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In reading “The Puzzling Child”, I felt my perspective changed on how we can understand children who seem to struggle academically. I thought the example of the “science talk” was very interesting as they found it was a great way for the puzzling students to share their thoughts and express the knowledge in a different way through classroom discourse. My main takeaway from this article is that it is important as educators to understand that every child learns differently and to understand the background of our students rather than just assuming they don’t have the knowledge to do something. For example, as the article stated, we may have students whose primary language at home is not English but in that case we should differentiate and strive to find what helps them to learn. It's important to accommodate to ensure that all students succeed.

In “Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning,” the reading discusses the importance of SEL in schools and how it has impacts on student engagement and success. I found it interesting that when disadvantaged students have a school climate that promotes their positive values it can help close the achievement gap. For African American students, these interventions continued to have long-lasting effects, one of which I found extremely interesting was that it affected their GPAs in other courses where the intervention did not occur. (p. 431) Overall, we can see how impactful social and emotional skills can be for students academically and have profound effects on their success.

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What really stood out to me across both the Ballinger and Elias readings was how social and emotional development is tied to academic success. Ballinger’s “The Puzzling Child” reminded me that students who seem difficult or disengaged often have emotional needs that aren’t being met, and without addressing those, learning becomes nearly impossible. We discussed this in class when we talked about the student stealing from professor's desk in school was stealing because he actually wanted to be closer to her, but didn't know how because of his difficult upbringing. Elias’s article emphasized that social-emotional learning (SEL) isn’t an “extra” but a foundational part of helping students become confident, resilient, and collaborative. One big takeaway for me is that emotional intelligence must be intentionally taught and nurtured just like academic content. Both authors push us to look beyond behavior and test scores and ask, “What does this child need to feel safe, seen, and supported?” That mindset shift feels essential for creating a classroom where every child can grow. These readings helped me realize that I have to be just as committed to my students’ emotional development as I am to their academic progress, while making time for myself as well. Being well-rounded includes aspects of the mind as well!

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One big takeaway from both of the readings is how important it is to understand each child's emotions and behavior before jumping to conclusions about them. The Ballinger article "The Puzzling Child", helped me see that students who act out are often sending a message. This could be that they are struggling, and we need to look deeper into it instead of punishing them. The Elias article "Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning", showed me that teaching social and emotional learning skills, like self awareness and empathy, can help all students do better in school and in life. I liked learning about the CASEL's five key SEL skills and how they are connected to academic success because they give students tools to manage emotions, build strong relationships, and to make good choices. These skills are important because they support both academic learning and positive behavior. What really stood out to me was the idea that emotions and relationships are the foundation for learning. If we want students to do well in the classroom, we need to create a space that is safe, caring, and supportive.

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What stood out to me while reading these two articles was the importance of recognizing children's diverse ways of thinking, learning, and communicating, and how they can affect a child's academic success. In Ballinger's article “The Puzzling Child,” what stood out to me was the importance of putting your assumptions aside on traditional ways of learning and communicating, and looking at all students' participation, even if it may not be in a way that we are fully used to. These children, who are coined “puzzling children,” can give a very different insight that is just as meaningful if you really take the time to recognize and address what they are saying. In Elias’ article “Developing Social and Emotional Aspects,” I learned that social-emotional development is essential to not only academic success but “life success” as well. The last sentence of this article really stuck out to me: “We will know that a successful transition has taken place when the American education system is more concerned with preparing students for the tests of life, rather than a life of tests.” This highlights the importance of social-emotional learning not only during a student's time in school but also in preparing them for their adult lives. My one big takeaway from these articles is that to effectively teach students, we need to be willing to look past academic achievements and make sure that our students are getting the proper support they need to succeed. We need to look internally and ask ourselves if we are doing everything we can to help our students, rather than outright blaming the student for falling behind or acting out.

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Based on both of the readings, what stuck with me most was how important it is to feel safe and have relationships that matter in your classroom. When the teacher in Ballenger's story learns to let go of strict beliefs, she starts to pay more attention to and understand how each of her students thinks. That made me think of how Elias emphasized that emotional intelligence isn't just a set of skills, but something that is built through through trust, consistency, and responsive environments. I also learned that social and emotional learning (SEL) is an important part of academic growth and is what makes deep learning possible. Some students are more likely to take risks, speak up, and connect with others when they feel safe and respected. Teachers who truly believe in their students and give everyone an equal chance to speak, is what teachers do to set the stage for SEL and academic success. Both of these readings gave me good insight about what it takes to be a good teacher.

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What stood out to me in both readings is the idea that student success goes far beyond test scores and grades. "The Puzzling Child" shows how children often express deep thinking in creative and unexpected ways, and how educators sometimes miss this because it doesn’t look like traditional learning. "Developing Social and Emotional Aspects" highlights how skills like empathy, self-awareness, and emotional regulation are just as important as academics and should be built into the classroom environment. My biggest takeaway is that schools need to rethink what success really means and make space for different kinds of intelligence and learning. As educators, we need to pay attention to the whole child not just their academic performance but also their emotional and social growth. This perspective can help all students feel seen, supported, and able to succeed.

