This quote from Yang stuck out to me because I had an experience with a student that I actually did take into consideration his mood and inclination to learn. It was during our centers time and I had a parent volunteer in the classroom. This is my small group instruction time so my focus is mainly on my small group while also periodically scanning the room to make sure other students are on task. The parent volunteer had come up to me saying that this particular student was not listening and just lying on the floor unwilling to do his work. This instance happened well into the school year, so the student knew his expectations. I decided to pull him back and have a chat with him. I started off our conversation just by asking him a question. I said, “what’s going on buddy? What is causing you to want to lay down instead of doing the fun word work center that you are so amazing at?” I felt like putting himself in a positive light first would get a better response from him in the long run. He then went on to tell me that he was really really tired and that he has a really hard time falling asleep at night. This student does also have a history of being late to school, which is absolutely out of his control as a first grader, so I feel as if his mornings seem to be a little rushed. Instead of just looking at the behavior in front of me, I decided to go deeper with this student and was able to understand that outside factors were affecting school. I gave him some tools to try to help him fall asleep better, told him sometimes we need little snack breaks to wake up our brain so he could take those, and I touched base with home just so they could be aware he was feeling a little bit more tired. Ever since that conversation and listening to the students mood and feelings, the behavior has not been an issue again.

This quote really stood out to me because it is similar to a technique I have tried to do in my own classroom this year. I learned this technique from my teammate and it really stuck with me. When students are upset, mad, or frustrated and demonstrate actions that show those emotions, I have started to use a language that will hopefully let the student know that their feelings are valid. For example, if a student is frustrated with another student and decides to kick them, something I like to say is, “you are allowed to feel frustrated with other people, but you are not allowed to use unsafe body language”. When I read the above quote, I liked her words better. I like how she asks the student how we could deal with it differently. When we teach our students SEL we are challenging them to think about their emotions and how to productively respond to them. My verbiage has me doing all the work without working through the problem with the student. It does not provide them with the type of problem solving I am aiming for. I want to start asking the student how to deal with it differently so they are gaining more SEL knowledge.  

This quote comes from the Habits, Community, and Culture video. The video showcases a school that provides students a foundation to build their emotional intelligence by engaging their community. The goal is to build the whole student. They want to see their students build on their success and their community all while building themselves as well. After watching the video, it truly does seem like a space for opportunity. This really stood out to me because I feel like they have an amazing space where students feel comfortable sharing about their experiences and learning how to work through those feelings. It is a space where they can go to feel heard and listened to. I have learned that sometimes students just need someone who will listen, they don’t always need a solution. They need a community to help lift them up. I noticed there were breathing practices that happened in this video as well as times where they would sit in a circle and talk about things. This quote really speaks to me because I want to create a space for opportunity for every student that walks through our school's front door. I want to be that teacher.