As I prepare to write something for this discussion post, I was going through the guide questions and was contemplating on which I would like to focus my thoughts on. I always prefer to contribute with our weekly discussions coming from a topic or content that I can currently relate to. It’s been 2 weeks since we have resumed this school year’s in-person instruction. My 5-year-old kindergarten students came from different backgrounds, some had PreK or preschool experience, a few were enrolled but virtually, and a couple has never been enrolled in any type of school setting. It has been, and it still is taking all of us a significant time to adjust and get into our routine. I am also new to this grade level, to this program. This is my first year to teach kindergarten in a general education setting. All my 16 years in the school, I was doing self-contained special education. So, add me to the couple few students who have zero experience. With baseline and beginning of the year assessments, most of my students are demonstrating the expected frustration of “I can’t do it” or “I don’t know.” Some kept trying, but some turned their frustration to hopelessness and gave up. The “I can’t do it” feeling turned to “I don’t want to do it” attitude. This is what I was trying to avoid. This is not the ideal scenario, but this is the reality. Feeling inadequate, or not good enough, or lacking the skills to do a specific task can ruin someone’s day, or worse, can damage the individual permanently.
So how do I explain to these very young learners the power of the word “YET?” How can I let them understand that we are all capable of learning, and that we can get better…in TIME. With every SEL (Social-Emotional Learning) lesson, I use different approaches, discussions, social stories, or videos. The most effective so far is when I speak from personal experience. I share how I still struggle to learn new skills at my age, as simple as riding a bike that I am currently learning to do. I showed some of my videos, falling and stumbling, then falling again. I asked them what they observed that I keep doing every time I fall. I kept getting up and kept trying, even if it means that I will fall again. I even showed some of my cuts and bruises, and they were in awe. This definitely somehow changed their feeling
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