December 6, 2024: Continuing our new initiative this school year, December’s social-emotional theme is “strive.” The concept of striving to reach new heights builds on November’s SEL theme of courage. This theme also continues our alignment with the weekly classroom lessons for Nov/Dec of having a growth mindset. Outside the main office, you will notice a large bulletin board with the word “strive,” where students and adults are invited to write what they are striving to overcome or accomplish. If we continuously show effort and push ourselves, we can grow or improve at anything. The quote that we’ve used to support the concept of striving is, “You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them”- Michael Jordan. We are encouraging our students and staff to remember that our mindset and our belief in ourselves drive our successes. Refer to the Strive artwork/poster that each classroom will have posted outside their door.

Ways you can build on this concept at home…. new year resolutions!

Considering 2025 is fast approaching, we can use the verbiage of striving in the context of the small and big-sized goals we want to accomplish this new year. 

• What do we need to do to reach our goals (action plan)?
• How will we know we accomplished what we wanted to accomplish?
• What’s the why behind what we are striving for?
• What are we going to do when we get discouraged?
• How can we continue to believe in ourselves when are discouraged or the results don’t show up right away?
• Who can we lean on to help us to strive?

Below are 5 great videos that work through the process of showing the courage to strive!

• Growth Mindset Chapter 5 of 5
• Growth Mindset Chapter 1 of 5
• Growth Mindset Chapter 2 of 5
• Growth Mindset Chapter 3 of 5
• Growth Mindset Chapter 4 of 5

November 7, 2024: A new initiative we are doing this year is selecting an important theme or virtue for each month. The themes are chosen based on that month’s social emotional learning topics being taught in the classroom through our Second Step curriculum. For example, in November, students will be learning about having a growth mindset, and our school-wide theme is courage. Courage is an important value for children to understand, helping them to face challenges, try new things and speak up for what’s right. A fun way we are expanding on this at the school level is having students and staff members share over the intercom examples of times they themselves showed courage.

Here are some ideas for how you can talk about courage at home.

1. Define Courage Together: Talk about what courage means to you and your children. For younger children it might be “doing what’s right, even if it’s hard.” Older children might understand it as facing fear and pushing through it.
2. Share Personal Stories: It could be as simple as when you had to introduce yourself to someone new or maybe when you had to speak up in a meeting or learned a new skill, even if it was hard at first.

Encourage Small Acts of Courage: Remind your child that courage isn’t always about big gestures. It can be about little moments, like trying a new food.

Oct. 25: Scheduling Mr. Taylor School Counselor: As you know, B.F. Day is truly fortunate to have Mr. Taylor as our school counselor. During the school day, his priority is meeting the needs of students. If a parent would like to meet with Mr. Taylor, they must schedule an appointment with him. He is not available for drop-in parent meetings. You can best request a meeting by emailing him at jrtaylor@seattleschools.org or calling the office at 206-252-6010 and we will put you in touch with him.

Sept. 27: Dear B.F. Day Community: As a school community, we believe strongly in empowering our students to be thoughtful and empathetic members of the community. Beginning in October, teachers will begin teaching weekly social/emotional classroom lessons. Through our Second Step Curriculum, students will learn about the power of a growth mindset, emotion management, empathy, ways to solve problems, as well as an anti-bullying component. October is national anti-bullying month. Each class will learn the three R’s: how to recognize bullying, how to report bullying behavior, and how to refuse bullying behavior when we see it. Each lesson aligns with the Washington K-12 SEL standards in the domains of Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Self-efficacy, Social Awareness, Social Management, and Social Engagement.

We are excited to introduce our first school-wide, monthly theme in next week’s Dayette. Each month a theme will be chosen by the school climate committee, and it will align with that month’s Second Step lessons. The theme will then be reinforced during our monthly school-wide assemblies and Dragon Dens. The theme for this month will align with national anti-bullying month.

Sept. 20: B.F Day is transitioning from our previous emotional regulation of RULER (Mood Meter) to a new emotional regulation curriculum called Zones of Regulation. By the end of September, every student will have learned about the four Zones we may feel each day, and the corresponding tools for getting back to the green zone. The verbiage and the tools will be carried over into each of our classroom’s “cool down” spots as well. The feedback so far from students and staff has been very positive.

