Formando Vidas SEL

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OK EIGO: 3 Reasons for OK Residents to Consider a Donation

We love providing hope through My Best Me all over the country, but we can’t forget our home in Oklahoma. So, to help improve educational opportunities for public schools in our home state, we want to tell you about the Forming Lives OK EIGO and how you can help.

Invest in Our Schools

You are directly investing in Oklahoma public schools to help them create a superior learning environment for their students by donating. With more resources, teachers can help students achieve higher academic performance and gain better educational outcomes. OK EIGO’s board of directors genuinely care for the young people of OK. Each of them is known for being community leaders who provide college and career readiness opportunities for graduating seniors, as well as mentoring young OK business owners. With your donation, you help them impact the lives of 694,116 students in the state across the 1,700 schools they contribute towards. They ensure your money goes directly to where it will benefit most.

Spread Hope

If you’re familiar with My Best Me and our dedication to spreading Hope, you know how impactful mental health and overall well-being are to our students and classrooms. By donating to OK EIGO, you spread Hope. The OK EIGO program allows the My Best Me curriculum to enter more central and rural public schools in Oklahoma and bring crucial social-emotional learning skills to students and teachers. This improves the quality of life for students, significantly enhancing their educational outcomes and improving their post-graduation opportunities.

Earn Tax Credit

Your donation gives Oklahoma residents tax credit in the state of Oklahoma. Whether a business, an individual, or a couple, Oklahoma residents can earn income tax credit to reduce their overall taxes through a donation. Individuals can earn up to $2,000 in tax credit, and businesses can earn up to $100,000. In addition, OK EIGO offers one-time donations and a yearly commitment option. Finally, as a nonprofit organization, a contribution to OK EIGO qualifies with the Internal Revenue Service as a charitable tax deduction.

We are thrilled to have an organization like OK EIGO help us spread hope in Oklahoma and are thankful for all those who donate. In January 2022, a new state statute will be in place, allowing more flexibility to which schools can receive funding so that OK EIGO can give more than ever before. If you’re an Oklahoma resident and are thinking about donating, head to their website https://okeigo.org/ and see how you can start changing lives today.

October 6, 2021
Building Self-Awareness in Students
Self-awareness is a critical emotional and logical skillset necessary in building a healthy functioning ego in all individuals. In the classroom environment, differing levels of self-awareness amongst students may aid or hinder their learning progress. Using the technique of social emotional learning (SEL), educators can support healthy emotional growth in students, thereby improving their academic performance and inner confidence.

Impact of Student Self-Awareness in Learning

The perceptive skill of self-awareness enables individuals to comprehend their inner thoughts and emotions and how these interact with their behaviors and choices. This skill translates into the ability to ‘think about thinking,’ a critical aspect of student competency in the classroom.

Self-awareness develops at different rates in children, being naturally influenced by their innate abilities, family and social environments. Limited self-awareness can affect relationships with classmates and teachers, getting in the way of positive learning. Focusing on lessons can be difficult for children full of physical energy, as well.

Self-awareness education methods enable students to meet these demands and are essential for social emotional learning (SEL).

The Importance of Self-Awareness Education

The impact of SEL in the classroom has been extensively researched, and the results found to be overwhelmingly positive. The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), an internationally recognized organization, has developed a competency model to develop SEL curriculums. The five components are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Training in SEL improves student’s emotional intelligence skills. In turn, this improves academic performance. In addition, making strong connections with classmates, peers, and teachers enhances mental and emotional resilience. These positive impacts carry through to adulthood. Clearly, self-awareness education is a vital component to focus on in developing SEL skills in students.

Methods for Developing Self-Awareness

Teachers can support children in developing better self-awareness through positive techniques that help them understand the link between their emotions and behaviors. Simple methods include:
- Encouraging students to keep emotion journals
- Developing age-appropriate case studies that can be played out in class, and
- Fostering student belief in their abilities with goal setting practices.
Goal setting, in particular, has proven to be a particularly effective technique. It creates feelings of hope and control, helping students stay motivated on the path to achieve education and life goals.

Hope Rising SEL’s Program: My Best Me

At Hope Rising, we base our SEL curriculum on the CASEL competencies, and we focus very strongly on the science of teaching hope as part of those competencies. We believe so strongly in the benefits of hope in driving student learning that we have developed the first Hope-Certified SEL curriculum, called My Best Me.

The primary steps to building hope in students are:
- Setting goals
- Identifying pathways
- Developing willpower
Please get in touch with a member of our sales team or explore our website for further information on our Hope-Certified SEL curriculum and the benefits for educators, teachers, and students alike.
September 29, 2021
Work/Life Balance as an Educator

“You don’t get harmony when everyone sings the same note.”
Doug Floyd

Harmony is beautiful because it includes many notes

Teachers, your day to day life is demanding! It’s time to take a look at how you can juggle all the balls of home life and school life without having them crash down on you.

But first, let’s establish the “why” – why is having this work/life balance so important?

There are many things that clamor for your attention from the time you get up in the morning to the time you lie down at night. How can you get it all done? This is where the balance is essential. You want to meet the needs of those around you, but need a plan to make it happen so that you down feel the burden.

A sense of harmony is just around the corner, but where do you start?

