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Life Vest Inside - Kindness Boomerang - "One Day"

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Social-Emotional Learning Programs | Second Step

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Discover Second Step, an evidence-based social-emotional learning curriculum that fosters students’ emotional intelligence, empathy, and problem-solving skills.

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We thought you might like some of these for reference

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In my school district we adopted the five learning beliefs from Education Reimagined to help drive our district vision: competency-based; personalized, relevant & contextualized; learner agency; socially embedded; open-walled.

In working with these five beliefs, we must (1) have a clear understanding of what they mean, and (2) be equipped with explicit strategies to make them a reality. Otherwise, a vision is not much more than words on paper.

That being said, here's the Education Reimagined definition of learner agency:

Learning that is characterized by learning agency recognizes learners as active participants in their own learning and engages them in the design of their experiences and the realization of their learning outcomes in ways appropriate for their developmental level. As such, learners have choice and voice in their educational experiences as they progress through competencies. Harnessing his or her own intrinsic motivation to learn, each learner strives to ultimately take full ownership of his or her own learning.

And, reflecting upon my work with inquiry-based learning and project based learning, here are five ways to promote student agency.

1. Create a culture of inquiry and creativity

We start to create this culture on the very first day of school, but it's truly established as a result of the successes students experience throughout the year. In other words, we don't just "set it and forget it." The four subsequent points, as well as everything else that contributes to student agency, are all dependent upon culture. As , Middle School Principal, says, "If we don't focus on school [or classroom] culture, we might as well not waste our time focusing on anything else."

Here are three ways to create a culture that lends itself to student agency:

Learn to let go: If students are to engage in productive struggle, we must possess the patience that allows for them to do so - patience (and scaffolding) that will vary based on student need. We should also be transparent with our students in regards to what we're trying to accomplish, so they view the struggle as part of the learning process.

2. Emphasize relevance over engagement

There's a fine line between trying to get students excited about our interests, and involving students in learning that is based on their interests. While the former can generate engagement (which is oftentimes short lived), the latter approach starts with the student s and prioritizes what makes each and every one of them unique. As a result, they are the designers of relevant learning experiences that tap into their intrinsic motivation.

As a 4th grade teacher (and a foodie), I had my students complete a restaurant review project that included each student going to a restaurant of his or her choice, taking notes throughout the dining process, and then systemically converting the notes to a professional looking review that was posted on a blog and sent out to the restaurant! The problem - I never once asked my students if they were foodies or if they were at all interested in writing about restaurants. Looking back, I could have (1) provided this project as one option alongside others, or (2) simply told my students the understandings I wanted them to demonstrate and then allowed for them to carve out their own paths.

It's easy to fall victim to spending an excess amount of time, meticulously planning units that focus on our interests or what we think/hope will grab student attention. We should spend more time giving our students a voice and then working backwards from what they have to say.

3. Share out learning targets

The understandings we want students to achieve as a result of a project or lesson could be shared with students (or uncovered by students through inquiry) in the form of learning targets to give them a clear picture of what they are supposed to learn. This approach is similar to what I did as a student teacher, when I was ordered to write the standard on the board prior to each lesson. However, standards are not the same as learning targets. Here are three tips to consider when converting the former to the latter:

For a project based learning unit, students can analyze exemplars, found by them or the teacher, so they can see what each target looks like in the context of their current work.

If students know what they have to accomplish, they are more likely to take ownership of their learning. Of course, on the way to their goals they'll probably take their work in directions that include their passions and interests (which may not be encompassed by academic standards). Let them! The nurturing of students supersedes the covering of curriculum.

4. Facilitate ongoing feedback

As students work towards their understandings, what they need perhaps more than anything else is feedback. In short, feedback tells us (1) where we are, (2) where we need to go (the understandings), and (3) how to get there. And, in a learning space, feedback generally takes on three forms: teacher to student, student to student, and student to self. While all of these are likely to occur at one point or another, to promote student agency we should mostly be aiming for student to self. But, we need to create the conditions for this type of feedback to be the norm.

To assist with this process, Erin Murphy and I rethought the traditional rubric from the ground up when we created the Progress Assessment Tool (PAT). The PAT contains three columns: left, learning targets to be assessed; middle, what each target could look like within the context of the project (through the aforementioned analysis of exemplars); right, where feedback is provided in relation to each target. Of course, ideally, much of this feedback is student to self, but teachers and other students should be able to help. Either way, if we want the emphasis to be on the learning, ongoing feedback (in the absence of grades) is the answer.

(The PAT is detailed in Chapter 7 of " Hacking Project Based Learning," a chapter that is available for free in the " Hack Learning Anthology".)

