As we all return to school this fall, the buzzwords of “social-emotional learning,” “SEL,” and “mindfulness” are swirling around faster than Starbucks is serving up Pumpkin Spice Lattes. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning otherwise known as CASEL is one of the main research institutes regarding SEL work for PreK-12 education. If you are unfamiliar with social-emotional learning, their website provides a great resource and graphic with the topic introduction including information on the competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. CASEL also offers an interactive online Guide to Schoolwide SEL that has more information. My district rolled out their plan for options to return to learning, and both options include a day dedicated to SEL lessons and learning. The district helped form a pacing guide, but I wanted to reach into my own teacher toolbox for some of the strategies and tools that I use to address social-emotional learning in my classroom. The main resource for SEL is the power of the read-aloud. I have written before on the blog about the power of the book talk, and the read-aloud stands right next to the book talk as a powerful tool to use in any classroom from elementary through high school. This post contains 12 book recommendations for read-alouds, some classroom routines to consider including my own goals with my own SEL work, and some links to further reading. My game plan is to use the power of the read-aloud to begin each social-emotional learning session.

The move to online and distance learning has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions, feelings, and actions. I have simultaneously felt like I am not doing enough, and then in another moment, I am trying to tackle all of the things to make myself feel better, more productive. I am asking myself,

“Are you reading enough?”

“Are you writing enough?”

“Are you thinking enough about what matters? The work that has to be done when we go back?”

“Are you sleeping?”

All of these are check-ins with normal routines and behavior. However, we aren’t in a normal routine or behavior mode. This is something different. I have noticed that many of my first reactions to emails, news feeds, blog posts, and videos about distance learning come with “knee-jerk” reactions that make me feel well,...like a jerk. I started last week working purposefully to get myself out of negative reactions immediately, and then focus on the positive aspects of all situations.

During the course of the past month, I have watched other teachers and people in education take on distance learning with full force. What teachers are doing is powerful. The expectations and protocols to move online and the variances from district-to-district are also stifling. Some are being asked to do too much, other teachers not as much. The moral compass of all of this begs the question, what is right in all of this? My answer would be whatever is best for children and creates a positive response in both you and your online classroom. This blog post outlines how to use your journal to shift to positivity, and it uses many negative reactions as writing prompts to get you thinking about your own mindset.

Sometimes we need to make our own positivity.

Zaretta Hammond's book Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students provides the link to understanding the importance of being culturally responsive and the science behind our students’ learning. In terms of the writing workshop or the general teaching of writing, culturally responsive teaching involves a shift in mindset regarding my instruction, but more specifically about students that I often will label as "struggling writers." It is not a coincidence in teaching that the term "culturally responsive teaching" often is parallel to conversations about students of color, English language learners, or students of lower socioeconomic status. My general education classroom looks entirely different from my advanced education classroom. Part of CRE Education is challenging the labels that are placed on our students. This post will outline some key points from Hammond’s book, and it will make some suggestions for the writing workshop within the English Language Arts Classroom.

This post outlines the emergency response to helping you calm your teacher brain. This is what worked for me in a big moment like this example, and also in small moments when I feel like everything is piling up. Both types of moments can call for a teacher to scream, “TIME OUT,” and take a moment to breathe. This isn’t the first time I have written about teacher stress, but I wanted to share what worked for me when I was having a particularly difficult time dealing with the amount of stress.

I recently realized with the two-year anniversary of my blog this past month, I have never really explained why I chose the name Writing Mindset for this small place in the world of the internet I call my own. Each piece of writing that we put out into the universe has two meanings: the meaning for the author and their intention and the meaning for the reader and their perception. This duality is a reason why I loved English class in high school and eventually became an English teacher. There is a beauty in trying to find a common understanding between people and their ideas. The words “writing” and “mindset” can immediately strike meaning to any person who reads them; however, both of these words hold a few different meanings for me. Together, they are the reason why I keep coming back week after week to continue my work on the blog.