If you've noticed that the standard responses of many teachers and parents to the strong-willed and neurodivergent kids in their care only creates more problems - for everyone, then you really want to tune into this conversation with Kirk Martin. Kirk is a master at providing deeply effective and easily implemented strategies that actually make life better for everyone - - - in the classroom and at home. I can confidently assure you that this conversation will exceed your highest expectations fo...
Oct 01, 2024•44 min•Season 2Ep. 117
Welcome again to the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning podcast, even though this upcoming conversation, in defense of SEL, is one I would never have predicted needing to be shared… but , and you don’t need me to tell you: these are wild times, in which just about any topic, especially around education, can ignite extreme and heated reactions. So troubling! …and so I reached out, again , to Elizabeth Peterson, a teacher with many years experience, who lights up with energetic joy and apprecia...
Jan 27, 2024•53 min•Ep. 116
We see so much division, and it's terrifying some of us. People trying to change others opinions is not doing much more than splitting us further apart, because (research has proven, beyond a doubt) people will ground into their own opinions, their own biases, their own perspectives when they experience differences of opinions and ideas. What to do? Give children, starting at an earlier age, thinking skills, unbiased analysis skills and critical thinking skills. Critical doesn't mean criticizing...
Nov 14, 2023•10 min
In this episode of the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning Podcast, I share conversation with Elizabeth Peterson, a 3rd grade teacher in the state of New Hampshire. Our conversation started with Elizabeth’s deeply considered definition of a term with which we’re all familiar: whole child. I wanted to learn her personal perspective, because I feel that how we, as educators, define this term has an impact on how we relate to our students. See if your definition aligns with hers… Other topics we ...
Jun 01, 2023•46 min
You know how sometimes you learn about something you didn’t have even a clue about the fact that you were completely unaware of what you didn’t know? That’s what happened to me in the following conversation with Sherri Fickensher who is an Education Support Specialist, serving deaf and hard of hearing students at Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech for more than 20 years. Hearing is a sense most of us take for granted. In this conversation I learned about the multitude of ways that not hearing...
Mar 20, 2023•1 hr 31 min
Peter Vermeulen, Ph.D., doesn't feel there's much value in ‘defining’ people on the #autism #spectrum by describing their difficulties around social interaction, communication, patterns of behavior, etc., etc. - because he sees all those elements as # consequences of having brains that work in #autistic ways . Conversely , he's written that autism can only be defined in terms of perception and cognition …and only in the context of how an autistic brain experiences the world. JUST THAT, RIGHT THE...
Dec 05, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Instagram link to the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning Podcast Here’s a link to a Bill’s book : The Self-Driven Child , showing the Table of Contents to give you a quick overview of the book’s value. Here’s a link to a quick YouTube video that explains the difference between Fixed Mindset and Growth Mindset … and here’s another way to understand MINDSETS , and some fascinating brain science around learning, according to Carol Dweck’s highly respected research. The PERMA Model: Your Scientif...
Nov 18, 2022•1 hr 24 min
Communication is a major component of children’s social and emotional learning and development… but some children experience persistent challenges with one or more elements that are necessary for successful verbal communication… and then they can spiral into frustration, or negative self-image, or retreat into various forms of social isolation... so I know this conversation will be valuable for learning some of the many, many ways in which Speech and Language Therapists can help alleviate, or at...
Nov 13, 2022•1 hr 33 min
Too few parents and teachers are having actual back-and-forth conversations with young kids… conversation that last for awhile, that have a progression, that build on exchanged ideas… What a wasted opportunity if ever there was one… in terms of bonding, building trust, and because the brain development that can happen when back-and-forth conversations do happen can make all the difference in children’s overall well being, including, most definitely, the social emotional sides of their life’s wel...
Nov 06, 2022•18 min
https://monicawesolowska.com/leo-lea Author, Editor, Speaker, Teacher Leo + Lea, illustrated by Kenard Pak (Scholastic, August 2022) Elbert in the Air, illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey (Dial, February 2023) Holding Silvan: A Brief Life (Hawthorne, named a "Best Book" of 2013) So… just a quick reminder to check out Monica’s website for more info and a resource or 2 that will help you to extend students’ learning around LEO and LEA’s perspectives. Also, I’ve included a link to learn more about Jo Bo...