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Reading Ballinger’s “The Puzzling Child” and Elias’s “Developing Social & Emotional Aspects” helped me to further understand how different the thought processes of students can be. In Ballinger’s “The Puzzling Child,” something that stood out to me was the different perspectives each child brought to the conversation. Even though the insights they brought to the discussion varied, each student challenged our notion of what a powerful thinker looks like. In Elias’s “Developing Social & Emotional Aspects,” something that stood out to me was the fact that Social Emotional Learning has huge positive impacts on the long-term success of school & life. Students with more SEL skills believe in their abilities, so there is a higher correlation between effort and outcome, which is so cool to learn about!

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Reading Ballinger’s “The Puzzling Child” and Elias’s “Developing Social & Emotional Aspects” helped me to further understand how different the thought processes of students can be. In Ballinger’s “The Puzzling Child,” something that stood out to me was the different perspectives each child brought to the conversation. Even though the insights they brought to the discussion varied, each student challenged our notion of what a powerful thinker looks like. In Elias’s “Developing Social & Emotional Aspects,” something that stood out to me was the fact that Social Emotional Learning has huge positive impacts on the long-term success of school & life. Students with more SEL skills believe in their abilities, so there is a higher correlation between effort and outcome, which is so cool to learn about!

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Both of these articles focused on meeting the students' needs. My biggest takeaway is learning how much emotions and relationships can affect what we learn. In the article "Developing Social & Emotional Aspects," Goleman created the Collaborative for the Advancement of Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL). There are 5 main factors within his theory: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. In the article, "The Puzzling Child", researchers found that a "puzzled child", a child who is not doing well academically, may be struggling due to how the material is being portrayed. It is important as teachers to be open to unfamiliar ideas if it helps our students succeed: too social or informal learning. Not every child learns the same or has gone through the same lived experiences. I liked how Marcia organized her classwork, setting her students up to be independent learners and giving her students a choice on how they would like to learn. For example, she started to base her science activities on her students' ideas. This opened up conversation to "exploratory talk," where students felt comfortable expressing their ideas, connections, and experiences. These articles emphasize the importance of meeting a student where they are.

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What stood out to me in both the Ballinger and Elias readings was how important it is to understand students’ emotions and behaviors, especially when they seem challenging. In "The Puzzling Child", Ballinger talks about how some kids express their feelings through behavior because they don’t always have the words to explain what’s wrong. Elias focuses on the value of teaching SEL (social and emotional learning), so students can learn how to manage their feelings and build better relationships. The idea that behavior is a form of communication really stuck with me. It reminded me that students may act out not to be bad, but because they need help understanding or expressing their emotions. My biggest takeaway is that SEL should be a regular part of the classroom, not just something extra. These readings helped me see how important it is to create a caring and supportive learning environment.

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In the readings, it was refreshing to see that students are looked at as not only academic beings, but also emotional ones. In the puzzling child, there is an examination of two students conversations and how they participate in group talks among the class. One student was traditionally gifted in the sense of academic preformance and abilities to communicate. Another student was more atypical in what she brought to the class. Her unique life experiences brought insight to the class and devotion from other students to enter the conversation. Ballinger posits that children are often mislabelled as having a disability, when in actuality they are a nuerodivergent learner. Elias focuses on developing the social and emotional aspects of learning. My big takeaway is that SEL should be integrated into the daily life of the classroom. This can help all students be supported and improves their sense of self in the classroom.

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What stood out to me in both Ballenger’s The Puzzling Child and Elias’s Developing Social and Emotional Aspects is that kids often have more going on than we can see. Ballenger says, “children’s puzzling contributions often hold deep meaning when we take the time to listen and look more closely.” This helped me realize that even when students seem off or quiet, they’re still thinking in their own way. Elias says, “emotions affect how and what we learn, and relationships provide a foundation for all lasting learning.” That reminded me that students might act out or shut down because they need help with their feelings, not because they don’t care. Both readings made me think about how important it is for teachers to be kind, patient, and ready to listen. You never know what a student may be dealing with at home. So creating safe spaces for them at school is also extremely important.

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What stood out to me the most about both of the readings was the importance of a student understanding and seeing the whole child in many forms, like in an intellectual way, a social way, and an emotional way. It is important to go beyond the views you already have or the conventional way of thinking about teaching and learning and look at things in a different way. Ballinger expresses that participation looks different from just speaking up in class. A student might feel more comfortable participating in a more nontraditional way, which allows for teachers to question traditional assumptions and recognize different forms of learning and engagement. Elias talks about the importance of teaching emotional and social skills, Social Emotional Learning. Some skills that might be brought to light in Social Emotional Learning are decision making, empathy, and self awareness. One big takeaway I got from both of these readings is that learning is based more on social and emotional. In order to have more of an inclusive classroom as well, I learned it is important to value different learning styles for each student and to support their learning as best they can.

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Something that stood out to me from this readings was that they both covered how social an emotional development is connected to academic successes. By reading "The Puzzling Child" by Ballinger, I was able to realize that if/when a student is misbehaving or acting out it is because they are lacking something in regards to their emotional and attention needs. If these needs are not acknowledged and not being worked we can't expect students to learn and change. Elias focuses on how important it is to teach and incorporate SEL. Using SEL, students can learn to manage intense emotions and also improve relationships with peers and others around them. These two readings taught me more about the importance of teaching the whole student versus just curriculum.