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In the "Puzzling Child" what spoke to me was the challenging traditional assumptions aspect. The authors discuss how participation should not only be measured by verbally contributing but also by other active engagement activities that are done within the class. It is important to check in on students and allow them other opportunities to be involved other than just participating in the class discussion. My biggest takeaway in this article was when the case studies were discussed because this showed how different children show understanding and their own engagement in different non-traditional ways, which I believe is important to understand.

In the "Developing Social & Emotional Aspects Of Learning" what spoke to me was the importance of SEL and how it focuses on managing emotions, caring for others, building positive relationships, etc. The biggest takeaway for this article was the benefits of SEL and how research shows programs improve academics, and social behaviors, and reduce emotional distress. Students in SEL programs sometimes perform better academically and socially which is interesting.

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What spoke to me in “The Puzzling Child” was how often teacher’s misunderstand and misinterpret student’s abilities, and simply assume they don’t know something because they are focused on the broader context rather than accepting diverse ways students can portray knowledge. As the article states, educators must create inclusive environments that support meaningful participation. By letting students stay curious and ask questions, their peers may be able to support their understanding, or suggest a differing perspective than what they may have thought. Ballenger discussed that in her investigation of what students said, her own assumptions on the subject matter were challenged.

The “Developing Social & Emotional Aspects” touches upon this as one of the CASEL Five social and emotional learning skills. Self-awareness is a skill that both teachers and students should work on in order to cultivate the best learning environment possible. If a teacher is stuck in their ways and refusing to change based on the needs of a class or society in general, then it will have a negative impact on their students. The other CASEL Five include self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making and problem solving, which are all vital lifelong skills that will only be stronger the earlier that students learn them. The teacher’s role in creating an environment that promotes these social and emotional skills is crucial; and can relate back to “The Puzzling Child” in that a student is less likely to be misunderstood if the teacher’s approach emphasizes empathy and understanding, especially with learning differences.

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What spoke to me in “The Puzzling Child” is how important it is for teachers to study classroom discourse. Marcia, one of the teachers, looks into strategies to help multilingual and minority kids close the achievement gap in science. A big part of classroom discourse is having children  ask their own questions and take authority of the conversations. She even planned science activities based on the children's ideas, which is very important. Their engagement to recognize their academic potential and expand their own understanding of what defines knowledge.

What spoke to me in Developing Social And Emotional Aspects was the CASEL Five.  A fundamental set of social and emotional abilities that support performance on a variety of daily tasks has been identified by CASEL. SEL was defined as “the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs to identify and manage emotions; to care about others; to make good decisions; to behave ethically and responsibly; to develop positive relationships and to avoid negative behaviors.” The five are Self-awareness, Self-management, Social awareness, Relationship skills, and Responsible decision. It suggests an approach to developing those abilities as well as a framework for interventions to help them be internalized and applied in different situations over time.

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Throughout the readings, the idea of social and emotional learning (SEL)  resonated with me the most. Learning about how SEL) is the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, and attitudes to manage emotions, care about others, make good decisions, and behave ethically. Also learning and understanding that CASEL identified five core competencies that underlie SEL: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.Instead of framing student behavior as simply disobedience, it suggested that it can be the result of unfulfilled social or emotional needs. This emphasis on the "why" of taking action fits in with the goal of creating a more supportive environment for learning. The information supporting the benefits of SEL programs for social and academic outcomes was particularly strong. In general, the articles stressed the importance it is to combine academics with social and emotional growth in order to create well-rounded people. It seems that placing the same importance on internal and external skills is crucial for making sure every student has an enjoyable educational experience.

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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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In the "Puzzling Child" article what spoke to me most was the quote boxed off on page 304: "By looking closely at children's talk, especially the talk of those children whose abilities we are not seeing, we can challenge our assumptions". This quote spoke to me because by expanding our views we open our minds as teachers to help each student individually within our classrooms. The words students convey and the different aspects of representation they show us will allow us to look into the way they learn best. There is much knowledge we do not know and gain from observing our students. My biggest takeaway from this article was then to listen to my students as they complete work. While they may not represent the knowledge gained by raising a hand, they may have had many insightful and new comments discussed while completing the activity. This is why walking around the room during activities verse sitting at our desks can be essential.