Oct 30, 2022•58 min
Connect with me on Instagram - on the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning Podcast page: https://www.instagram.com/nini.white/ SEL is about the human and humane sides of all our actions and interactions… and since “different” people ARE treated differently in the world, on the street, in the classroom, on playgrounds… differences must be acknowledged. Have you heard that expression ‘oppression with a hug? For me, that implies a form of oppression or supremacy by way of pretending, or denial, or...
Oct 20, 2022•17 min
Please join our Big Picture Social Emotional Learning Facebook group. Working and living with young children is never without challenges… most of us were mostly aware of that fact when we jumped into teaching and/or when we became parents. The thing is: there are challenges and then there are CHALLENGES. Some challenges that the young ones in our lives present, even though uncomfortable to deal with, we know we CAN deal with them, because we have instinctive and external resources we know we can...
Oct 12, 2022•42 min
Homeschooling has really come up in the world thanks, in no small part, to the pandemic we all just lived through. In this episode we get to learn from 3 parents who share heartfelt insights that have led to, literally, expanding and deepening their definitions of parenthood, family life, and even how they perceive the role of education for kids, and for ourselves. Of course we got into one of the main issues people raise around homeschooling: socialization / social-emotional learning… We explor...
Oct 07, 2022•1 hr 26 min
“If children are to keep alive their inborn sense of wonder, they need the companionship of at least one adult who can share in their sense of wonder, by re discovering with them the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in." ~ Rachel Carson Maggie O’Reilly is an Occupational Therapist (OT) who uses a strengths-based approach, along with evidenced based interventions and curriculums, to enhance young children’s skills and confidence in the great outdoors, including their social, emot...
Oct 01, 2022•1 hr 3 min
We hear a lot in educational circles about preparing today’s youth for the future, most often in terms of increasing academic scores and achievements, but Destination Imagination casts an even wider net, by inspiring and equipping Kindergartners - 12th graders to imagine, innovate and collaboratively problem solve, with peers, while focusing on STEAM challenges. Some of the Social Emotional values that naturally develop for kids when they participate in Destination Imagination challenges include...
Sep 11, 2022•1 hr 16 min
First thing: Please accept Holly's invitation to ask questions (and share stories, too). You can post your questions by connecting with us on the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning Podcast FACEBOOK PAGE . Here's the marvelous (short YouTube) link of Sir Ken Robinson describing a young girl who barely escaped a terrible life by being misdiagnosed. Definitely worth watching! Here is a partial list links for the thought leaders in the field of ADHD research and services mentioned by Holly: Thoma...
Sep 02, 2022•1 hr 28 min
Afrika Afeni Mills is an Education Consultant and the author of Open Windows, Open Minds: Developing Antiracist, Pro-Human Students . Afrika is all about helping teachers, coaches and administrators develop and sustain student-centered learning experiences that are diverse, that are inclusive, and that are equitable. Afrika is brilliant at providing the essential support that enables, empowers really, educators to become dynamic practitioners and leaders who can trust themselves to create fun, r...
Aug 08, 2022•57 min
One of my mentors emphasizes beginning with the end in mind… and very clearly that is one point of focus for Mike Kaechele, who is convinced that we don’t need to prepare students for “someday,” but that they should take on meaningful work right now… no matter their age. Mike is a teacher with over 20 years experience, and he’s an author. Mike is also a consultant who helps educators across the country shift towards student-centered inquiry, through workshops that combine Project Based Learning ...
Jul 29, 2022•37 min
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is as wide-reaching as any subject matter that we can be incorporating into our students' education and development. The way to experience most success at our efforts to nurture kids' SEL is to give careful attention to maintaining a healthy balance between the 2 root definitions of "EDUCATION." Teachers need courage and creativity to go beyond the norm to facilitate the active engagement of children's innate wisdom, intelligence, problem-solving skills, built-in ...
Jul 23, 2022•8 min
Everyone, even (and maybe especially) little ones, feel when they're respected (and when they're not). This episode is a quick look at the deeper elements of, as well as the long term impacts of early exposure to, respect . If you would like to receive the PDF of a cool poster inspired by today's topic, please send a quick note to me and ask for it: niniwhite@icloud.com Thank you.