5. Allow for Reflection and Publishing

We can facilitate additional self-feedback by organizing opportunities for students to reflect upon their work. One such opportunity could be time set aside for students to do nothing but analyze where they are in relation to the learning targets (without the burden of having to move forward with their project). We can further assist students by giving them reflective questions. Here are a few examples:

These are prompts from which we can look to gradually release students as they get used to owning their learning.

Finally, reflection and publishing can go hand-in-hand, and publishing (through blogs, websites, videos, social media, etc.) shouldn't just take place once everything is done. After all, when was the last time you were in the middle of a significant project and didn't post about it in some way, shape, or form? Sharing our experiences publicly is now considered a social norm, hence it should also be happening in our schools. Not only does this publishing help students to obtain audience feedback from those inside and outside their learning space, it also gives them opportunities to promote their work, which can be tremendously self-motivating.

In " Learning Transformed," Eric Sheninger and tell us, "Student agency must become the norm, not the exception." And, I couldn't agree with them more.

In looking at the definition of learner agency, this is exactly how we learn as adults, and it is our duty to blur the lines between our schools and the real world.

Our students are now more aware than ever. They know whether or not they're getting the education they deserve. And they know when they're moving thousands of miles per hour outside our school walls, but forced to adapt to our comfort level s by moving at a snail's pace in our classrooms.

How else can we promote student agency?
Ross Cooper is supervisor of instructional practice K-12 for Salisbury Township School District in Allentown, PA, and co-author of "Hacking Project-Based Learning."

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How can educators best promote student agency?

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Ross Cooper, supervisor of instructional practice K-12 for Salisbury Township School District in Allentown, PA, shares how his district used the Education Reimagined model to engage students.

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Add to this padlet your example, of taking agentic action, the process you go through

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This is significant research and a great structure on learning engagement

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While a consensus has emerged to characterize student engagement during learning activities as a three-component construct featuring behavioral, emotional, and cognitive aspects, we propose adding agentic engagement as an important new aspect, which we define as students' constructive contribution into the flow of the instruction they receive. High school students (237 females, 128 males) from Taiwan completed surveys of their classroom motivation and the four hypothesized aspects of engagement while grades were obtained at the end of the semester. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that agentic engagement was both a distinct and an important construct, one that was associated with students' constructive motivation, related to each of the other three aspects of engagement, and predicted independent variance in achievement. The discussion highlights the important, though currently neglected, ways that students contribute constructively into the flow of the instruction they receive, as by personalizing it and by enhancing both the lesson and the conditions under which they learn. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

Elsevier. 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126; Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com; Web site: http://www.elsevier.com

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ERIC - EJ939486 - Agency as a Fourth Aspect of Students' Engagement during Learning Activities, Contemporary Educational Psychology, 2011-Oct

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While a consensus has emerged to characterize student engagement during learning activities as a three-component construct featuring behavioral, emotional, and cognitive aspects, we propose adding agentic engagement as an important new aspect, which we define as students' constructive contribution into the flow of the instruction they receive.

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I am a big proponent of teaching students multiple strategies to solve problems and letting students choose the best strategy that works for them. I love it when students can take ownership over a certain way to solve a problem and find success. They really understand why it works and can then apply it to a variety of other problems.

Skilled mathematical thinkers have a variety of problem-solving strategies in their toolbox and can access them quickly and efficiently. They understand that the same strategy doesn't work for all problems and are able to apply the best, most effective strategy for each problem they solve, almost effortlessly or without even thinking about it.

I want all my students to become skilled mathematical thinkers who believe they are good at math.

When I was in school, I remember the teacher writing how to solve a problem on the overhead and we copied down how she did it in our notebooks. We were supposed to copy exactly how she solved the problem and apply it to all the problems on a page in our math books. Do you remember being taught that way? Generally, there was only one right way to solve a problem. I wonder how much I was missing by being taught just one way. I did okay in math, but never really liked it. It was boring, mundane, and we did the same thing every day.

Fast forward to my first few years of teaching. I became involved with some professional development that taught me all about the different ways to solve multi-digit addition and subtraction problems as well as work with fractions.

My eyes were opened to a whole new world. I found out that I was good at math. I discovered, by being taught a few key foundational ideas, that I could approach a difficult problem and reason through it, figuring out my own way to do it. I loved math. That is what I want for my students.

Whenever I post this photo on Facebook, it always gets a ton of attention, both positive and negative. I get the, "why don't you just teach them how to add" comments, the "what an awesome idea" comments, and everything in between.

I love using it to open up the conversation about teaching multiple strategies to solve problems. It is such a clear example of how to use 10 to solve addition facts.

You see teaching students how to solve problems using different strategies isn't a new idea. Remember the new math in the 80s and early 90s? This was it. It came again in the early 2000's, too. Teachers have been teaching strategies to solve math problems for a long time.

However, the Common Core and many state standards have now made it more explicit, and in fact, encourage the use of multiple strategies before the traditional algorithm is taught. With new standards and professional development, the idea of teaching multiple strategies has come to the forefront again.

