The stories we tell ourselves impact students and our relationships with them. In this discussion, we explore some of those stories and identify ways to improve students’ experiences by modifying the stories we tell.

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Self-compassion.org/category/exercises/ | GGIA.berkeley.edu/mindfulness | Edutopia article: How to Shift Your Mindset and Feel Present| Other book from author(s)


David Upegui, PhD, serves as a science teacher at his alma mater, Central Falls High School (RI) and as an adjunct professor of Education at Brown University. He completed his doctoral degree in education at the University of RI, focusing on science education and social justice. His latest book, Integrating Racial Justice Into Your High-School Biology Classroom: Using Evolution to Understand Diversity, was recently released.

Dr. James L. Floman is an Associate Research Scientist at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. He received his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia, where he studied the effects of mindfulness and compassion meditation on teacher emotion regulation and prosocial behavior with Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl. Dr. Floman has three core research streams: 1) The assessment of dynamic social-affective processes (i.e., developing and validating EI and well-being measurement tools); 2) EI, mindfulness, and well-being training (i.e., developing, optimizing, and scaling EI and well-being-enhancement interventions for real-world applications); and 3) Affective neuroscience (studying mental training-induced changes in ‘emotional brain’ function and structure).

Kathy Collier is a learner and a collaborator. Her current, and dream role is Language and Literacy Equity Specialist, and she has 16 years of classroom experience (K–5 Spanish, first, third, and fourth grade), seven years as a Learning Resource Coordinator, and three years as an Elementary Curriculum Coordinator. Her passions include equity, mentoring, coaching, language, beliefs, and systems. She integrates learning from my master’s degree in literacy and multicultural education, licensure programs (ESL and reading teacher), and two coaching credentials into my work with teachers and curriculum.