Catherine Waters

When it comes to the futures of young learners, Building Connections Webinar is the one to watch. This specific webinar discusses how SEL helps students develop skills they need to be successful outside of school. They learn a magnitude of skills that might not have even been on the minds of teachers before they make their way up through school. With SEL these lessons can help develop many aspects of the young minds when it comes to the social and emotion aspects of the real world (one thing I wish was really touched).
Two ahahs I gained from this specific webinar were:
1. How SEL can help build resilience and help overcome challenges. I don't think I would have personally connected socail and emotional learning to those two things in particular but that has me opening my eyes a lot more.
2. Helping manage emotions. This was big thing discussed throughout many of the webinar "episodes" that I watched and I realized that I will need to make sure I have a safe space for my students to have those big feeling moments where themselves and their peers feel safe to discuss what is going on.

While watching the webinar about Service Learning in the Building Connections Series, I was able to gain some knowledge that I will take with me throughout the rest of my career. When it comes to service learning the video provided me the insight in which how you can incorporate these lessons within your class. With the speakers discussing how to incorporate these ideas, they also discuss why it is important to evaluate these service learning projects as well.
Two ahahs I gained from this webinar were:
1. Involving the students in the process of planning these service learning lessons/projects. Their input is something I would use to make sure they are all fully interested in what we would be learning about so everyone is staying focused and learning something they wanted to.
2. The idea of providing reflection opportunities also caught my eye, because at first I wouldn't think that they younger aged kids would want to see what they could do better or see if there was something they would want to try differently if they had the opportunity, but I realized that their reflections can also be a way for them to expressed how they felt about the lesson/project/activity.

The Building Connections Webinar about the American Rescue Plan Act, was able to provide me with some information I feel that it was a necessity to know before having your own personal classroom. I found out how this specific act helps districts when it comes to funding and addressing those issues that districts don't publicize.
Two things that I found as an ahah would consist of:
1. How the ARPA provides professional development for teachers on SEL. I feel like thinks is a big thing because it keeps teacher up to date on the information and studies belonging with SEL.
2. ARPA helps purchase SEL curricula and materials needed. I feel like this is important because it helps cut costs out of teachers pockets and school budgets that are already stretched thin in some cases.

When it come to discussing SEL and Sustainability, I highly recommend the webinar series Building Connections. In the segment that discusses the sustainability elements in which made SEL work in many districts, I was able to gain more about what districts need when it comes to crisis (climate issues, cultural issues, suspension issues, etc.). This section allows me to look into new ways in which can benefit these districts and how I can include these sustainability ideas within my own district in the future.
Two main ahahs that I found when it came to this webinar was:
1. How professional development can help inform teachers and staff when it comes to the development of SEL strategies and other useful information.
2. How the implementation of SEL lessons has helped drastically.

When watching the Webinar Series Building Connections, I was able to gain a good amount of knowledge when it comes to Social Emotional Learning + Teacher Well-being. This specific webinar discusses social and emotional learning (SEL) and teacher well-being, bringing up how SEL is important for both the students and teachers. This webinar goes into detail about the challenges teachers face when it comes to burnout and demoralization. The speakers bring up different strategies in which help when creating a culture of wellness in school, not only for the students but the teachers as well.
When it came to looking into some of the things that might catch my attention, I found that I was drawn to:
1. How SEL also plays a major role when it comes to teacher well-being. I think I only thought it only relayed to students because I never got to see teachers use a break for themselves, usually they used their breaks to make sure the students were understanding and even they were planning their future lessons for just in case situations.
2. I don't think I ever realized how bad it gets when the teachers aren't getting heard. I think we need to look into how SEL can play a big part in administrators being able to understand how teachers feel and see things from their perspectives. I know that teaching can and will be a hard profession especially with the burnout rate on the rise, but being able to listen to what teachers need when it comes to support may help play a big part in teachers choosing to stay and those rates decreasing.