Should the traditional algorithm be taught? Yes. But, before it is given to students, they need to understand why the shortcut of the traditional algorithms works and what to do if it doesn't (like figure out their mistake!).

It's all about mental math. Most of us do it automatically at the grocery store when figuring out if how much we want to spend. Although we can whip out our iPhone, it's often faster to do it in our heads. Next time you figure out an addition problem in your head, think about how you solve the problem. Do you make a ten or round to the next friendly number? Do you estimate? Do you double or halve a number? How do you solve the problem?

I'll bet you're using some strategy that you've either invented or that someone taught you. You probably aren't thinking about the traditional algorithm (although you might be if that's all you've been taught).

I want all my students to become skilled mathematical thinkers who believe they are good at math. Click To Tweet

Teaching students different strategies helps them transition between paper and pencil calculations and mental calculations. Most math problems can be figured out in our heads, even the really hard ones, if we can hold all the numbers there. Students will find strategies that work for them. We just need to teach multiple strategies so students can find the ones that resonate for them.

That leads me to . . .

Ideally, we want students to be flexible mathematical thinkers. We want them to be good at math and feel confident about their ability to "do" math. In order to do that, I teach students different ways to solve problems in the hope that one of the ways will resonate with each student.

Students are at different places in their mathematical journey. One of the best tools I have seen to explain this journey is Contexts for Learning. The Landscape for Learning outlines the pathways students can take for understanding Addition & Subtraction and Multiplication & Division. Each pathway is different, but there are trends that occur.

You can find the Landscapes in the following documents: Addition & Subtraction and Multiplication & Division. It's worth downloading them and studying them.

There's a lot of words in these documents that you might have to look up, but the idea that I want to emphasize is that students are continually finding new ways to solve problems. Their mathematical thinking is not stagnant, but fluidly moving through different levels as they experience more and more problems. Teaching students different strategies to solve problems helps them see new, more efficient strategies that might resonate with them.

We want students to solve problems correctly and efficiently. Teaching different strategies will help them see different ways to solve problems and students will gravitate to the way that best meets where they're at. Our job is to push them just a little bit further and become more and more efficient mathematical thinkers.

This is similar to the previous idea in that I want students to find strategies that work for them, but I also want to push students to experiment and look at new strategies that might be just beyond their reach.

In my blog posts all about different models and strategies for two-digit addition & subtraction, I go into more detail about different strategies for two-digit addition. These strategies scaffold learning for students so that they can transition from single-digit addition to multi-digit addition and deeply learn what is happening to the place value when adding and subtracting.

Now there's a fine line between scaffolding learning and providing a crutch. The key is always encouraging students to try something that is just outside their comfort level, which is called their zone of proximal development. We always want to push our students to go one step further, not too hard, but just enough that encourages them to learn more.

Do you have those students who just don't like math? Those who don't think they're good at math? That was me, as a kid.

I wasn't motivated to work in math because it was boring. However, I have found that by teaching students multiple ways to approach problems, and then stepping away, just a little bit, that my students will dive into the problems and start exploring. They are much more motivated to work during math than I ever was growing up. I have given students entry points into the problem and allowed them to approach it at their level, tackling it with the foundational skills that they know and understand.

I have empowered students to do math because I have taught them a variety of strategies to add to their toolbox.

I teach multiple strategies to solve math problems because it:

makes explicit what happens in our heads

helps students choose the most efficient strategy

provides scaffolding so that students can find a place to enter into the problem solving process

motivates students to want to learn more.

What about you? Do you teach students multiple strategies to solve math problems? I'd love to hear your perspective on this topic in the comments below.

See the resources that I use in my classroom to teach students different strategies to solve math problems. Click on the image for a FREE sample of these resources.
Two-Digit Addition and Subtraction Products?

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Why I Teach Students Multiple Strategies to Solve Math Problems

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I am a big proponent of teaching students multiple strategies to solve problems and letting students choose the best strategy that works for them. I love it when students can take ownership over a certain way to solve a problem and find success.

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This is a series of five blog posts on Self-Directed Learning (SDL), which has become somewhat of a vogue term in the present educational context. For example, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills identified SDL as one of the life and career skills necessary to prepare students for post-secondary education and the workforce. In the previous post motivational strategies that can promote and sustain SDL were identified and illustrated. This final post continues with strategy usage, focusing of cognitive strategies, and concludes with a summary frame on facilitating Agentic Engagement in students that enables the collaborative shaping of instructional environments and strategies with educators that best support their self-directed learning.
Cognitive Strategies
You may (or may not) recall from the first and third posts, the relationship between metacognition and cognition, and the similarities and differences in terms of strategy use. Well, you can always skip back there and refresh the memory systems. The key points are:

they are very much interrelated as part of a wider System of Thinking, and inevitably mutually dependent on each other

the main difference relates to the goal or purpose of the task in hand. Cognitive strategies facilitate learning and task completion, whereas metacognitive strategies monitor the process.

