Practicing gratitude for the smallest blessings chases away discontent. Learning and practicing this skill early on teaches children how to lift themselves up emotionally when life gets hard. This type of metacognition can equip students to…

I have had an overwhelming feeling lately that the world needs more kindness, love, and empathy. I was trying to think of small ways that I could make someone’s day better in the community around me. I also wanted to show my two children how easy and rewarding it can be to do something for others…

Several years ago, when I began teaching in a Title I school, I saw firsthand just how much I had been a privileged child. Of course I knew that not everyone was growing up the way that I did… but it saddened me to see that the majority of my class could not relate to my childhood excitement. Many did not even have a big Christmas dinner, the way that my family always had. From then on, for me, the “Christmas Spirit” was defined as…