Within the article "Developing Social & Emotional Aspects" what spoke to me most was the statement "...this sets up a reinforcing cycle in which students who try harder, motivate themselves, set goals, effectively manage their stress, make responsible decisions about approaching and engaging in their school work and homework and use sound decision-making to build and keep positive adult and peer relationships and overcome setbacks will indeed accomplish more academically, socially and emotionally". This quote showed me the true importance SEL can have on students and why it is needed in education. Additionally, my biggest takeaway from the article was that promoting SEL in the classroom could be a gateway to success and cause a better work environment in my classroom!

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The main takeaway from the article “Developing Social and Emotional Aspects” explains how it can help students develop their social and emotional skills. It can also help students develop their creativity and problem-solving skills. The article argues that social and emotional learning (SEL) is an important part of education and that it can help to close the achievement gap between different social and ethnic groups. The article also highlights the importance of educators tailoring their teaching methods to fit the diverse learning styles of their students. It emphasizes understanding each student’s different background to avoid assumptions about their prior knowledge. The main takeaway from the article titled "The Puzzling Child: Challenging Assumptions about Participation and Meaning in Talking Science" is that we should challenge our assumptions about participation and what constitutes knowledge in science education. The article argues that we should focus on the contributions of children who are not excelling in school and consider their perspectives. This can help us to expand our view of what counts as knowledge and create more inclusive science classrooms. Both articles provide insights into how adults can support children's learning. This article explores how to implement SEL programs in schools, while "The Puzzling Child" argues for considering children's perspectives in science classrooms.

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In the “Puzzling Child” reading, what spoke to me was about how we should focus on understanding how struggling students feel and that we should understand it more. I thought it was interesting when they said that “science talk” was a way for puzzling students to share their thoughts and show their knowledge differently. It is very important to make sure we understand how to communicate and accommodate all different students and if there is a resource that can help them explain how they are struggling then allow them to use it. In the “Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning” reading something that spoke to me was about the importance of SEL within the school and how it impacts the students. The article talks about how important it is to incorporate SEL within the school day and in the classroom and that it can make students' academic and other performances stronger and reduce bad situations. Overall both of these articles are very important when it comes to the design of the classroom and making sure all the students feel welcomed within the classroom area not just physically but mentally, socially, and emotionally. Also making sure all children are heard in different ways is important to make sure you can provide the correct information or materials to teach the student.

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Prompt: What spoke to you across these two readings?

In the “Puzzling Child” what spoke to me was the challenging traditional assumptions aspect. In the reading it was discussed that participation within the classroom should not only be counted on the amount of times a student contributes verbally but by engagement on activities in class. My most important takeaway is always making sure each student it on task and understanding the lesson to their full extent by giving them ways to participate in their own manor. Along with giving students differentiated participating ways there were case studies that showed how students learned in their own way.

In the “Developing Social & Emotional Aspects Of Learning” what spoke to me was the importance of social emotional learning within schools and the impact on student engagement. Adding SEL learning in the classroom overall benefits students as they grow and could positively affect them in and out of the classroom. The main focus is building positive relationships, managing emotions and an open classroom community. Adding SEL in the classroom with overall benefit students emotionally and socially.

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What spoke to you across these two readings?

In the “Puzzling Child” what spoke to me was the assumptions teachers have on students below level or who don’t have that many strengths when it comes to learning.  As I was reading, I did not think Elena was that “weak” in the ability to learn science. She seemed like a student who is not good with numbers or written responses, and I think this because based of her answers it was all visual responses. She was able to see the differences based on visuals and she was able to express her thoughts through visuals as well. When it comes to learning science there are so many things’ kids ask. The approach the teacher took by having the students ask the questions and then they all answer it together was a good idea. It had students who don’t typically talk or engage in conversations engaging and all problem-solving.

In “Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning” it talks about the importance of SEL in schools and how it helps students achieve academically and socially. This article talked about the CASEL five. The CASEL five are skill areas that help students achieve and succeed in their academic performance. One of the five CASEL’s that I think is very important for a teacher to have is social awareness, because they need to be able to show empathy and understand the students whether it is their background or their weaknesses in learning. They should be able to connect with their students and if they don’t have this skill then their students won’t be as comfortable to open up. One CASEL skill students should have are relationship skills. They should be able to have the skill of creating great relationships because it’s a skill that they will need for the rest of their lives, when working in groups in and outside of school, being with their friends or later in life when they have a partner.