Cognitive strategies are essentially the conscious mental activities/operations we do to solve a problem. In the context of learning, we often refer to them as thinking or learning tools. These often involve physical tools such as Mind-mapping or Thinking Hats but, as Ormrod (2011) points out, they are "...ultimately the things we do inside our heads- thinking " (p.135).

The analogy of a Toolbox is useful in that as with the use of tools in the physical world, the effectiveness of any cognitive/learning tool depends on its appropriateness to the learning task in hand and how well it is used. Poor thinking, limited knowledge and skills in application will typically produce poor results. The cartoon below captures the point in a poignant visible form and is close to home for my competence level in the domain of household DIY.

Hence, in selecting and using cognitive strategies, the following heuristic is helpful:

What is my learning purpose (e.g., extracting information from text; organizing information from a variety of learning resources; building understanding; cementing mental models in long term memory)

What are useful strategies for this area of learning (and ones I like/work for me)

How to use the strategies effectively and efficiently

When to use them for best results.

For example, I find mind-mapping very useful for writing research papers, as I can identify the key structure and content areas on one sheet of paper and do ongoing good thinking-critical, creative, metacognitive-to develop the paper content areas from this central advance organizer. However, there is a skill in doing good mind-mapping and one does need to know the subject domain quite well otherwise the mind maps can become no more than mazes, confusing rather than aiding thinking and learning.

Another strategy that I introduce to students early in a course of instruction is Retrieval Practice (see Table 1.1: Retrieval Practice Heuristic). This strategy helps to build understanding and cement knowledge in Long-term memory (LTM). It involves students using their Working memory (WM) in response to a question posed internally or externally (e.g., what do I know about agentic engagement?) and searching LTM for what's there (or not there). This is further enhanced when students engage in self-talk (talking aloud) and verbalizing with others as they can assess what they know already that's useful, identify gaps and/or misconceptions, and take appropriate learning action (e.g., employ strategies if needed). The process of extracting what's in LTM and subjecting it to scrutiny in WM, and then putting it back (often in an improved form-richer mental schemata) is a well validated strategy for effective learning from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. Repeated retrieval practice, especially when spaced out over time, builds the learning as a solid neural network and mental model for understanding. Hence future recall, when needed, becomes increasingly quicker, as well as more effective for connecting to new learning and enhancing understanding in that topic area.

Table 1.1: Retrieval Practice Heuristic

The infusion approach presented in the third post provides a guide for selecting and facilitating cognitive strategies across a course/module curriculum. Do remember that metacognition runs across the overall management of the learning process, proving the essential 'quality assurance' checks on the use of strategies and the overall self-regulation process.
Developing Agentic Learners
While teachers are tasked with designing and facilitating instructional strategies that engage students in the learning process and optimize their attainment opportunities, learning is also enhanced when students are actively involved in shaping the instructional process, making it more of a collaborative rather than one-way process. Reeve & Tseng (2001) referred to such student involvement as Agentic Engagement. This is where students take a conscious active role in shaping the learning context and instructional activities through collaborative learning relationships with teachers. Agentic Learners are confident to:

Offer input into the lesson content (e.g., based on a diagnosis of what they are finding difficult and what might help their understanding for this topic area)

Express preferences in terms of how they learn best (e.g., what methods/learning resources are most useful)

Communicate their thinking or learning need (e.g., ask specific questions about what to learn and how)

Communicate their level of interest (e.g., provide negative effort constructively when bored or frustrated

Solicit resources to help their learning (e.g., feel comfortable in asking for help).

Agentic Learners can be framed as students who have learned how to learn and developed habits of mind (e.g., growth mindset) that support active engagement and autonomy in their learning relations and strategies. In becoming competent and confidence agentic learners, students need to have key understandings of how humans learn and are competent in using metacognition and cognitive strategies. In this way both the teacher and students thinking becomes visible and there is a shared language of learning as identified in the third post.

Empowering students with a Growth Mindset and Metacognitive Capability are major pedagogic interventions in helping students to be more agentic and develop their motivation and capability to move towards the long term aim of being self-directed lifelong learners.

An Autonomy Supporting Style (ASS) of teaching is also an extensively validated approach for facilitating students' intrinsic motivation and agentic engagement in the learning process. Reeve (2015) frames ASS in terms of:

...a coherent cluster of teacher-provided instructional behaviours that collectively communicate to students an interpersonal tone of support and understanding, such as "I am your ally"; I am here to support you and your strivings... (p.407)

ASS is consistent with an Evidence-Based Teaching approach (e.g., Petty, 2014; Sale, 2015) and highly effective in building the collaborative and self-regulatory skills essential for developing SDL. EBT is derived from extensive research on what teaching strategies/methods work best in terms of learner attainment, and how humans learn most effectively. The key features of ASS include:

Providing Explanatory Rationales to students on what makes this necessary

Acknowledging & Accepting Negative Affect (e.g., students are tired/bored)

Displaying Patience

Exploring and allowing Student Choice (where possible) in the overall instructional strategy

Encouraging Two-way feedback to support understanding and skill development.

