Teaching Kind
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“Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created and recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror.” –
Rudine Sims Bishop

Lost At School, by Dr. Ross Greene

11/18/2017

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Kids Do Well If They Can! It is really that simple. This message is shifting the thinking and mindset of the staff at my school. We are becoming better problem solvers because of it as we continue our study of this book. I've already learned so much from the conversations. Check out our Padlet to see insights and questions!

Who is Dr. Ross Greene?

Ross W. Greene is an associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the author of The Explosive Child. He is also the founding director of the Collaborative Problem Solving Institute, a program based in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. Greene’s research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the Stanley Medical Research Institute. 

View his website for resources and more information.




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Solo by Kwame Alexander

9/13/2017

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This was an absolute beautiful, lyrical read. I finished wanting to know more about the village of Konko, what happened with Joy and Blade, and if Chapel redeemed herself. And what about Storm? While she was a supporting character, she had a story to tell too. Maybe we can hope for a "Duet" next?

For young adult readers out there, especially those who are musically inclined, you'll want to grab this and go! I was inspired to create a Spotify playlist based on the mixtape Storm left Blade. Click here to listen! I'll be thinking about some of those verses for a while. This quote the most:

​"Why do we need mirrors when we can se the reflection of our goodness in the way others react to us? Look at the mirrors in your friends' eyes. That's all anyone ever needs. To see beauty and reflection in others. Those are real mirrors."
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Mr. Browne's Precepts

8/30/2017

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These precepts come from RJ Palacio's incredible novel Wonder, published in 2012. One of August's teachers taught a precept each month. I am doing the same in my classroom, starting with September:
SEPTEMBER
“When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”  —Dr. Wayne Dyer
OCTOBER
“Your deeds are your monuments.”—Inscription on an Egyptian tomb
NOVEMBER
“Have no friends not equal to yourself." —Confucious
DECEMBER
"Fortune favors the bold." --Virgil
JANUARY
"No man is an island, entire of itself." —John Donne
FEBRUARY
"It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers." —James Thurber
MARCH
"Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much." —Blaise Pascal
APRIL
"What is beautiful is good, and who is good will soon be beautiful." —Sappho
MAY
"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can." —John Wesley’s Rule
JUNE
"Just follow the day and reach for the sun!" —The Polyphonic Spree

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The Curious Classroom

8/11/2017

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Kids of Appetite (KOA)

8/3/2017

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"They lived, and they laughed, and they saw that it was good."
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This was such a wonderful story of strength and courage between the most interesting of friends. The characters were so engaging. I highly recommend this book for teens and young adults. There were so many beautiful moments. I especially felt connected to this story because of the theme of loss, specifically of a parent. The ending was absolutely perfect- not too contrived or predictable.  It also showed me a sliver of what horrors children and families experiencing the civil war in the Republic of Congo faced, and how refugees struggled to survive.

​This moment when Baz remembers something his mother taught him was incredible; she remained kind and giving even when she herself had lost almost everything. This lesson Baz carried with him, which influenced the character he wanted to be, and is.
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Favorite Quotes:
"We are all part of the same story, Baz, each of us different chapters. We may not have the power to choose setting or plot, but we can choose what type of character we want to be."
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UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World

8/3/2017

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​This was an amazing, practical, and insightful resource containing a wealth of research-based information on how to raise an empathetic child. Here are some of my most notable takeaways:
  1. We must help children develop a sense of moral identity and build up their moral courage.
  2. ​"Books can be portals to understanding other worlds and other views, to helping our children be more open to differences and cultivate new perspectives.” Use them to increase your child's/students' social-hub.
  3. Create sacred unplugged times for the entire family! Increase your face-to-face communication.
  4. “Depositing prosocial images in our children's identity banks so they can define themselves as caring, responsible people who value other people’s thoughts and feelings is the basis of moral identity.”
  5. To combat peer pressure, use the acronym REFUSE:
  • R- review who you are
  • E- express your belief
  • F- firm voice
  • U- use strong posture
  • S- say no and don’t give in
  • E- exit​
Purchase the book via Amazon
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    Author

    Chelsea Freedman

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