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I have noticed that as a neurodivergent person and a teacher who has often experienced sensory overwhelm in the classroom, learning about the Fly Five SEL standards is making my nervous system feel nicely regulated. As a student, I didn't always feel safe, joyful, and engaged in the classroom, most likely (as I now know) because of my brain differences. But knowing that teachers can organize student learning using the Fly Five standards and have a clear way of implementing strategies to create a safe community for learning inspires me and makes me feel happy that all students have the opportunity to feel safe, joyful, and engaged in the classroom.

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I'm interested in learning more about the SETI inventory! This seems like a fun self-reflection tool and a really helpful resource.

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The Mindfulness Principles are really powerful and I appreciated the way Shawna McCoy explained them:

1. Put it in neutral--be still, recognize where we are in the moment.

2. Take it slow--we all have different speeds!

3. Reset experiences--adopt a new perspective, one outside of yourself.

4. Have faith--trust in yourself and in the capabilities of your body and mind; this helps with naming feelings and developing confidence.

5. In the moment--awareness and acknowledegement of life as it comes, it's ok to feel, positive or negative so you know what steps to take to move forward.

6. Reality Check--expectations vs. reality. Where can we close the gap?

7. Suspend judgment--release expectations and attachments when they no longer serve you.

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Assertiveness is so important to teach, especially for girls and “shy” or neurodivergent children. Teaching young students that their emotions are valid and how to share them effectively is something I wish I would have learned at school.

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I thought the "Four Corners" ILS was interesting (one I haven't experienced in the classroom yet!) and a good way for more quiet students and kinesthetic learners to demonstrate their learning.

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Since Fly Five has been introduced, I feel like Responsive Classroom as an approach is complete: RC is the "how" and Fly Five is the "what"

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Something I have been thinking about is how DEI and identity work intersects with the C.A.R.E.S. standards, and how those topics can be approached in age-appropriate and meaningful ways.

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After attending a workshop on mindful body movement, I have been thinking about more active ways to incorporate mindfulness. Previously I asked all my students to sit in a circle on the floor to engage, but I realized that does not work for all students.

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One issue I have run into using ILS as part of my curriculum is that my biggest classes are 10 students and my smallest are 3-4, which makes a lot of these challenging or not as fun. I have been trying to think through alternatives or modifications to different ILS.

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While I understand why the decision was made, I am still disappointed that Blake having two dads was changed. I also think it would be powerful for any of the main characters to be neurodiverse or differently-abled as this is an aspect of diversity that isn't really represented in the main characters. That said, I do love how complete the main characters feel, and I usually start off Fly Five with a lesson introducing all the characters and their stories so students can make initial connections.

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Shirah Simmons

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  What an opportunity  it is to be able to engage in this work!  I am looking forward to seeing how I will grow and change as I learn more about the curriculum. 

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This work is so important! After teaching it for the past 2 years, I look forward to being able to assist with revising the curriculum based on teacher feedback to help it meet the needs of even more students and teachers in the future.

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I appreciate how Fly Five is revising and revamping based on teacher feedback. It is SO hard to find the time to teach this type of curriculum if not explicitly given the time by your school, but it is so important and beneficial!

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Since Fly Five is moving to all digital, will the student journals become digital, or will those independent student activities look different? I think it's important for students to do some writing and drawing activities for their own reflection and understanding.

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The Mindful Student lessons are awesome for teaching different mindfulness strategies that students can use to help with emotional regulation. I like Mindfulness Principles too, particularly the Reality Check and Suspend Judgement.

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I appreciate how Fly Five says that providing diverse representation through the nine characters is a non-negotiable of the curriculum! It's wonderful that even if students don't live in a widely diverse community, they still have the opportunity to develop cognitive empathy by reading stories with diverse characters and narratives.

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I am curious about how the materials will change as the program becomes more digital. Will there still be print items or will all be only available through the LMS?

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I like the mindfulness principles as a tool to ground students in the purpose of each activity. I like the idea of being able to use that language as reminding language with my students when something happens, being able to say in a moment of conflict something like, "Stop. Let's put it in neutral and take it slow as we do a reality check. What is going on for you in this moment?"

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I am excited to join Fly Five! The Center for Responsive Schools' mission to partner with educators around the world to transform schools and learning environments is truly inspiring. Social-emotional learning is so essential, and integrating it across all lessons allows students to apply these vital skills in every area of life.

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The ILS options for each grade level provide some awesome ideas for partner and small group work throughout the school day. Definitely something that I will share with my colleagues as a resource!

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I am surprised to see that none of the characters live in a single parent household or have gay parents. It seems like a missed opportunity to include family structures outside of the traditional 2-parent, heterosexual couple. So many of our students homes do not look like that.

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I’m curious about the LMS and would love to do a deep dive to better understand how students will navigate the fully digital materials.

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The Mindful Student module has been my favorite so far. I’m excited to dive deeper and learn more about how to create meaningful and effective mindful activities for students.

