Just finished a book called Unselfie by Michele Borba. A great read for educators but also a great read for parents. Her focus is on providing our children with opportunities to develop Empathy. The good news is that we are working towards that goal already at LES. Many of the practices outlined in the book are part of our practices including calling attention to positive behaviors, repairing feelings when we hurt others, reading books that model kind deeds and this year we even had a Week of Kindness to call out what we can do and what we are doing to show kindness to each other. The picture below was our culminating activity from the Week of Kindness. As 21st century educators, we have adopted teaching "soft" skills like effective communication and collaboration since our students are expected to do this, not only as part of their daily life, but as part of their work lives as they leave school.