What are your one big takeaway?

Sometimes you want to have the students come up with the questions that you will be using when teaching. The more students are involved the more they will be able to learn and understand the information while also having fun and engaging with one another. Lesson. Have the students be engaged in it more than you should. Maybe have the students lead the lesson as you listen and follow along?

The most valuable and easy life skills need to be focused more on in schools than the priority that is now. These CASEL five skills need to be used and taught more. Some students are able to learn and achieve more/ better when they have these skills and I think if they learn these skills at a younger age they will be more successful in and outside of school.

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What spoke to me in "The Puzzling Child" was that teachers can fall into the notion that a student isn't academically intellectual when in fact the teacher needs to wade through the words to pull out the student's understanding of a topic. This, at times, may be done in an unconventional way. The teacher needs to facilitate the learning and the students explore their ideas through discourse. This can be a difficult way for teachers to measure growth in their "puzzling" students. Not all students are on the same level, academically and socially, and need to be assessed accordingly.

In the "Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning" article, my big takeaway was the 11 percentile point gains in academic achievement for those that participated in a social emotional program in school. This programming led to positive attitudes about the students themselves, their classmates and school in general. It also showed a decrease in problem behavior at school. This is due to the teaching of the CASEL five of SEL learning. The five tenets include self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making and problem solving. When these skills are acquired, the student becomes more likely to achieve at school.

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In “The Puzzling Child” article, I thought it was very interesting to see how all different types of students think, and how that is reflected in their words and language. Even when you come from different lifestyles like Serena and Elena, they can still learn the task at hand, but in different ways. For example, on page 307 describes how Serena and her teacher see the growth through numbers recorded on paper, but Elena sees the growth by looking at the plants and she is very close to herself. I was also so interested in the way that how difficult it is for teachers to understand how students are different and how they misunderstand them. In this case, the teacher and Serena were looking at the answer the same way, but Elena had a different concept of it. One of the quotes in the article says, “while most teachers would also honor Elena ‘s participation and recognize that she is thinking hard, the power of her approach as scientific and mathematical thought is less easy for many educators to see” (Page 306). In this case, it is important for educators to create welcoming environments for their students, allow students to ask questions to help them understand, and different perspectives from different students. Your thoughts can be changed just like the author.

In the article “ developing social and emotional aspects of learning”, the author discusses the importance of social, emotional learning, and how it affects students positively. I appreciate how the author started with the CASEL five, Showing how SEL is also connected to academic achievement because of embodies skills necessary for succeeding in the classroom, in life of school, and family, in the community, and in the workplace (page 424). These five skills: self-awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making in problem-solving, allow for a set of skills, the provide for structure to support SEL. Something that I found very interesting was that that SEL programs reduced various to learning by building students essential learning skills and created positive environment for learning and growth. They describe how the intervention significantly benefited 70% of students who were performing poorly. I also thought it was so interesting how well these positive values and SLE programs can close the achievement gap.

They’re both of these articles we can see how important it is for teachers to create a positive and understanding classroom environment for students to learn and grow.

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The part of "The Puzzling Child" that resonated with me most was the idea of questioning traditional expectations. The authors argued that participation shouldn't just mean speaking up in class, but should also encompass other ways students actively engage with the material. The article emphasized the importance of going beyond verbal participation and providing alternative avenues for student involvement. My key takeaway came from the case studies, which demonstrated how different children express understanding and participate in unique, non-traditional ways – something I believe is crucial to recognize.

The article, "Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning," emphasizes the value of SEL in schools for both academic achievement and social development. It introduces the CASEL framework, which outlines five key skill areas that contribute to student success. One of these CASEL skills, social awareness, seems particularly important for teachers. This involves understanding students' backgrounds, learning strengths and weaknesses, and showing empathy. By building connections with their students, teachers create a safe space for students to open up and participate. The article also highlights the importance of relationship skills for students. These are lifelong skills that will be used throughout their lives, from collaborating in groups to navigating friendships and future partnerships.

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One part of "The Puzzling Child" that stood out to me was the different conversations between the young students. These first-hand accounts of conversations between young students were really interesting when they began talking about topics and debated their prevalence. For example, the students talked about the topic of 'growth'. Each student had a different perception of this phenomenon based on their lived experiences which they communicated to each other. Another interesting aspect of this article was when the article mentioned that children need their answers to make sense to them. I thought this demonstrated why children are so curious. That being, their desire for answers that make sense inside their range of knowledge and lived experiences.