As Treadwell (2007) argues:

One of the key aspects of increasing agency in school is having the learners take responsibility for their learning, where they can be aware of, and learn about, their mind-set and capacity to show 'grit' (determination). Learners in schools get the opportunity to 'play' with taking agency over their world and this is one of the most powerful learning lessons we can possibly gift them. (p.146)
Epilogue for this Series
In the first post, I made the case for Metacognitive Capability as the most important 21 st century competence. Here's my summary frame on this capability in terms of so-called 21 st century competencies.

Lai & Viering (2012) noted that 21 st Century Skills had become "watchwords in education" (p.2) and that many frameworks mapping such skills have been developed. Underpinning these frameworks and related to student attainment and positive learning and career development, 5 key research-based competences have been identified: Critical Thinking; Creativity; Collaboration; Motivation; Metacognition (Lau & Viering, 2012, p.6).

Research on these skills suggests they are interrelated in complex ways. For example, critical thinking and creativity are often expressed together. Metacognition is inevitably related to both critical and creative thinking and can be said to comprise 'Good Thinking'. Similarly, motivation and metacognition are also reciprocally related as we have explored in some detail.

Hence, in conclusion to this series, I strongly recommend that teachers, school principals, educational policy makers and others involved in educational decision-making place Metacognitive Capability high on the agenda for curricula innovations seeking to enhance students' self-directed learning. Such capability encompasses both knowledge on how to manage one's thinking (e.g., critical & creative thinking), motivation (e.g., beliefs, emotions) and behaviour (e.g., collaboration with others), and the skills necessary to implement, monitor and evaluate strategy effectiveness in different learning situations.

References
Lau, E. R. & Viering, M., (2012) Assessing 21st Century Skills: Integrating Research Findings. National Council on Measurement in Education, Vancouver, B. C.
Ormrod, J. E., (2011) our Minds, our Memories: Enhancing Thinking and Learning at All Ages. Pearson, London.
Petty, G., (2014) Evidence-Based Teaching: A Practical Approach. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Reeve, J. & Tseng, C., (2001) Agency as a fourth aspect of students' engagement during learning activities. Contemporary Educational Psychology 36 (2011) 257-267.
Reeve, J., (2015) Giving and Summoning Autonomy Support in Hierarchical Relationships. Social and Personality Psychology Compass 9/8, 2015, 406-418.
Sale, D., (2015) Creative Teaching: An Evidence-Based Approach. Springer, New York.
Treadwell, M., (2017) the future of learning. The Global Curriculum Project, Mount Maunganui, NZ.

About Dennis Sale: Dennis Sale is the author of Creative Teaching: An Evidence-Based Approach (Springer, 2015), the first book to demystify creative teaching and make explicit how it works at the level of specific teaching practices, underpinned by the creative application of cognitive scientific principles. He has worked in all sectors of the British education system, spending some 3 decades training and mentoring over 3000 teaching/training professionals in many countries and cultural contexts. Presently he is Senior Education Advisor for Singapore Polytechnic, and Principal Investigator for a 2-year Ministry of Education research project, entitled 'Enhancing Student's Intrinsic Motivation: An Evidence-Based Approach'. Dennis is a long time SoftChalk user and has conducted workshops for educators showcasing SoftChalk as a way to improve their lessons.

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This is a series of five blog posts on Self-Directed Learning (SDL), which has become somewhat of a vogue term in the present educational context. For example, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills identified SDL as one of the life and career skills necessary to prepare students for...

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Description

One little dot marks the beginning of Vashti's journey of surprise and self-discovery in Peter H. Reynolds' multiple award-winning modern classic.

In this inspiring, award-winning story of self-expression and creativity from Peter H. Reynolds, illustrator of Ish and the Judy Moody series, Vashti thinks she can't draw. But her teacher is sure that she can. She knows that there's creative spirit in everyone, and encourages Vashti to sign the angry dot she makes in frustration on a piece of paper. This act makes Vashti look at herself a little differently, and helps her discover that where there's a dot there's a way... With wit, charm and free-spirited illustrations, Peter H. Reynolds encourages even the stubbornly uncreative among us to make a mark - and follow where it takes us.
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Product details

