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Emotion coping for kids | Feel Your Best Self

@feelyourbestself

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Your guide to exploring big feelings! FYBS is an award-winning toolkit that brings credibility, accessibility, creativity, & joy to emotion coping.

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When Feel Your Best Self (FYBS) launched in 2022, the vision was relatively simple: give elementary-aged kids and their teachers an opportunity to explore big feelings with fun, easy-to-use emotion-coping strategies. That program has expanded into something that adolescents and even adults are excited to use, and a new podcast.

Read more at the link in bio! Sandra Chafouleas, left, and Jessica Koslouski, right, give each other a high five. Above, the words "Feel Your Best Self" appear in colorful text.

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SEL LESSON: Understanding a Meltdown

A meltdown is not a child choosing to “misbehave.” It is a child whose nervous system has become overwhelmed.

When a child reaches crisis, the thinking brain is not fully available. That means more demands, consequences, questions, or lectures usually will not help in that moment.

Instead, we can focus on safety, connection, and co regulation.

🧠 ESCALATION: Reduce demands. Stay calm.
❤️ CRISIS: Focus on safety. No reasoning or teaching.
🌱 DE ESCALATION: Offer quiet, space, comfort, and time.
💙 RECOVERY: Allow rest. Reassure without forcing conversation.
🌿 REGULATION: Teach, reflect, and practice strategies when the child is ready.

Regulation comes before learning.

The goal is not to make the meltdown stop as quickly as possible. The goal is to help the child feel safe enough to move through it and return to regulation.

Behavior is communication. Connection is intervention. Co regulation comes before correction.

Children do well when they can. Our job is to help them get there.
Thank you @the_contented_child for this amazing visual!
#SEL #SocialEmotionalLearning #CoRegulation #BehaviorIsCommunication #NeurodiversityAffirming

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Feel Your Best Self came to RES on Friday for their “Feelings Forecast” and helped our 2nd and 3rd graders talk through their feelings using hand made puppets. A special thank you to Mrs. Lang, @rowaytonrocks_sel for arranging this program and our fabulous PTA for sponsoring these workshops.

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A child is not the story someone else tells about them.

Stop judging children based on someone else’s frustration, assumptions, or past experiences. Listen to the child. Make them feel heard. Give them space to share their perspective and know that their voice matters.

Every child deserves to be seen as an individual, not through the lens of an adult’s opinion.

Listen first. Understand the context. Look at the facts. Then respond to the child in front of you.

Children deserve to feel heard, understood, and respected, not labeled before they even get the chance to speak.

#SEL #ChildAdvocacy #InclusiveEducation #TraumaInformed #NeurodiversityAffirming

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25 DAYS AWAY! ⭐️⏳️

On October 13th, we’re bringing @uconn’s startup community together at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field for a night of pitches, networking, and celebrating what’s being built here at UConn.

It’s going to be a busy night ... five Wolff New Venture Competition finalists will take the stage to pitch their ventures for a share of $150,000+ in non-dilutive funding and awards, and 25+ startups will be showing off what they’re building throughout the showcase. Meet the founders, get a peek at some seriously cool UConn ventures, chat with investors, mentors, alumni and entrepreneurs, and cheer everyone on as we announce this year’s winners.

Thank you to the sponsors who make this event possible: The Wolff Family, wiggin(x), @fmlcpas, @sardilliproduce, Prime Materials Recovery, @bigbangip, @baystate_financial, @websterbank, Mark and Jamie Summers, @putnamplastics, Eric Marziali, Bob and Linda Delisle, Dick and Carol Stewart, and @eventresources.

Reserve your seat at the link in bio.

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Your students are watching how you speak to them, how you correct them, how you respond when they are struggling, and how you treat the kids who challenge you the most.

You can hold students accountable without humiliating them.
You can have high expectations without being disrespectful.
You can correct behavior without making a child feel like a problem.
You can be frustrated without taking it out on a student.

Not every behavior needs a power struggle. Not every mistake needs a consequence. And not every difficult student needs to be treated like a difficult person.

You are the adult. Act like it.

Teach the lesson. Hold the boundary. Correct the behavior.

But at the end of the day, BE A GOOD HUMAN.
#TraumaInformed #StudentBehavior #ClassroomManagement #Educators #BeAGoodHuman

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Not every behavior needs to become a power struggle. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Sometimes the best support is simply giving a student a choice:

“Do you want to start here or here?”

“Do you want help, or do you want to try independently?”