One part of "Developing Social and Emotional Aspects" that I found intriguing was the immense focus on character throughout the article and its relevance to SEL. When I think of SEL, I think of it as an individual reflection period but when I think of character, I feel that it can affect others in the way you approach life. The emphasis on character helps me understand why SEL in education has greater effects on the school community. Additionally, I found the ecological characteristic of successful SEL-related efforts in schools to be interesting. The article mentions that SEL should be in the foundation of education and not seen as an 'add on'. I believe I have grown victim to seeing it as another special or break from work when in reality, it should be at the core of teaching woven into lessons.

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I was also really interested in how both articles talked about the importance of classroom discourse. In "The Puzzling Child" one of the teachers dives into strategies to help multilingual students in science. This brought me back to our teaching elementary science course and field study at fair haven. I was in the classroom during science and my teacher struggled to keep the ELL students engaged and excited about the lesson. She needed some good strategies for discourse with language barriers. The article emphasized students leading the conversation and asking their own questions. It also emphasized the teacher recognizing what their students are interested in and using that to create a lesson that targets the skills needed. Incorporating interest and choice will make students more engaged and therefore help retain more information.

In "Developing Social and Emotional Aspects" I was interested in the CASEL Five. This is the process of acquiring skills and knowledge to identify and manage emotions. This process also plays a role in decision making and empathy. The CASEL Five include: self-awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision. I was really interested in self awareness because it is important for students to understand the impact their decisions and actions have on themsevles and others. It is also important to have an understanding of how you function, make decisions, and handle situations. The article talks about how teachers and students need a strong understanding of ones self in order to help create the best learning environment.

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What spoke to me in “The Puzzling Child” was the idea that the teacher is assuming Elena, the puzzling student, is confused. However, I believe Elena is showing very intellectual critical thinking skills during the science project. She continues asking important questions, while trying to answer them on her own. This shows a sophisticated way of learning, so I don’t know if I would label her in the “Puzzling student” category. I do like that in this article it was stated that, “I believe that it was largely Elena’s approach that led both to unprecedented participation from so many of her classmates” (305). I completely agree with this, which is why I do not agree that she would be labeled as “Puzzling”. From this article, one big takeaway I learned is the importance of not jumping to conclusions or being quick to judge before truly focusing on classroom discourse. Developing your own questions is just as important as finding the answer.

In the article, “Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning”, it outlines the five key skill areas that lead to student success and the importance of incorporating SEL into the class. Something I found very interesting was “participation in systematic SEL programmes led to an average of 11-percentile-point gains in academic achievement” (431). You would think this would be an obvious outcome, but sometimes this is overlooked. Implementing SEL into your classroom creates a more welcoming environment for students to feel comfortable sharing their ideas, because they know that what they are saying matters, and nobody will judge them.

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Quite a few things spoke to me in these readings. In the “Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning” article, it was interesting to read just how impactful, SEL instruction is on the successes in the classroom. SEL is a relatively newer idea in schools, and I would assume people don’t think about the academic benefits of such instruction. This article explained that “SEL programmes led to an average of 11-percentile-point gains in academic achievement” (431). It also talked about a study that found the Black students in that study were showing very great improvements- much more they’re their white counterparts. I think this is interesting to think about and consider when deciding whether to implement an SEL program in a school or classroom. There is data to prove there are benefits, so I can’t see why you wouldn’t want to try it out.

Something else that I found really interesting came from the “Puzzling Child” article. I noticed how the author was very careful in their words. Rather than referring to a student who doesn’t know something as “struggling” or “dumb,” the responsibility was placed on the teacher. The author says “the talk of those children whose abilities we are not seeing…” (304). This shows that the child is still capable or smart, we as the teacher just can’t see it yet. It made me stop and think because by shifting my mindset, I might be able to help more students reach their potential or find their voice to show what they do know.

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What spoke to you across these two readings?

After reading the 2 passages, I found it interesting to learn that from “Developing social and emotional aspects of learning: the American experience” is that Educators are hesitant to prioritize SECD as a key factor for academic success due to a lack of familiarity with its implementation in schools and a lack of SECD and school climate training for future teachers, support personnel, administrators, and school board members. I feel like all teachers should be familiar with any work they need to help the students. If they aren’t familiar with the it, it will fail the students.

