In Focus: Improving Social and Emotional Intelligence, One Day at a Time, (Grades 6-8)

In Focus helps students develop social and emotional intelligence, critical to success in school and beyond. This book contains three parts, each of which addresses the needs of a different area of students' brains:

• Part 1 focuses on safety, security, and connection in the classroom (needs of the brain stem)
• Part 2 focuses on identifying and expressing different emotions (needs of the limbic system)
• Part 3 focuses on managing and harnessing emotions to support and enhance learning (needs of the cortex).

In Focus provides lessons that take just minutes a day to help students . . .

• feel safe and ready to learn,
• behave in positive and constructive ways,
• manage and express emotions responsibly,
• gain focus and improve attention,
• reduce stress and calm themselves,
• eliminate bullying and impulsive behavior,
• elevate their self-esteem and confidence,
• improve teamwork and collaboration,
• become healthier and more responsible,
• develop intellectually and academically,
and
• gain the social skills that employers seek.

Thomas McSheehy, MSW, LSW, is a licensed social worker who taught elementary school for 21 years.