Laura is a former school psychologist passionately trying to bring social-emotional learning to every student at every tier. Click here for hands-on resources for the classroom and counseling.
By Laura Driscoll | Social Emotional Skills
Setting goals with elementary students is a perfect way to motivate students and build this key skill from a young age. I have found that books are a great medium to begin to explore goals and what it takes to achieve them. I choose six of my favorites that span K-5. There are affiliate links included […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Behavior , Social Emotional Skills
Brain breaks are short, simple activities that teachers can do during transitions, when their class is not 100% present, and as a regular part of the schedule. Throughout a school day, there are a lot of demands on students to stay in control of their behavior, complete their work, focus on instruction, and participate. That’s […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Group Counseling , Social Emotional Skills
When I asked school counselors and psychologists about what they include in their counseling sessions, a feelings check in was by far the most popular answer. This past year, a special education teacher posted a Mental Health Check In she did with her students and it went viral. We all know how important it is […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Social Emotional Skills
A great way to incorporate social emotional learning into your classroom is through children’s books. Read alouds are a regular routine in your classroom and so many books highlight social-emotional themes. One SEL standard focuses on a student recognizing their own personal qualities. The following seven children’s books on being yourself are the perfect way […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Behavior , Social Emotional Skills
To me, a calm classroom doesn’t have to mean a quiet one. It means a classroom where students are taught and practice being in charge of their feelings and behaviors. This can be through calm corners, guided breaks to reset, steps to resolve peer conflicts, flexible seating, or lessons to help students find their preferred […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Group Counseling , Individual Counseling
Individual counseling with kindergarteners is anything but simple. They may not be able to understand some concepts, have limited vocabulary and experiences, and are still developing self-regulation skills. Plus, if they are coming to counseling, they are most likely missing some key skills that their peers have. Oh, and you are probably doing this at […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Social Emotional Skills , Teacher Consultation
Learning often happens when we are focused on progress (over product) and we are willing to take risks. So often in our classrooms, students are nervous to make mistakes and are focused on being right. How do we intentionally create a classroom and school community that is supportive? The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders found […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Social Emotional Skills
Children’s picture books are the perfect way to introduce different social emotional skills. One of the first social emotional learning standards is teaching students to identify feelings. These four books are my favorite for showing students that we all have a range of feelings and all feelings are okay.There are affiliate links in this post. […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Group Counseling , Social Emotional Skills
I’m serious. For three years, I sent every student in my K-5 elementary school a group counseling permission slip. Hold your hats. I (and the school counselor) saw the 90% of students that returned a permission slip. You might be asking how we did this. You definitely might be asking why did we do this. You […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Group Counseling , Individual Counseling
How do you end individual counseling services with a student? Termination is an important event in counseling and it might be one that we shortchange a bit. Totally get it. The student is ready, they met their goals. BUT, we have an opportunity in that last session to make counseling progress last. Students need to exit […]
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