What are your one big takeaway?

the big takeaways from these articles are that more kids participate, the better they will be able to learn and grasp the material while also having fun and engaging in the session. Increasing the kids' engagement in the class will help them comprehend more. The most useful and simple life skills should receive greater attention in schools than they do presently. These CASEL five skills should be utilized and taught more frequently. Some children can learn and achieve more/better when they have these talents, and I believe that learning these skills at a younger age can lead to greater success in and out of school

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In the “Puzzling Child” article, my largest takeaway was the fact that as educators we need be able to understand students' responses for more than black and white. While to some educators, one student may be correct and one incorrect, we need to be able to dig deeper and understand that each student has a unique way of performing academically and all students can be viewed as powerful thinkers.

In the “Developing Social and Emotional Learning” article, what spoke to me the most was the benefits of incorporating SEL into the classroom. Incorporating SEL into the classrooms allows for a more positive and welcoming classroom atmosphere where students feel more encouraged and has been shown to benefit them both academically and socially.

Overall these two articles have shown me the importance of acknowledging your students needs. In the first article, we discovered that teachers need to be more aware of how complex children's minds are and in the second article we read about understanding the importance of SEL in the classroom. These are two major components that will be beneficial to the growth of your students within the classroom.

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In the SEL reading my biggest takeaway was that SEL education has a huge impact on student grades. I always thought that SEL was important, but did not realize that it had such a huge effect. Although, not really a takeaway, I wonder how the author decided to track wealth over income to produce the result between white and black neighborhoods. For the other reading, The Puzzling Child, “ my biggest takeaway was that the students we judge as academically poorer students, can still contribute thought and ideas to scientific studies that are academically creative and show off their knowledge. I think as a future educator I have to look out for children like Elena. As the article states, their answers may not always be the expected answer, but they are still important and can often change the flow of the conversation and scientific thinking.

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What spoke to you across these two readings? What are your one big takeaway?

One thing that spoke to me is first in the “Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning” article, when the SEL approach to teaching showed positive affects on the students. The quote that specifically stuck out to me was, “SEL implies more than a set of skills; it implies a pedagogy for building those skills and an intervention structure to support the internalisation and generalisation of the skills over time and across contexts.” (424). This quote stuck out to me because this outlook on SEL informed teaching is very important for the design and implementation of certain pedagogical practices. I also agree strongly with this sentence which is another reason why it stuck out to me. I prioritize SEL informed lessons and ideas when it comes to scaffolding and teaching students, so this was an important aspect to this article in my opinion.

In the article, “The Puzzling Child” what stood out to me was the questions that Elena was asking. They were more intuitive, ethical, and personal than expected from a student her age. For example, when she was wondering about the plant, she asked, “‘How would the plant feel’” and “‘How would I feel?’” (308) then she decided to test her hypothesis by moving her body. This level of questioning and testing is more advanced for her age group, and knowing her abilities were even doubted, this becomes very much interesting to me. These questions exemplify the importance of inquiry-based lesson plans to encourage all students to question and test their thinking like Elena.

My biggest takeaway from these articles is to remember to stay present and conscious in each of my students’ lives. By being attentive to student patterns, tendencies, skills, hardships, etc. it can inform my effectiveness in the classroom by designing my lesson around this context and influencing the student in a direction and work load that will be doable for them.

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What really spoke to me in Ballinger’s  “The Puzzling Child” was the emphasis on being patient regarding children's behavior. This behavior can be confusing and it is crucial to be patient with the children and to see how they are truly feeling instead of making assumptions. This will help not only adults understand children better but also can help create a comfortable and communicative bond between the two which allows both parties to feel seen and comfortable. One take away I took from this is the importance of keeping your emotions in check and being able to put yourself in another person's shoes.

What really spoke to me in Elias' article, “ Developing Social & Emotional Aspects"  was how important social and emotional skills are in a child’s life and in their overall success. These skills are built and it is crucial for a child to be taught them so they can practice and use these skills. With these skills children can do better not only academically but also socially by building relationships with their peers and the community around them. The biggest take away I took from this article is how essential it is to teach these core practices and values to a child at a young age in order to truly set them up for success in life.