May SEL Playshop | Growth Mindset to End the Year on a High Note

In this interactive playshop, educators will receive an exclusive preview of the May SEL Calendar theme, "Teamwork Triumphs: Using Growth Mindset to End the Year on a High Note." This month’s focus combines teamwork, cooperation, and growth mindset with an emphasis on mental health. Participants will explore how engaging students in collaborative projects and emotional regulation strategies can foster a sense of teamwork while enhancing mental well-being and preparing them to finish the school year on a positive note.

This playshop will model four hands-on activities from the May Calendar, formatted as a Morning Meeting/Advisory session. Each activity is grounded in research-backed practices, ensuring that educators are implementing evidence-based strategies to enhance social-emotional learning (SEL) in their classrooms. You’ll discover how these activities promote teamwork, mental health awareness, and emotional regulation, all while aligning with proven educational frameworks.

Target Audience: This playshop is designed for school leaders, teachers, school social workers, and counselors who are looking to enhance their SEL practices by teaching teamwork, encouraging a growth mindset, and promoting mental health awareness as students prepare for the end of the school year.

Educator Take-Aways:

• A comprehensive understanding of how to help students strengthen their teamwork and collaboration skills while supporting their mental health through growth mindset and emotional regulation strategies.
• Research-backed strategies for encouraging students to identify and regulate their emotions, reflect on their growth, and work effectively in teams.
• Four interactive, SEL-based activities from the Kikori May SEL Calendar, aligned with the Responsive Classrooms framework, that can be immediately implemented in Morning Meeting or Advisory sessions to foster teamwork, mental health awareness, and growth mindset.
• Practical tools to create a classroom culture where students feel empowered to collaborate, manage their emotions, and end the school year on a positive note, setting the stage for continued personal growth and success in the year ahead.

Presenter Bio: Kendra Bostick, Doctoral Candidate, LCSW, MEPD

As the Co-founder and CEO of Kikori, Kendra is on a mission to democratize access to experiential SEL practices, providing educators with practical, research-based tools to foster inclusive and supportive learning environments. Through Kikori, Kendra helps teachers build emotionally safe classrooms that promote resilience, connection, and social-emotional growth, ensuring these transformative practices are accessible to all.

Kendra Bostick is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of New Hampshire, where she studies the impact of experiential learning on building student connections, community, and belonging. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and holds a Master’s in Education with a focus on experiential programming, combining her expertise in trauma-informed practices and social-emotional learning (SEL) to enhance student engagement and well-being.

Event Venue

Online