Mindset of the Month
Best Practices
Bulletin Boards
All teachers and students bring in a picture of themselves doing something they are passionate about (hiking, playing with friends, walking their dog, etc.) and put them on the wall for a large schoolwide display. Leave the display up all year in an area where everyone can see it.
Community Day
Teachers and staff get to showcase their passions while students rotate through passions they’re interested in learning more about. The showcase could include Ted talks, passion posters, tri-fold projects, etc. Then it is the students’ turn! They showcase their passions for their classmates and their parents. What a great way to show your authenticity and explore your interests!
Helpful Tips and Tricks
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- Click the Account Management tab in the top right-hand corner of the platform and choose the Leader Dashboard.
- Click on Add/ Manage Accounts or How To enroll new users, remove current users, or reinvite someone to your group.
Platform News
Empowering Educators Adult SEL
We are excited to release the first course in our new Adult SEL series! Launching in late October, the “Building Your SEL Competencies” course will allow individuals to begin a self-paced journey into the exploration of ten SEL Core Competencies (including the five CASEL competencies and five competencies for 7 Mindsets growth and development).
These lessons are specifically developed for educators and staff who want to strengthen their social-emotional skills by learning more about themselves and developing strategies for personal practice. The ten lesson topics include:
- Growth Mindset – Leading and Growing Through Life
- Self-Awareness – Self-Confident and Taking Care of Yourself
- Self-Management – Balanced and Self-Directed
- Resilience – Competent, Connected, and In-Control
- Social Awareness – Relationships and Community Building
- Responsible Decision Making – Prioritizing and Making Healthy Choices
- Relationship Skills – Cultivating Trust and Support
- Empathy – Compassionate and Caring
- Cultural Competence – Aware and Included
- Hope – Finding Joy and Beauty
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Spotlight on Success
This month’s success story is from Courtney Roberts, Character Education teacher at Franklin Academy in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
Since 2014, our K-12 NC public charter school has been delivering the 7 Mindsets curriculum to our students. When looking for an SEL program, we were excited to see how 7 Mindsets aligned to our school’s “Luddy Outcomes,” 15 outcomes created by Robert Luddy, our school founder, to help our students succeed in life.
Once we received the 7 Mindsets curriculum, we wanted to have a way to introduce all the mindsets to our K-5 students—in a way that would help students remember all seven. One Friday afternoon, I wrote down the mindsets and gave them to one of our talented teachers, Laura Funk, who is known for incorporating music with learning. In just a few hours, she sent me a rough draft of the “7 Mindsets Song.” We asked our music teacher, Kasie Ryan, to assist with directing a video and we enlisted student volunteers in grades 3, 4, and 5 to sing. The students did an amazing job, and making the video allowed us to teach the song to more students!
Students were asked to sing the 7 Mindsets song at one of our morning assemblies. Each quarter we assign different homeroom classes to act out, perform, or sing a part of each mindset, whichever one we are learning about that month. I have also learned to play the mindset song on my ukulele and sometimes sing with students during class visits.
Music is an awesome way to remember all 7 mindsets and for students to recognize each mindset and how it can transform their lives. “If they know the mindsets, they can grow in their way of thinking.”
SEL Resources
- Using SEL to Counter School and Community Violence – Learn how SEL can help reduce violence and positively impact students, adults, and others in school communities. View recording!