Grit, Perseverance, Resiliency

Reinforce the importance of the social skills that RJ learns in the story The WORST Day of My Life EVER!, part of the BEST ME I Can Be! series, by displaying these colorful 8.5"x11" posters in classrooms, hallways, and common areas in your...

Staying on task until a job is done can be tough for adults, so it's not surprising that it's also difficult for most children. Teaching kids the importance of staying focused and finishing tasks is something that will serve them well in life. Help...

Planning is the ability to create a roadmap to reach a goal or achieve a task, while prioritizing involves the ability to make decisions about what is important for you to focus on next. It can be challenging for children to know where to get started on...

It's easy for kids to feel sad when bad things happen in their lives. This is especially true when boys and girls are bullied or picked on, or feel left out and isolated. Author and School Counselor Bryan Smith has developed four exercises to accompany...

When children learn or try something new, they can easily get discouraged when things don't go as planned. They don't yet understand that mistakes and failure are parts of learning. Author and educator Bryan Smith has developed four excellent activities...

Flexible thinking allows people to think about things in new ways or to incorporate new information into a specific plan or idea. Flexible thinkers are often able to come up with more than one solution to a problem or challenge. The ability to think...

Self-control is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior and to keep one's cool in the face of disappointment. These four activities developed by author Bryan Smith can help children with self-control. The lessons are designed to...

Too much stress STINKS! Students in grades K through 6 will identify the negative side effects of experiencing too much stress and develop healthy strategies for dealing with stressful situations. Reinforce the lesson from the storybook, Stress...

Initiative is the ability to start an activity, plan, or task. Learning how to take initiative and get things done is an important executive function skill for children. Author and educator Bryan Smith has developed five activities to accompany the...

Problem solving involves many other executive functioning behaviors, including reasoning, attention, planning, initiation, working memory, and self-monitoring. Teach your students problem solving skills with these activities that accompany the...

This activity is designed to teach students to give more specific details and deliver them slowly. It can also teach students to listen more critically to instructions. From Julia Cook’s BEST ME I Can Be! series is an activity that accompanies her...

When you see your students display effective listening or following instruction skills, find a way to recognize them in front of their peers! The more you give praise and pay attention to positive behaviors in your classroom, the more often you will see...

Join in on the fun with an activity from Bryan Smith’s If Winning Isn’t Everything Why Do I Hate to Lose? Students will practice their sportsmanship skills during a coin flip game called “Don’t Flip Out.” Extend the...

Students will learn that a team is only as strong as its individual members! From Julia Cook’s BEST ME I Can Be! series is an engaging activity to accompany her storybook Teamwork Isn’t My Thing, and I Don’t Like to Share! This...

Students will have to determine whether certain scenarios demonstrate good or bad sportsmanship. Bryan Smith’s If Winning Isn’t Everything, Why Do I Hate to Lose? storybook explains the importance of teamwork and fairness. Put to use the...

Students will learn to show good sportsmanship regardless of whether they win or lose with this interactive activity. Bryan Smith’s picture book, If Winning Isn’t Everything, Why Do I Hate to Lose?, is highly recommended for this classroom...