![To Cali, with Love](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e5e1e631606464eafd1aef/1737231606421-NKFOOOPIPYQITPNGR1LH/Kori+in+So+Cal.jpg)
To Cali, with Love
The southern California fires have created an unprecedented disaster. I don’t know what those impacted need right now, I will defer to others who do. But I do know that the current fires are permanently impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of school-aged children both directly and indirectly. But it is not just this current crisis.
![To laugh or cry?](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e5e1e631606464eafd1aef/1680185247780-5ITCY87RTFNNM3R67X2J/austin-pacheco-FtL07GM9Q7Y-unsplash.jpg)
To laugh or cry?
As an educator, April Fool’s Day leaves me a bit curious - what is the relationship between humor and Social Emotional Learning implementation? And if there is room for joke telling in classrooms that prioritize SEL, where is the line?
![Love Lessons](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e5e1e631606464eafd1aef/1644767617513-FDCRBGASAITW0U79IVTG/debby-hudson-jcc8sxK2Adw-unsplash.jpg)
Love Lessons
A few years ago, my five years old son and I attended a Valentine’s Day themed family yoga class offered by a local yoga studio. It was our first time attending a yoga class together, and we probably spent more time laughing than stretching.
![Time to Reset](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e5e1e631606464eafd1aef/1643663602611-F02DZBRC9IC791COAUHE/unsplash-image-AXc2uwl4Cik.jpg)
Time to Reset
I like her a lot. She is one of those people that pulls you right in, even over Zoom. Her warmth softens you into thinking you are closer friends than you really are. It is a type of superpower.
![Proceed With Care](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e5e1e631606464eafd1aef/b7dc5930-d005-4be5-b8bf-6c1449a5e62e/Screen+Shot+2021-11-04+at+5.37.54+PM.png)
Proceed With Care
It was a client meeting, so I knew I had to watch my face. My emotions are easily broadcast across the furrow of my brow or the turn of my mouth. If there is an opposite to a poker face, that is what I have: A “Kori face”.
![Measuring Growth](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e5e1e631606464eafd1aef/93f97878-f330-43a9-9a1c-28162f2d2ced/Screen+Shot+2021-11-04+at+4.14.49+PM.png)
Measuring Growth
Mondays are soccer practice days. Which means that us parents stand at the edge of the grass, six feet away from each other and make small talk while our children run up and down the field.
![A Shift in Approach From Either/Or to Both/And](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e5e1e631606464eafd1aef/e2a7093e-43df-4633-a735-9719a6d4e381/nicolas-gonzalez-183F_vNaN8A-unsplash.jpg)
A Shift in Approach From Either/Or to Both/And
My nephew has had his face in front of a screen for the better part of a year now. Like other students across this nation, he was thrust into online learning last March. And like millions of children today, he still has not made it back on campus.
![Anchoring Down to Connect with Students](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e5e1e631606464eafd1aef/37bb9d22-b92f-4a8a-9aa6-8690a9af0862/solen-feyissa-V5Xj7X2PIJw-unsplash.jpg)
Anchoring Down to Connect with Students
I once had the pleasure of hearing Trish Shaffer speak. As Social Emotional Learning Coordinator, she proudly shared the great work taking place in Washoe County schools, a district right outside of Reno, Nevada.
![Putting All of the Pieces Together](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e5e1e631606464eafd1aef/27013574-b0da-49a0-879f-a646d1b10d0d/mel-poole-i6NcIJXdK10-unsplash.jpg)
Putting All of the Pieces Together
The phrase Social Emotional Learning came into my life in 2015. Though SEL implementation has been around for decades, the schools and districts in which I worked had not yet embraced whole child education with that particular lens.