True active listening begins with creating a safe environment. In my film, I wanted the audience to take a direct bird's eye view of what's going on in (the high school students’) life before they get on campus, so they understand a little bit better about why the students are acting the way they are in school.
Read MoreWhat would it look like to have, as one recent philosopher has coined, a listening society? What would it mean to actually take seriously markers of well-being alongside of GDP and other markers of economic health to talk about how well we're doing as a society? How could listening be part of that shift in mindset and culture within schools to really stress the importance of some of these skills from kindergarten, all the way through high school?
Read MoreYou can train your mind to become more compassionate and therefore your brain can grow in the parts that are adept for compassion and for prosocial behavior and emotional regulation, and for developing deeper connections with people. All of those things can be developed.
Read MoreIt doesn’t matter if we label the change good or bad. It may be a great change in some respects, but… I would say that we get attached to the outcome of the change we want, and we lose sight of the process and how much care needs to go into the process.
Read MoreNothing really touches you unless it's real. You have to have an emotion. You have to have a connection to be able to learn, to be able to feel the culture of someone else. You have to participate in it, engage in it, connect with others. You cannot do this by yourself.
Read MoreThe wonderful thing about the whole way in which the spiritual life can ease this kind of loneliness is the sense that we're all under something bigger. There's a kind of equality so that you can love your brothers and sisters around you because it's not like I'm worse than you, or I'm less than you, or I'm better than you, or I have more to contribute than you.
Read MoreArizona is my greatest gift…I remember when I first found out that my daughter was different, and that she would potentially have a different life trajectory than most families that I knew of. And I always love to have that trip down memory lane because it makes me appreciate so much what is right now. Which is, by the way, nothing I thought would be possible back then.
Read MoreThe key is to create an environment where everyone feels invested, like they're benefiting from it and a respected member of the tribe.
Read MoreIt’s not about you. It's about their story. Because they're the ones who have to change. Not you. You’re there to help them change. So make it about them.
Read MoreWe've actually had an increased interaction with parents...sometimes the student will be in the (parents’) office and mom or dad pops in unintentionally because they need to pick up a book or a sheet of paper or some document and they'll say, 'Hi, Mr Rudajev. How are you?
Read MoreWe need these emotional skills as much as we need content-based knowledge.
Read MoreThis is an opportunity to learn and engage and really start to get to know students in ways that many educators have never gotten to know their students. And this is where you can take the time out and not feel the pressure from the upcoming benchmark or not feel the pressure from the upcoming testing.
Read MoreA community is something that strengthens you…(it) has a certain sense of kindness, of empathy. By being together, working together, (being in community) can face the challenges from the outside world.
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