Silver Debbie Thompson - Teaching Kids to Thrive: Essential Skills for Success

Teaching Kids to Thrive: Essential Skills for Success is a book that notonly argues effectively for including social and emotional learning in everyclassroom, but also shows teachers how to do it. Debbie Silver and DedraStafford demonstrate how SEL instruction can be woven into all subject areas atevery level of preK12 education. They descriptively outline what SEL-friendlyclassrooms look like, and they provide a wealth of tools and strategies foreducators who want to teach beyond the standards. I recommend this book for newand veteran teachers alike who want to help students learn to thrive both nowand throughout their future lives.

TODD WHITAKER

Professor of Educational Leadership

Indiana State University

Terre Haute, IN

Reading Teaching Kids to Thrive was like feeding my brain with PopRocks! It had me captivated, wondering, and marveling... allat the same time. Debbie Silver and Dedra Stafford provide insightful research,actionable skills, and inspirational stories, while recognizing the voices ofstudents and teachers at the turn of every page.

DR. RUSSELL J. QUAGLIA, Executive Director

Quaglia Institute for School Voice & Aspirations

Portland, ME

There are some books that you pick up and just cannot put down. Well, this is oneof them. If you are ready to move beyond grit, then Teaching Kids toThrive is the linchpin needed in every school system. The authorsprovide relevant research to build their case and share easy and simpleteacher-approved strategies that can be used immediately. Any stakeholder ineducation who wants to transform school culture must make Teaching Kids toThrive required reading.

SIMON T. BAILEY AND MARCETA REILLY, Authors

Releasing Leadership Brilliance

Debbie Silver and Dedra Stafford go to the heart of schooling students in thiscenturyaddressing the power of mindfulness and the value of empathy, andboosting the resilience of young people at a time when the world requires such askill the most. Using relatable stories and strategies, the goal to helpstudents thrive is central in every chapter. Like a favorite piece ofmusic, the authors passion for education is extremely contagious andmemorable.

JENNIFER BUCHANAN, MBA, MTA

President/Speaker/Author

Calgary, Alberta

Hoorah! Here is help with the overlookedaspects of teaching that matter most. Dont just read itstudy it, live with it,and you too will thrive.

JOHN LOUNSBURY, Dean Emeritus

Georgia College

Milledgeville, GA

Good teachers teach subjects. Great teachers teach students. This oftenrepeated quote of unknown origin typifies both the authors of this book and theintent of the books content. In a world where all data counts but all thatcounts is not data, Debbie Silver and Dedra Stafford provide guidance andimportant information on how teachers can teach students some of the mostimportant of all lessons, things that do not become part of the data base whichtoo often defines students. Teaching Students to Thrive guides teachersin how to incorporate essential social and emotional skills into daily routines.These are the essential skills students need in order to realize their potentialnot only as students but as successful and fulfilled members of society. As wellas essential information, the authors incorporate practical activity guides toenable teachers to help their students become more successful in school and inlife. Anecdotes, examples, and practical activities guide the reader to becomemore adept in incorporating social and emotional learning skills into everydayclassroom environments. This book is a must-read for all teachers who harbor thedesire to help their students develop the skills to successfully navigate notonly school but life itself.

DUANE INMAN, PhD, Professor of Education

Berry College

Mt. Berry, Georgia

In college courses, education students learn how to teach academic content. InTeaching Kids to Thrive, Debbie Silver and Dedra Stafford emphasizethe importance of also teaching students. In a world changing at a pace rarelyseen in human history, merely learning coursework wont be enough. Todayschildren need to be prepared to face challenges and have the capacity toflourish, regardless of what life throws at them. Thrive hasteacher-friendly strategies and support that allow even the most experiencededucators to see real cognitive, social, and emotional growth in theirstudents.

CHERYL MIZERNY, Educator and Blogger

Its Not Easy Being Tween

www.middleweb.com

Why should you read Teaching Kids to Thrive? Students today may be themost connected generation in history, but they cant find ways to connect withthemselves. Debbie Silver and Dedra Stafford masterfully illustrate that Thriveskills can no longer be considered soft. This book evidences that learning howto control their bodies and emotionsis every bit as essential to modern learners as understanding how to control thedevices that students love so dearly.

JARED COVILI, Author

Going Google: Powerful Tools for 21st Century Learning, SecondEdition

Salt Lake City, UT

Teaching Kids to Thrive: Essential Skills for Success is an excellentpractical guide for educators who want to apply the ideas of social-emotionallearning to their classroom.

LARRY FERLAZZO

Teacher, Author, and Education Week Teacher Advice Blogger

Luther Burbank High School

Sacramento, CA

Debbie Silver and Dedra Stafford have answered the question educators have askedtime and again: How, exactly, do I create a classroom culture conducive togrowth, collaboration, and critical thinking? The book explores the importanceof resilience, empathy, persistence, and skills related to active listening, tocreating the mindset that will nurture and accelerate the continuous-improvementprocess. These are not soft skills that live on the periphery oftextbook-driven, correct-answer-seeking lessons. They are life skills studentsneed to practiceand teachers need to modelon the road to success in school,college, the workplace, and in a democracy. This is an eminently practicalresource with enough research, examples, frequently asked questions, exercises,stories, and humor for all educators; and all educators should have a copy ofthis book.

RON NASH, Author/Consultant

Ron Nash and Associates, Inc.

Virginia Beach, VA

I am doing backflips over having this book in my life! I work with teachers everyday, and every day I field questions on how to support learners in being openand present for learning. It is truewe are educating a different type oflearner than those of earlier generations. And so our teaching must shift,remembering that we teach children, not curriculum. Debbie Silver and DedraStafford have written the guide to working with this new generation of students,one which begins with the social-emotional health of each learner. They tacklehead-on the most challenging and real moments of teaching, creating aresearch-based, practical, tried-and-true (yet cutting-edge) handbook to simplyand powerfully show learners how to ground and bloom. While this book focuses onstudents, the outcomes will bring joy, fulfillment, and gratitude to teachers. Ihave been waiting for this book without knowing it, and now it will be my go-toresource and recommended text on teaching students how to thrive in alleducational settings and in life.

PATTY MCGEE, Author/Consultant

Feedback That Moves Writers Forward

Harrington Park, NJ

There are no convenient, instant answersto solve tough issues in education, and no one event can make a difficultstudent easy to teach. Great teaching is hard work. This book lays out abrilliant process for building Thrive skills. Read the book. Practice theskills. Practice patience and perseverance. Enjoy the rewards.