The goal isn’t control. It’s teaching students to make choices, regulate, and regain control.

Give choices. Keep the boundary. Teach the skill. 💜

#SEL #StudentSupport #SelfRegulation

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Teachers, some of your students are going to walk into your classroom carrying more than one backpack.

I once attended a professional development session where the speaker walked in dressed like a student, backpack and all. When he opened it, the first backpack held the things you’d expect a child to bring to school.

The second backpack held the things we couldn’t see.

Anxiety. Grief. Food insecurity. Lack of sleep. Family stress. Violence at home. Feeling like they don’t belong. And so much more.

Some kids walk through your door carrying two or three backpacks before you ever hand them a pencil.

And sometimes, what they’re carrying shows up as behavior.

The student who shuts down.
The student who talks back.
The student who can’t sit still.
The student who pushes every button you have.

Sometimes behavior is communication. Sometimes the child who is hardest to reach is the one who needs connection the most.

Teachers, I see you.

I see the classrooms you’re preparing, the lessons you’re planning, the extra supplies you’re buying, and the time you’re getting ready to give to children you haven’t even met yet.

You don’t have to do something extraordinary every day.

Sometimes it’s a greeting.

A check in.

A laugh.

A second chance.

A quiet “I’m glad you’re here.”

Those little moments build something bigger: safety, trust and belonging.

After almost 10 years in education, there’s one thing I know for sure:

Children don’t always remember the lesson, the worksheet, or the activity.

But they remember the adult who made them feel safe, seen, understood, and like they belonged.

Children spell love and security:

T-I-M-E. ❤️

#TeachersISeeYou #BackToSchool #TeacherLife #RelationshipsMatter #EveryChildMatters

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School is almost back in session, and kindness starts long before the first bell rings. ❤️

Before your child walks through those school doors, teach them to include instead of exclude. Teach them that differences should be celebrated, not teased. Remind them that the classmate sitting alone, the new student, or the child who learns differently deserves the same respect, kindness, and friendship as everyone else.

Adults, we’re part of the lesson too. Our children are always watching how we speak about others, respond to differences, and treat people in our schools and communities. They learn just as much from our actions as they do from our words.

One small act of inclusion can change a child’s entire school year, and one caring adult can make all the difference.

As the new school year begins, let’s choose kindness, practice inclusion, and create school communities where every child feels safe, valued, and like they truly belong. 💙

#BackToSchool #ChooseKindness #SEL

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Cool Down with Sundaes & Sparkler This Summer! 🍦

Hi Parents of Waterbury,

Join us for Sundaes with Sparkler! A free, fun, hands‑on event every Sunday in July and the first Sunday in August! Bring your kids (ages 0–8), your family, and your friends for puppet‑making, sensory bubble play, social‑emotional learning activities, and free ice cream sundaes.

It’s a great way to learn about your child’s development while having a blast together. Come once or join us every week! Each Sunday offers something new.

📅 Sundays: July 12, 19, 26 & August 2

⏰ 3:00 PM - (on Sunday July 26, 2:00 PM)

📍 Chase Park House, Waterbury

👉 Space is limited — please register: https://bit.ly/SparklerSundaes

We can’t wait to see you for a sweet summer Sunday!

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✨ A reminder for the adults who work with children every day: ✨

Please never let a child be defined by a previous teacher’s experience, a difficult day, or a challenging behavior.

The child standing in front of you deserves the opportunity to be known, understood, and supported. Give them the chance to show you who they are, not who someone else says they are.

Your patience, your words, and your belief in them matter more than you may realize.

Sometimes, all it takes is one adult to see a child differently and help change their path.

That adult could be you. 💙

#EveryChildMatters #SEL #TraumaInformedEducation #EducatorsOfInstagram #PositiveRelationships

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Inclusion is more than simply being present. It’s about creating spaces where every person feels they belong, has equal opportunities, receives the support they need, and can fully participate.

Real inclusion is built through:
🤝 Togetherness
💚 Equality
🚪 Access
🙋 Participation
🔗 Connection
🌱 Support
💛 Acceptance
🏡 Belonging

When we focus on every dimension of inclusion, we create communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Every small act of kindness, advocacy, and understanding makes a difference.

Which dimension do you think our schools, workplaces, or communities should focus on more? Share your thoughts below. ⬇️

#InclusionMatters #DisabilityAwareness #Neurodiversity #EmpowerAllAbilities #InclusiveEducation

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