Format Paperback | 32 pages

Dimensions 225 x 225 x 5mm | 150g

Publication date 04 Oct 2004

Publisher Walker Books Ltd

Publication City/Country London, United Kingdom

Language English

Illustrations note col. Illustrations

ISBN10 1844281698

ISBN13 9781844281695

Bestsellers rank 1,727

Review quote

A real can-do book...Feisty drawings make this book enjoyable to look at and empowering to cynical little souls who just can't do stuff, and don't care either. * The Guardian * ...the quirky little story reminds children (and their parents) that whatever it is you can do, you should just get on and do it. * The Observer *
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About Peter H. Reynolds

Peter H. Reynolds is a bestselling illustrator who has created many acclaimed books for children. In addition to his Creatrilogy - The Dot, Ish and Sky Colour - the works he has both written and illustrated include Rose's Garden, The North Star and So Few of Me. He is also the illustrator of Megan McDonald's Judy Moody and Stink series. Born in Canada, Peter H. Reynolds now lives in the US in Dedham, Massachusetts. Find Peter online at www.peterhreynolds.com and on twitter as @peterhreynolds.
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We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies. Categories: Storybooks Children's Fiction Society & Social Issues One little dot marks the beginning of Vashti's journey of surprise and self-discovery in Peter H. Reynolds' multiple award-winning modern classic.

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Read 1,544 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. This is the story of one brilliant idea and the child who helps to bring it into the wor...

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3. Self-Esteem

Description

"What do you do with a problem? Especially one that follows you around and doesn't seem to be going away?
Do you worry about it? Ignore it? Do you run and hide from it?

This is the story of a persistent problem and the child who isn't so sure what to make of it. The longer the problem is avoided, the bigger it seems to get. But when the child finally musters up the courage to face it, the problem turns out to be something quite different than it appeared.

This is a story for anyone, at any age, who has ever had a problem that they wished would go away. It's a story to inspire you to look closely at that problem and to find out why it's here. Because you might discover something amazing about your problem]] and yourself.

What are problems for? They challenge us, shape us, push us, and help us to discover just how strong and brave and capable we really are. Even though we don't always want them, problems have a way of bringing unexpected gifts.

So, what will you do with your problem?
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Product details

For ages 6-8

Format Hardback

Dimensions 226 x 269 x 15mm | 458g

Publication date 01 Jun 2016

Publisher Compendium Publishing & Communications

Language English

Illustrations note Illustrations, unspecified

ISBN10 1943200009

ISBN13 9781943200009

Bestsellers rank 2,928

Rating details

4,525 ratings

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We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies. Categories: Children's Fiction Self-Esteem "What do you do with a problem? Especially one that follows you around and doesn't seem to be going away? Do you worry about it?

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The award-winning creators of The New York Times best sellers What Do You Do With an Idea? and What Do You Do With a Problem? return with...

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Working up the courage to take a big, important leap is hard, but Jabari is almost absolutely ready to make a giant splash.

Jabari is definitely ready to jump off the diving board. He's finished his swimming lessons and passed his swim test, and he's a great jumper, so he's not scared at all. "Looks easy," says Jabari, watching the other kids take their turns. But when his dad squeezes his hand, Jabari squeezes back. He needs to figure out what kind of special jump to do anyway, and he should probably do some stretches before climbing up onto the diving board. In a sweetly appealing tale of overcoming your fears, newcomer Gaia Cornwall captures a moment between a patient and encouraging father and a determined little boy you can't help but root for.

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Jabari Jumps [Cornwall, Gaia, Cornwall, Gaia] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Jabari Jumps

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children’s / teenage fiction: general fiction

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children’s / teenage fiction: school stories

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children’s / teenage general interest: places and peoples

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children’s / teenage general interest: science and technology

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juvenile fiction / people & places / united states / african american

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juvenile fiction/people & places - united states - african american & black

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people & places - united states - african american & black

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teenage general interest: places and peoples

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teenage general interest: science and technology

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school; realistic fiction; childrens books by age 5-8; books for 6 year old boys; books for 5 year old boys; kindergarten books; books for 4 year old girls; books for kids 5-7; books for 4 year old boys; books for 6 year old girls; kids books ages 6-8; books for 7 year old girls; books for 7 year old boys; preschool books; science for kids; helping others; perseverance; teamwork; patience; family; siblings; problem solving; stem for kids; books for preschoolers; kids books ages 4 8; science books for kids 5-7

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science for kids;helping others;perseverance;teamwork;patience;family;siblings;problem solving;stem for kids;school;books for 5 year old girls;books for 5 year old boys;books for 4 year old boys;books for 4 year old girls;realistic fiction;kindergarten books;preschool books;books for 6 year old boys;books for preschoolers;books for kids 5-7;kids books ages 6-8;childrens books by age 5-8;books for 6 year old girls;books for 7 year old boys;kids books ages 4 8;books for 7 year old girls

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juvenile fiction / people & places / united states / african american

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
juvenile fiction/people & places - united states - african american & black

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
children’s / teenage fiction: general fiction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
children’s / teenage fiction: school stories

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children’s / teenage general interest: places and peoples

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
children’s / teenage general interest: science and technology

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Jabari Tries [Cornwall, Gaia, Cornwall, Gaia] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Jabari Tries

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Missed it? Want to share with your faculty? Find the recording here!

