Jennifer Miller talks with Tricia Friedman with the Shifting Schools Podcast about the research underpinning the book “Confident Parents, Confident Kids: Raising Emotional Intelligence In Ourselves And Our Kids–from Toddlers To Teenagers.” We discuss:

• what confidence is and what it’s not (and how that relates to promoting children’s success);
• emotional contagion and what we can do to proactively set a tone in a household or in a classroom;
• what to do about adults (teachers, parents) feeling and dealing with stress and anxiety while with children;
• the fact that numerous educators are aware of and are using social and emotional learning strategies in the classroom but parents have no experience with intentional social and emotional skill building from their own upbringing so what’s the information gap and is there a need to up-skill?
• what we can say to skeptical parents who question whether social and emotional learning takes away from academics.

Listen to the interview on Apple Podcast: https://www.shiftingschools.com/podcasts

Thanks Tricia for all of the classroom experience and knowledge you brought to our discussion!

And speaking of teachers…

Happy World Teacher’s Day!

We know that teachers enter the profession from a place of purpose, service and contribution. And it takes a whole mind, heart and spirit to be able to create authentic learning experiences each day. Though time with students can be life-giving, they can also be heartbreaking when our students are experiencing trauma and we feel helpless to change their circumstances or to really reach them. We cannot overstate the critical role of teachers for the children and teens we love dearly and for the future of our world. Teaching can be a pivotal force for positive change.

We are so grateful for those teachers who bring their whole selves to the education of the hearts, minds and spirits of our youth.

From one of our favorite educational philosophers, Parker Palmer, check out these incredible quotes:

“The highest form of love is the love that allows for intimacy without the annihilation of difference.” 
― Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life

“If we want to grow as teachers — we must do something alien to academic culture: we must talk to each other about our inner lives — risky stuff in a profession that fears the personal and seeks safety in the technical, the distant, the abstract.” 
― Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life

“Teaching holds a mirror to the soul. If I am willing to look in that mirror and not run from what I see I have a chance to gain self knowledge and knowing myself is as crucial to good teaching as knowing my students and my subject. In fact, knowing my students and my subject depends heavily on self knowledge.” 
― Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life

“The courage to teach is the courage to keep one’s heart open in those very moments when the heart is asked to hold more than it is able so that teacher and students and subjects can be woven into the community that learning, and living, require.” 
― Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life

Happy World Teacher’s Day!