over time. 

The important part is to find something that work for you. Something that you enjoy, so that it is not a chore.

Social-Emotional Learning: Relationship Skills

While collaborating with others we need to learn the abilities to engage in active listening and cooperating, and also to be able to communicating clearly. Sometimes I think that I was very clear with my words, but when I ask others to reiterate it, the message becomes quite different from what I meant it to be. I believe this happens to all of us! :)

Teamwork at best is extremely rewarding! At worst it might become an experience we will never want to repeat. It is important for our students to experience the positive aspects of teamwork and learning from each other. (Reminder for us who teach: every day we DO have the opportunity to learn from our students!)

Seeking help and offering it are also very important parts of teamwork. We always learn from each other!