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Join world’s #1 virtual professional development for educators hosted by Toddle. Register and get access to 50+ sessions and unlimited ideas across two days.

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Buy Strive: for Happiness in Education: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

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Thanks for sharing :)

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Thank you for the session and sharing these resources.  Great to hear valuable ideas from colleagues too.

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Thank you for the session and sharing these resources.  Great to hear valuable ideas from colleagues too.

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Thank you for sharing these resources. Lovely to have them.

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Thank you for sharing these resources. Lovely to have them.

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Thank you for sharing this resources and valuable session 😉👍

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Great resources! Thank you so much for sharing

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Great resources! Thank you so much for sharing

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Thank you for sharing!

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Thank you for sharing resources

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Thank you for a wonderful session - it made me realize that what we do in our classroom is on the right track, but also that I have so much to learn.

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Thank you for sharing this .

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What is SEL?

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Advancing Social and Emotional Learning - CASEL

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CASEL is helping make evidence-based social and emotional learning an integral part of education, preschool through high school.

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6 ways to help kids manage their own emotions

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6 ways to help kids manage their own emotions

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Being able to manage our own emotions seems like a simple task at first glance, but it's actually quite complex, especially for growing children and teenagers. It involves understanding your feelings, managing stress, using coping strategies at the appropriate times, problem-solving through challenges, and knowing when to ask for help. This can be a lot for growing children and teens. They don't always know exactly how to manage those feelings, which is why it is so critical for adults to provide support along the way.
Big Emotions, Big Behaviors
Anger, worry, fear, shame, frustration, embarrassment, confusion, and even excitement. These are just a few big feelings that children and teens might need to cope with on any given day.

One important point to make is that when a child is struggling, we usually don't see the emotion at first. We see the challenging behaviors. This might include acting in aggressive ways such as yelling, pushing, kicking, biting, or destroying property. Other times this might look like work refusal, avoidance, and doing the opposite of the directions given. We might also see withdrawal or irritability. These are just a few examples, as children and teens can behave in various ways when struggling with emotions. Always keep in mind that emotions are often the driving force behind behaviors.

A child or teen most likely isn't going to say, "Excuse me, I'm struggling with my feelings right now." They might act out, though. It just happens to mean the same thing. When we see children and teens acting out in negative ways, this should be a cue that they need some support.

Teach Skills When Calm
All kids and teens are going to struggle with managing emotions from time to time. It's normal and healthy. With that said, some kids are going to need a bit more support than others. If working with learners who continually struggle in this area, consider teaching some of the skills for managing emotions just as you would skills for learning math or reading. Kids and teens can learn how to understand their emotions, check in with themselves, use coping strategies, practice flexible thinking, using self-control, and appropriately deal with emotions. Remember to teach these skills proactively when kids are calm.

Simple Strategies In the Moment
All educators of kids (big and little) need strategies for helping them manage emotions in the moment. And while I'm a huge advocate for teaching coping strategies and skills to children themselves well ahead of time, these techniques are really designed for adults to use while a child is struggling.

This article also puts an emphasis on simple strategies because in any given fast-paced day, it's important to have to-the-point techniques in our toolbox that work. What's most helpful in this list of techniques is that they are truly universal; these are strategies that can be used with children in preschool to high schoolers (and yes, even adults).

There is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to helping kids manage tough emotions, which is why it's important to have a few ready for when something doesn't work.
Here are six simple techniques for helping children and teens manage their emotions:

#1 Listen
The most important technique when a child or teen is struggling with emotions is to actively listen to them. This means giving distraction-free attention to a child and really hearing them out. It helps to remain judgement free while a child or teen is expressing their emotions. Try to avoid taking over the conversation. Instead, ask prompting questions that might help them share more information about how they are feeling and what they need. Sometimes, this can take a while, but if you chat long enough, valuable information is almost always given.

Beyond all of that, sometimes someone just need to be heard. A few prompts for starting the conversation might include:

"What's going on?"

"I noticed you're struggling with ______ today. What's up?"

"Talk to me. How are you feeling?"

"Let's chat."

"How would you rate how you're feeling from 0-10?"

#2 Co-regulate
Co-regulation is the process of actually sitting with kids and teens to calm down together. It's most helpful if these strategies and techniques have already been practiced ahead of time. This is just because of how the brain works. When kids and teens are overwhelmed, they don't think as clearly. It's difficult for them to pick up a new coping skill on the fly. If we want them to use these strategies when they truly are overwhelmed, we need to teach them before.

