There are many realities of teaching that are different than how we imagined our teaching lives would go. One thing we can do is to learn to befriend uncertainty. This is more than a kitschy phrase, and we share the neuroscience behind learning to embrace uncertainty.

Timeline

00:00 Dreams vs. Reality in Teaching
03:09 Befriending Uncertainty
05:47 Curiosity as a Tool for Learning
09:13 The Power of Reflection and Observation
11:46 Encouraging Curiosity in Students

Everyone has tough days, but how do we talk about those days with our students? An occupational therapist recommends a video to open conversations in Becca's kindergarten classroom.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Sticky Hope Kit: https://stickyhope.com/stickyhopekit/
• Unbouncing Tigger (Walt Disney Animation Studios): https://youtu.be/LRVzWYYWgxM?si=__QXD2tp_1bi1K5z
• Choice Literacy: https://choiceliteracy.com/

We're coming back with part two of welcoming back because we want to talk about how to help the other kids welcome back a classmate who's been dysregulated and needed to take a break, or we had to clear the room with all of the other students. When this happens, how do we continue to build and strengthen our learning communities?

It's mid-year and we're thinking about ways to welcome students and adults into our learning communities. It's not just a beginning of the year act, but something that happens all year long. We talk about welcoming the student who is always late or welcoming back a student who has been sick or welcoming the student who brought a toy (again). We even welcome Gem the cat and her unexpected cameo appearance on the podcast.

Humans must learn to care. It's not something we are born knowing how to do. Ruth and Becca talk about ways to nourish students to want to help others.

The things we read, view, and hear influence the ways we interact with the world. How can we be authentic and keep an open-mind to learning more in a world that constantly touts a confusing mix of information? Ruth and Becca discuss paying attention to the things we pay attention to in order to nourish healthy regulation in ourselves and others.

In episode six, Ruth and Becca discuss the way bias influences the decisions educators make when responding to students who are not at their finest.

In the last episode, Ruth and Becca focused on deciding who we want to be when facing extreme behaviors. In this episode they talk about all of the other kids when an educator's attention is consumed by a child who is showing a stress response.