by Charlie Merrow | Jun 15, 2021 | Blog, Social-emotional Learning
The Importance of Active Listening Skills for Kids Active listing skills need to be explicitly taught to kids, contrary to popular belief. We seem to think that active listening is a simple endeavor. How often have you spoken the phrase, "I just want you to listen!"...
by Charlie Merrow | May 24, 2021 | Blog, Mindfulness in the Classroom
Notes from the Field: A Silent Lesson in Mindfulness from High Tech Elementary Empowering Education recently observed a lesson in mindful silence at High Tech Elementary School in Denver Public Schools. What we loved about this particular mindfulness lesson was...
by Charlie Merrow | Mar 1, 2021 | Blog, Social-emotional Learning
The Need for Dual Language Resources in Schools Over ten percent of students in the US are English Language Learners (ELL). ELLs are students who come from non-English speaking homes and who are learning English as an additional language. Out of this ten percent, the...
by Charlie Merrow | Jan 27, 2021 | Blog, Mindfulness in the Classroom
How I Brought Mindfulness into My Special Education Class For several years, I worked as a special education teacher with students with autism syndrome disorder. The first year was challenging to say the least. There were chairs thrown daily, bite marks, spit stains,...
by Charlie Merrow | Dec 14, 2020 | Social-emotional Learning
The Band-Aid Lesson: Explaining Fair Versus Equal A typical refrain in elementary school classrooms is, “That’s not fair!” Whether in response to sharing materials, games at recess, or how much time a teacher spends with each student, students’ attachment to fairness...