Zones of Regulation is an evidence-based program that uses our body’s somatic and physical clues to dictate which “Zone” we may be in. Different from RULER, our zones aren’t measured by whether a feeling is pleasant or “good” but rather by measuring the intersection of our body’s energy and our feelings. All the Zones are okay and important! Keep an eye out for more resources and updates on our implementation of this awesome curriculum.

Life Skills Classes with Mr. Taylor

At B. F. Day elementary we believe that social emotional learning skills are at the heart of academic growth, thriving relationships, intentional decision making, and well-being.

This priority can be seen in the opportunity I have to teach students weekly social emotional lessons in my “life skills” class. It has been proven that teaching students these “soft skills” (empathy, problem solving, coping strategies, growth mindset etc.) build the foundation for current and future success.

In years past I visited each classroom every week to teach social emotional lessons, this year I will have my own “space” to teach our kids skills to help them cope with this ever-changing world. Like when students visit the P.E. or Art, students will receive instruction to support the development of their social and emotional skills.

I will predominately be using Committee for Children’s Second Step social-emotional curriculum. Second Step is an evidenced based curriculum that has shown to support students intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, as well as increasing academic performance! I look forward to supporting students and families this school year. In addition to doing whole class instruction I will continue to have small group sessions for our kids.

Breathing Strategies to try with your kids at home

1. With your child, stick out your right hand holding all five fingers out. Now pretend your fingers are tops of a roller coaster and the bottom of your fingers are the bottom. Using your other hand trace each finger; take a slow inhale going up the rollercoaster then a deep breath going down the roller coaster for each finger. You should have at least five “roller coaster breaths”. During my lessons with the kids we will usually finish with this strategy, so they may be able to help teach you!
2. Another strategy is using a breathing buddy. Lay on your back, put a favorite stuffed animal on your tummy, and watch that animal slowly move up and down as you inhale and exhale. Do this together — it’s playful and helpful for the whole family. From Sesame Street: Elmo Learns to belly breath.

Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is the belief that individuals who believe their talents and skills can be developed through hard work, learning from mistakes, and not giving up.

This is counter to a fixed mindset, which tells us that our skills and abilities are fixed and innate.

When I visit classrooms, the focus will be on the importance of continuing to try hard things (even if we don’t want to) and understanding that every time we display a growth mindset our brain “stretches” that much more. ~ John Taylor, MA Ed., School Counselor

B.F. Day Earns Prestigious Counseling Recognition 23-24

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) announced B.F. Day as a Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP). The school is the first in the district to achieve the designation.

The RAMP designation recognizes schools that are committed to delivering an exemplary school counseling program. Honorees are awarded for aligning their program with the criteria in the ASCA National Model, a framework for a data-informed school counseling program.  

B.F. Day Principal Natalie Zisko expressed her admiration for the school’s counselor, John Taylor. Read Full Post on the District News Page!

Message from Mr. Taylor

Hello B.F. Day Community,

Earlier this week (March 2024), our school counseling program at B.F. Day was Recognized for a Comprehensive American School Counseling Program (RAMP). This recognition is awarded to programs that exhibit evidence of how each student received academic, social/emotional, and career development. One of the components of the RAMP application is showing how students benefited from our school counseling program. For the application, we showed how four academic lessons in fourth grade (academic anxiety, organization, time management, and academic mindfulness) raised student scores on unit tests. In addition to raising their test scores, students also reported increased knowledge of their own academic anxieties, helpful strategies to cope with those anxious feelings, and an understanding of the intersection between organization and time. This brings to light how social-emotional learning works alongside academic confidence and achievement.

I want to say thank you for all the support and recognition. Our school community has provided me with an opportunity to be at B.F. Day full-time for the past 8 years! Without the ongoing support and funding for my position, this kind of honor would not be possible. This recognition is a celebration for all of us. Together, we’ve done great work in supporting the social-emotional wellness of our students. 

Thank you,
John Taylor