Jul 18, 2022•16 min
Angela Dalton lives in Oakland, California, has a background in producing online kids’ games, and is a published children’s book author Angela’s books center Black children as main characters in ways she wishes she had seen when she was growing up… which is another reason I loved sharing conversation with this woman: she had a frustrating, unsatisfying, unfulfilled area of her life, and rather than complaining about that deficit, Angela has been developing constructive countermeasures for today’...
Jul 03, 2022•1 hr
Brian Silveira and Nadia Jaboneta are Pedagogical Leaders at Pacific Primary Preschool in San Francisco, California. They each bring about 25 years experience as Early Childhood Educators, and clearly that combination of 50 years teaching experience has only deepened their commitment to providing relevant and alive education for their young students. Their bios, below, are extensive and impressive, and I hope you’ll check them out. I invited Nadia and Brian into this conversation because they we...
Jun 23, 2022•46 min
In this episode of the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning Podcast you’ll be introduced to Dave Fromer, and his multi-awarding winning album that teachers and parents love, thankfully… because young kids love listening to Dave’s song’s over and over and over again. Do you use songs to help improve and manage transitions during the day? Songs that young kids enjoy can serve as wonderfully helpful tools to help them transition from one task to the next… How? Well, once they’ve learned a song and...
Jun 15, 2022•16 min
How we see the kids in our care, (whether they’re in our classroom, our Afterschool facility or our home), how we see them… determines how much they can grow and develop as a result of our influence. Kahlil Gibran quote: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thought...
May 25, 2022•13 min•Season 2Ep. 94
This is a quick update on why episodes have been so sporadic for the last couple of years and, more importantly, why this is a whole new season for solutions-oriented episodes around all things social emotional learning (SEL). This season we'll be incorporating, amongst many other relevant SEL topics, the important work of equity and inclusion that is top of mind for educators, caregivers and parents. As always, your feedback, questions, concerns, and suggestions matter for everything we're brin...
May 15, 2022•3 min•Ep. 93
Educators need SEL development, too. Maybe even more than students, because when educators have age-appropriate SEL development and skills, they are empowered to bring more of their best selves into every day's interactions with students and peers... and isn't that a BIG part of what it's really all about?!!!!! Listen to this important conversation to discover no-cost opportunities for ECE's to gain the knowledge, training and experience for enriching their practice, their careers and their live...
Feb 19, 2022•56 min
In today’s episode, I share conversation with David Adams, CEO of Urban Assembly, and definitely a BIG PICTURE kind of educator. In this conversation, David explains the how’s and why’s of Urban Assembly’s approach to building schools’ cultures, which are 100% centered on developing students’ social emotional competencies for success in school, and for success in their future careers, and for success in their personal lives’ moving forward . In other words, everything is connected, and Urban Ass...
Jan 10, 2022•57 min•Ep. 91
We hear a lot about ‘returning to normal’ these days, especially in response to Covid. To me, the term ‘normal' has become a marginally meaningless cliché, so I was intensely intrigued when I came across a blog post by Sugata Mitra in which he comments on a legitimate concept of ‘normal’ for these times… especially in direct relationship to the education of our children and students. If you’ve been listening to this, the BIG PICTURE SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING podcast for awhile, you appreciate th...
Sep 23, 2021•1 hr 4 min
There is so much we white educators need to understand that we do not currently understand or even see. But we can can see and understand more, so that we succeed more meaningfully with our students of color. Of course that involves becoming aware of our blindspots. Rachelle and I also talked about many teachers’ sense that we need full time control in our learning environments… but do we really? COVID and distance learning taught us a LOT about that. In this rich and rewarding conversation, Rac...
Aug 26, 2021•1 hr 11 min
scientists have been studying crying, and they’ve divided the tears that come from crying into three distinct categories: reflex tears, continuous tears, and emotional tears. The first of those two categories - reflex tears - perform the important function of removing irritants, such as smoke and dust from our eyes. The 2nd of those 2 categories, continuous tears, serve to lubricate our eyes, which protects them from infection and from that awful dry eye feeling. The content of those 2 categorie...
Aug 17, 2021•8 min