Even so, sometimes in the moment it can be difficult to embrace the idea of calming strategies. This is why co-regulation can be so powerful. Adults are modeling the skills they want kids and teens to do.

You can start by offering or suggesting a strategy. For example, you might say, "Let's take a few minutes and color together." Another idea is to offer a choice between two activities. If neither of those seem to work, just choose a calm down strategy and do it on your own near the child. Quite often, the learner will pick it up and try too.

Here are a few coping strategies that might work best:

These are just a few of many different coping strategies you can try. Use a coping strategies list to read more and give them a try.

#3 Give Space
One of the most under-utilized supports for helping manage emotions is giving space. An overwhelmed child can sometimes become more overwhelmed without the time and space they need to get back on track. Give supports, but it's also okay to walk away. Some helpful phrases to give some space include:

"I'm here when you need me."

"If you want to talk about that later, let me know, and I'll be here to listen."

"Let's talk about that later."

"Take a break and I'll check back in with you in a few minutes, okay?"

#4 Distract
Sometimes children and teens need mental space from the challenges they are coping with. A quick distraction can provide that. Here are some ways to help distract a child or teen in the moment:

Have the child help with a task. Keeping busy can help kids and teens reset their minds. The task doesn't need to be "fun," but it's best if it's not challenging. For example, ask if they can help you put up some bulletin board pieces or if they can deliver a note to another teacher down the hall.

Ask about a pet or loved one. The people and pets we love are comforting. You might ask about how a child's dog is doing to set them on a better frame on mind.

Tell a funny story from your own life. Kids and teens loving hearing stories from trusted adults. The story doesn't need to be connected to how the child is feeling at all. It's just a quick distraction. Anything to get a laugh is best! I personally loved telling stories about my dog, Nova. Just as an example, the time Nova growled at a snowman was always a favorite.

Ask questions about a favorite hobby or activity. We all experience positive emotions when we talk about our favorite activities. Use that to your advantage when helping a child manage emotions by asking about some of those hobbies. If a teen loves hockey, ask how his team has been doing. If a child loves music, talk about their favorite songs or band.

Ask a riddle or brainteaser. Consider giving a small brain game to help provide a distraction. Again, this technique will not work for every child, but some kids and teens thrive on puzzles and figuring things out.

Play a game. When all else fails, offer to play a game together. While this strategy cannot be done in every setting or in every situation, sometimes it's important tool to have ready. So often, kids will begin talking and externalizing their emotions during a game. So, sometimes it's worth a try.

#5 Draw or Write
Not all children and teenagers are capable of verbalizing how they are feeling and what they need. This is where drawing and writing come into play. These different methods give kids a chance to share those emotions in a non-threatening way.

Some strategies to help kids express feelings in this way include:

Write a letter about how they are feeling.

Draw a picture that shows their emotions.

List out all the feelings they feel.

Give free journal writing time.

Journal or draw to music.

#6 Problem-Solve
When a child or teen is calm, one of the most powerful ways to help them manage emotions is through problem-solving. When problem-solving, it's important to not solve for kids but with them. It is critical that kids and teens know they have the power to solve their own problems, even if they need help sometimes.

Some ways to problem-solve together include:

Come up with a list of possible solutions.

Draw a picture of the perfect way to solve the problem.

Act out different ways to solve the problem.

Teaching Coping Skills
If you're ready for the next steps in teaching techniques to students, give some of these coping strategies and calm down resources and activities a try.

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6 Simple Ways to Help Kids Manage Big Emotions

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Being able to manage our own emotions seems like a simple task at first glance, but it's actually quite complex, especially for growing children and teenagers. It involves understanding your feelings, managing stress, using coping strategies at the appropriate times, problem-solving through challeng

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SEL GUIDE !! I personally like this website. It is full of helpful resources

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Courtesy of Sunnyvale School  shared the strategies for each competency that we can practice in our classrooms.

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Copy of SEL Choice Board (Courtesy of Sunnyvale School District)

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Thank You - SEL Resources for Reopening | Panorama Education

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Administrators and educators can use these questions to check in on student well-being and supports, conduct an interim SEL skills check, and gather classroom feedback.

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"Before you speak, listen." -William A. Ward Listening With Purpose As I listen in on the student conversations occurring around the classroom, I notice that my students have a firm grasp on the basics of listening and speaking. They turn their attention toward the speaker and maintain a calm...

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Responsive Classroom is an evidence-based approach to teaching that focuses on the strong link between academic success and social-emotional learning (SEL).

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Thriving Schools: A Panorama Virtual Summit for Student Success

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On Tuesday, February 15th, join thousands of caring district leaders, educators, and researchers at Panorama’s free, one-day Virtual Summit!

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This looks rly confusing sry then again I’m dumb

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I like that you teach multiple strategies 

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I like that you teach multiple strategies 

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UwU