CREATE A SCHEDULE

Make a basic schedule to keep you on track. Of course, each day is different, but a basic plan gives the guideline. Decide how much time the day-to-day tasks require. Be sure and set a regular bedtime. Setting a bedtime for your own children helps them perform better at school. Likewise, setting a bedtime for yourself will make you more effective throughout your day. Late night grading papers without proper sleep will make you sluggish and unable to effectively meet all the demands coming your way the next day.

PRIORITIZE AND SET BOUNDARIES

Make a basic list outline of what is most important to you. For instance, family, health, classroom, outside meetings, etc. You give so much to your classroom children. Make sure they aren’t getting more of you than your own spouse or family at home. It’s okay to say no to some things; and if you have set the boundaries, you will keep the big picture at the forefront.

BACK AWAY WHEN NEEDED

You can’t do it all all the time. When you are feeling bogged down, back away from the chaos and look at the objective. You’ll find that there are things you can let go of without compromising the end goal.

Each of your students need you at your best. You wouldn’t think of investing $100,000 or more on building a house without having a plan. But your worth is far greater. Make a plan. This will take some effort in the beginning, but you’ll have a head start at getting to a place of experiencing harmony.

Hope Rising SEL brings hope to classrooms and students through the world’s first hope-certified social emotional learning curriculum, My Best Me.

September 22, 2021
Where do I Start with College Scholarship Applications?
Where do I Start with College Scholarship Applications?

There are many things to consider when seeking a scholarship to aid in college expenses. If the task seems too great, here are answers to a few questions to get you started.
1. When do I start? The best time to apply for scholarships is between your student’s junior and senior year. Begin your search and applications that summer if you can. Any earlier and you may not have enough GPA history. If you’ve already passed this window, don’t give up! There are many scholarships with other deadlines that might still apply to you.
2. Where should I apply? Don’t limit your scholarship applications to only private organizations. The federal government, individual schools, and many states offer scholarships as well. If your student has school preference(s), call that college’s financial aid department to find out about available scholarships. They can assist you in grants or other financial aid applications for that school.
3. How many scholarships should I apply for? Apply for as many as you can within the deadline requirements. Some awards may not have the same high dollar appeal as others; however, those smaller scholarship amounts add up and are often less competitive or go unnoticed. For example, the Federal Employee Education and Assistance fund (FEEA) offers more than 450 scholarships each year ranging from $250 to $7,500.
4. Where can I find scholarships to apply for? Here are a few scholarship search engines to use to find additional scholarship opportunities: com, Niche.com, and Scholarships.com.
5. What about the application? Don’t forget to carefully read over your application paying attention to instructions, questions and the deadline before filling it out. After completing it, proof the application checking for errors. Make sure you have understood and answered the questions as written. If an essay was required, proof that carefully, too! Asking a school counselor or another set of eyes to read it over is often a good idea. Don’t get your application thrown out on a technicality or careless typos and grammar mistakes. Also, send it in to be received well within the deadline.
Want to know some of the most important advice? Simply get the process started! Don’t wait, don’t hesitate. Start looking now for scholarship opportunities for you. Good luck with chipping away at the bursar bill!
August 26, 2021
Best Practices for Transitioning Back to School
Best Practices for Transitioning Back to School

You have had a fun-filled summer break, and now it’s time for your children to go back to school. All that fun probably meant:
- Staying up later in the evenings
- Extra ice cream, popsicles, and snacks
- Sleeping in most mornings to face a care-free unstructured day
There’s no guilt for a relaxed and memory making summer, but please extend grace when your students are having trouble transitioning back to a more regimented schedule.

Here are some tips for the transitions relating to sleep, nutrition and routines.

Sleep is of utmost importance for children to perform well and thrive in school. Studies have shown that children who get at least nine hours of sleep per night have a higher GPA than their fellow students who don’t get enough. Sleep rejuvenates the brain which is essential in memory, concentration, decision making, and social behavior. To transition, try gradually changing bedtimes 30 minutes earlier per day until adequate sleep time is achieved. Abruptly changing bedtime will most likely result in frustration for both you and your child.

Nutrition is the fuel your student uses to succeed at school. Proper diet gives many of the same benefits as adequate sleep. In addition, it produces a healthier body weight resulting in a sense of well-being, lack of discipline problems, and reduces the risk of illness and disease. Give your student a great start with a healthy breakfast. It’s important to include foods high in protein, fiber, and vitamins. There are many quick foods to aid you in getting out the door on time in addition to giving your children a good start. Be creative when packing lunches sneaking in healthy, lower sugar, lower fat foods. Here is a link to show the benefits of “Eating the Rainbow of Healthy Foods.” This is a great resource showing white, yellow, red, purple, and green foods and specific health benefits for each category.

Routines are the plans in motion that are predictable and familiar. They provide the boundaries and goals for successful school days. These plans help eliminate arguments when facing the hustle and bustle of a busy school morning. A chart can be helpful for younger children as a visual for what they can expect at bedtime and morning time. Older children might find that a calendar or planner is more relatable for the plan. Give your kids the security of knowing what to expect. To eliminate clothing decisions in the morning, plan outfits and lay them out before bedtime.
August 18, 2021