Mindful Monday: Tremendous Power

With our Family Night: Mindfulness & More happening tonight, needless to say, I have SEL on the brain. I am beyond thrilled to share my passion with our BCE community tonight. While I understand I'm biased towards the importance and impact SEL can have, our profession places us directly in the middle of shaping the future of our human race. Quite literally, the impact we leave on our students, the way we influence them, and how we help them develop has a direct correlation to how our communities succeed. 

While we are absolutely in the business to help our students flourish academically, it serves little good if they can't learn to function as human beings. Being able to regulate their emotions, learning to cooperate with others, being responsible for their actions, pushing through when things get hard, and how to process their feelings is all a part of 'How to Be a Human 101'. And these skills must, too, be taught and practiced, just like learning to ride a bike, read or do multiplication. 

While families are, of course, the most impactful people in a child's life, teachers run a very close second. We hold a tremendous influence with our students. We model what's acceptable. We show how to give grace. We lead by example when it comes to being vulnerable. And my favorite, we shine a light on the greatness that lies within them. We often believe in them, before they believe in themselves. 

Tonight, I hope that our families leave empowered with a few more 'tools' in their toolbelt. Even after all these centuries of raising children, there has yet to be a handbook written. So at the very least, I want our families to know they are not alone, and together, we will help our students thrive.