Wellness update from Mrs. Whelan

Good evening,
 
Last month our students focused on self-control and this month we will be introducing Social-Emotional Intelligence. As an educator, counselor, and mom, I have realized how important this skill is in our day-to-day lives. Whether our children are in the classroom, out at recess, in practice, or on a play-date, having strong social-emotional skills allows our children to use their intuition, communicate effectively, and develop meaningful relationships throughout their lives. Over the next few weeks, I strongly encourage you to have conversations with your children about this important character trait and share with them how you have fostered your own social-emotional skills and the meaningful ways they have impacted you in the process.
 
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE is understanding feelings and using them to inform actions.

Ways to Show Social-Emotional Intelligence:

Finding solutions during conflicts with others;
Demonstrating respect for the feelings of others; and
Adapting to different social situations.

Ways to Earn Character Badges:

• Watch the movie Inside Out and write/draw about how the different characters showed social-emotional intelligence.
• Keep a feelings journal describing different feelings throughout the day. Notice any patterns?
• Do two random acts of kindness and share what happened through writing or drawing
• Read How Full is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer. Fill someone else's bucket each day for a week and share what you did.

Follow up Questions for Students:

• What kinds of things fill your bucket? How do you know when your bucket is full?
• What ways do you show kindness at home and at school?
• Name four feelings and share a time when you felt each of those feelings.
• Tell us about a time when you said something that made the other person feel mad or sad.

Character Books and Resources

Websites/Videos:

• Create a Peace Table in your classroom for conflict resolution and use this as an advisory lesson (teaches high levels of social-emotional intelligence)
• Marc Brackett on Emotional Intelligence
• Brene Brown on Empathy
• Empathy (for older students)
• Empathy: Sesame Street (younger students)

Articles:

• The Boston Globe "7 things every kid should master"
• The Guardian "Emotional health in childhood"

Books:

• Otis and the Scarecrow by Loren Long (K-5th); about empathy
• The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm by LeVar Burton and Susan Schaefer Bernardo (K-5th) - about sharing your feelings
• Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (2nd-5th)
• Just My Luck by Cammie McGovern (3rd-5th) - teaches about kindness/empathy
• Junonia by Kevin Henkes (4th and 5th)