SEL Snapshots

The 1st and 2nd grade students are embarking on an exciting Social Emotional Learning (SEL) unit.  Learning the skills and concepts of good character education often requires direct instruction. Their SEL unit, CHARACTER QUEST is an excellent opportunity for the 1st and 2nd grade students to focus on appropriate values and behaviors in an imaginative and challenging simulation.  The students will take a fun-filled simulated bus journey through an imaginary country called Goodland. As the students travel the Character Causeway, they make stops at Trustworthy Town, Respectville, Responsibility City, Carington, and Citizenship Junction. They learn the essentials of good character and are given the opportunity to apply their knowledge in varied and thought-provoking activities.

After the wonderful Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at SAA, the 5th grade students talked about "greatness" and what it takes to be truly great.  During advisory, they talked about the characteristics that make someone a great person, recognizing that each and every one of us has the potential for greatness by living a life of kindness, compassion and integrity.  They discussed the following quotes in relation to "greatness":

1. Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life. -Steve Jobs
2. Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. -Albert Einstein
3. You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.  -Christopher Columbus
4. Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. -Henry Ford
5. When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. -Henry Ford

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