Facilitating students’ unique paths towards identity development is the key to teaching young teens. Students face pressures that undermine the development of a solid sense of self, jeopardizing success in school and in life: Family issues, economic concerns, media influences, social pressures, physical changes, and more influence how students feel about themselves. When these go unnoticed, even the best teaching methods fall short. Reach Before You Teach shows educators how to form the nurturing, individualized connections that make students feel worthy, fulfilled, and ready to flourish as learners.  The book details: Practical, empowering information about how a sense of self comes to be, and what threatens it. Interventions that soften the myriad defenses students develop to protect themselves. How to address the often-overlooked connections between physical, social, and emotional health and classroom performance. Packed with real-life examples and results-delivering exercises, Reach Before You Teach supplies educators with the all-important skills to connect with students so academic and life success feels more attainable. "In our present education system that seems to be caught up with numbers and standardization, this book is a welcomed read. Education will never improve if we don’t make the social-emotional skills of children our first priority." —Peter DeWitt, Principal Poestenkill Elementary School, NY "This book is a must-read for all who want to encourage self-awareness and self-reflection during classroom instruction and help students feel more connected, curious, and confident! Students no doubt will achieve emotionally and academically with help from the strategies in this book." —Dr. Ann Marie Dargon, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Westport Community Schools, MA

Table of Contents:
Preface A Child’s Sense of Self Is of Paramount Concern The Focus and Purpose of This Book This Book Applies to Educators of Teens The Bottom Line About the Authors 1. The Self What You Will Learn in This Chapter What Do We Mean by the Self? The Self in School Social Emotional Learning: Its Importance and How the Self Enables SEL Potential How Does a Sense of Self Contribute to Personal Success and to Society? Steps to Success – For Teaching and for You Chapter Summary 2. The Development of the Self: Understand and Connect With the Self Behind the Desk What You Will Learn in This Chapter Early Attachment and Self Development True Self Versus False Self: The Battle Begins Making Connections Chapter Summary 3. The Unaware Emotional Self: Soften Defenses to Foster Academic and Personal Growth What You Will Learn in This Chapter The Purpose of Defenses The Development of Defenses and How They Inhibit Optimal Learning Common Defense Mechanisms and How They May Manifest in the Classroom How to Manage Defenses Through Interventions That Build the Self Chapter Summary 4. The Aware Emotional Self: Provide Tools for Emotional Management What You Will Learn in This Chapter Emotional Awareness - Knowing Your Temperature Emotional Management – Shutting the Window The Emotional Self in the Classroom The Benefits Chapter Summary 5. The Cognitive Self: Use Cognitive Understanding to Awaken Potentials What You Will Learn in This Chapter Brain Structure and Related Functions Stress on the Brain Neuroplasticity: The Role of Experiences Improving Motivation Chapter Summary 6. The Social Self: Consolidate the Self in the Social World What You Will Learn in This Chapter Set a Positive Social Tone in Your Classroom Top Social Skills Teamwork Chapter Summary 7. The Physical Self: Support the Physical Self for Optimal Overall Health What You Will Learn in This Chapter The Importance of Physical Health Exercise and Health Nutrition and Health Sleep and Health The Mind/Body Connection The Physical Self in the Classroom Chapter Summary 8. The Self in the School Climate: How to Put the Environment to Work for You What You Will Learn in This Chapter What Is School Climate? Personal Principles of Behavior School Wide Policies Parents and the Off-Campus Community Chapter Summary 9. The Self: Decision-Making, Motivation, and Giving Back What You Will Learn in This Chapter Where Are We? Where Can We Go From Here? Decision-Making – The Sine Qua Non of Self Skills Motivation Final Interventions Chapter Summary References Index