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I am very excited to join Fly Five again. I think Fly Five is moving into the right direction by using teacher feedback to revamp implementation of SEL lessons.

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I appreciate how diverse the Fly Five curriculum is. It truly matters that students see individuals who look like them and find characters or experiences they can connect with. This representation helps students feel seen, valued, and more engaged, which increases their buy-in and connection to the curriculum.

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SEL competencies are essential are childhood development.

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The Mindful student module is great. I look forward to creating content to expand on this topic. I look forward to developing useful strategies that provide students skills in real world situations.

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As adults sometime can forget about representation and why it matters to student development. When students are given an opportunity to see people who look like them, learning becomes more engaging.

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The ILS is a great avenue for students to practice their social-emotional skills since it encourages movement, is engaging, and student-focused. I'm familiar with some of the structures, but it was great to learn some new ones like Maître d’ and Around the Clock.

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I do appreciate the intentionality in creating and researching the Center City Kids to reflect a wide range of differences among students and families. While I understand it isn't possible to represent the diversity of all students, I think a single-parent family or a family with divorced parents would connect with many students.

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One of the things I love most about Fly Five is its thoughtful foundation. Everything is rooted in helping kids grow socially and emotionally in ways that feel real and meaningful. I’ve always believed that when we teach the whole child, real learning happens. I love the Avenue A books and believe they're such an engaging way to help students see themselves, explore emotions, connect with others, and incorporate literacy in. I’m so excited to be joining a team that’s creating work with heart, purpose, and impact.

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In this section, I am curious to see an updated mission statement if the tendency is to no longer be called SEL (as mentioned in our training yesterday)

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Knowing that every decision and strategy is backed by real research gives me confidence that the work I create will truly matter, and that it will be effective, meaningful, and show respect for the students and educators who use it.

Shaimaa Mohamed

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Does each lesson connect to previous and upcoming lessons in a logical, spiraled way? Shaimaa Mohamed

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Each C.A.R.E.S competency supports real-life skills, such as working well with others, speaking up respectfully, taking ownership, respecting property, and regulating emotions. They are not just part of classroom management, but they are also tools for lifelong success.

Shaimaa Mohamed

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These ILSs are essential because they help students connect to real-life situations by helping them practice social and emotional skills they use every day, such as resolving conflicts, working with others, and expressing themselves respectfully. It gives them a safe space to observe, reflect, and apply these skills in ways that mirror real-world interactions.

Shaimaa Mohamed

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Representation is essential because it helps all students feel seen, heard, and valued.

Shaimaa Mohamed

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Supporting SEL for everyone everywhere is very important work.

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Please share more about this.  I did not realize this.

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Ina -- I really appreciate the clever, expert way that The Mindful Student Cards support encourage and support mindfulness as a practice for self-regulation.  It is important to understand that we have emotions and that they can impact our feelings, thoughts, behaviors, etc. in ways that can make us feel out-of-sorts.  Knowing that we can spend a couple of minutes teaching, engaging in and practicing self-regulation in this way is a welcome, necessary practice in school and beyond.  I am grateful for the impact The Mindful Student Cards have had on my students and me.  I really learned much about mindfulness as a result.

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I enjoy Interactive Learning Structures. It gives students-participants an opportunity to collaborate and allows the teacher-instructor the chance to facilitate vs. doing a direct presentation. This makes the learning active and interactive, which also supports the developmental learning needs of students. I perused several grade levels of ILSs and notice that the Fly Five Teacher Guides tend to suggest ILSs developmentally from grade to grade. I appreciate this.

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I wish that globally we could all embrace the importance of representation and understand that there is a place for everyone in the world.  If we could all do this through uplifting representation in positive ways, perhaps we would not be so fearful.

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I wonder what the impact of the curricular and DEI bans will have on our work?

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Fly Five is the social-emotional learning curriculum we need to advocate for in all schools.

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Fly Five offers such wonderful resources for teachers and students. However, I find the most important thing is the connection to home, since reinforcement is needed outside of school as well.

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In the video it says, "Acknowledge how you feel so you know the steps to take to move forward." I feel like students can struggle to do this because schools are so quick to shut down bad behaviors. However, if a student is feeling a certain way that leads to their behavior, that has to be known too, so the right, appropriate action can be put into place.

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I love the variety of the Interactive Learning Structures because I feel there is something for everyone. It really involves the students and allows them to be at the focal point of each lesson/activity.

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I think my favorite part about creating content for Fly Five will be getting to know the Central City Kids and the diversity they will portray in classrooms all over the world. I hope each child feels represented in at least one of the characters and that they know there are other people like them in the world.

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I really liked learning how Fly Five makes SEL doable for teachers while keeping lessons engaging for students. Excited to learn more!

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The SETI inventory looks interesting, and I'm wondering how to helps teachers move forward with the fly 5 curriculum. Is it just for their reflection? Or does it come back throughout the process?

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I appreciate the vertical articulation aspect here because it allows students to build their SEL skills each year!