8 things I've learned from teaching social skills for 8 years

This month is Starfish Social Club's 8th birthday! That means it's now older than some of our students! 

I've been reflecting on all the things I've learned from teaching social skills over the last 8 years. It's been an amazing experience and opportunity, and I'm incredibly grateful to be able to do something I love so much.

In this week's podcast/YouTube episode, I'm sharing the 8 (actually 9) most important things I've learned with and from our kids. Some of the things have to do with how I work with the kids, and some have to do with how I've changed my own thinking and behavior as a result.

Here's a clip from the episode:

It just really made me realize how I had a problem with something that one of the kids said that nobody else had a problem with, especially the kid who he said it to. That was my problem. That was my interpretation, my perception, and I was wrong. And that was just such an interesting moment for me realizing that, as much as I try to be more of a facilitator with the students and let them interact and engage with each other with my support, but I... one of my goals is really for them to be able to give each other feedback and, you know, engage with each other, and I'm just there to kind of support and facilitate, I interjected myself into that situation. And I was wrong.

So I just really, I love that moment because it taught me so much. It taught me that sometimes the things that bother us, nobody else cares about. And it's because we are interpreting it differently than anybody else. So I really try to think about that now when I see interactions with... with kids and sometimes somebody will say or do something and I'll want to interject, and then I'll just remember, I may be wrong. I may be misperceiving this.

Listen to the podcast episode. 

Watch on YouTube.