The new year is still fresh. Many of us entered 2024 with a desire to release the mistakes of 2023, forgive transgressions and move forward with the promise of a new day – a new chance to grow and improve. To do better. To be better. To be stronger.

Here we are in February of 2024 and the days are getting a bit longer; days full of opportunities to work on those plans and goals of January. How are you doing with that?

This year, I want to share some thoughts about how embedding specific SEL strategies into your days can help you reach your goals. Maybe even find new ones. Something that I have been drawn to in recent years is discussing the concept of mental strength (or mental toughness) when focusing on social emotional well-being. I started thinking about athletes: their training and preparation for big events and competitions. How do they prepare their bodies and minds to manage the adrenaline, maintain the required stamins, intensified focus and physicality? I found research to support these thoughts and now I find myself speaking of developing a personalized mental strength program when working with colleagues, families and students.

Mental strength, the bedrock of resilience and fortitude, transcends the confines of mental health. While mental health denotes a state of well-being, mental strength embodies the power to navigate challenges, overcome adversity, and thrive despite obstacles. It is the internal force that propels individuals forward, fostering adaptability and unwavering determination in the face of trials. Mental strength allows you to walk confidently into your life – knowing that you possess the skills and abilities for success - instead of pre-supposing failure or disaster. Developing mental strength is about your self-awareness and ability to build towards something outside of yourself. If it sounds as if developing mental strength is a better use of our time as it is more of a preventative action, you may be on to something with me. In short, I truly believe developing mental strength through targeted SEL lessons will lead to better mental health for educators and students. 

Strong self-care routines are a mainstay for developing mental strength and are priority for our educators, now more than ever. With self-care at the forefront, we are more readily available mentally and emotionally for our students, families and colleagues. We can be more present for ourselves. Self-care is highly personal and must be intentionally planned, as well. The benefits of breathing exercises, yoga and meditation are well documented and can be a cornerstone to a self-care plan. 

In the realm of education, nurturing mental strength is becoming paramount. It will equip students with the tools necessary to conquer academic hurdles, cope with stress, and cultivate a growth mindset, which leads to resiliency. Mental strength, or mental toughness, represents the robustness of one’s mind, encompassing resilience, perseverance, and the ability to bounce back from setbacks. Isn’t this strength what we are looking for in our gifted learners and ourselves?

We – as gifted educators – are in unique positions to coach our students through strategic affective instruction. In our gifted classrooms, we see many students face perfectionism, anxiety, imposter syndrome, the list can go on. These can deter the greatest of minds, causing years of underachievement and frustration. What if we, as gifted educators, helped them to follow a mental strengthening regiment focused on self-care? What if we targeted strengthening the brain muscle with the same drive that we use when training for a marathon? Or preparing for an assessment? What if we talked with our gifted learners about their mental strength before they faced life changing decisions? What if we had a mental strength routine in our gifted classrooms – working on specific self-care and social-emotional skills each day or week, making connections to assist with greater resiliency when faced with adversity? Let’s imagine the benefits of a mental strength program in our gifted classrooms by instilling a sense of purpose and fostering a supportive environment that focuses on the preparation. Instead of, “Today, we have to set academic goals for the next 9 weeks”, let’s try, “Wow! We get to set our own goals for where we want to go with our learning! What is important to you?” Instead of “Here’s the rubric for your project and presentation that is due next Friday”, let’s try, “What is the most important part of your presentation that you want me to understand? How will I know it is important to you?” Let’s try tapping into their ability to care for themselves and their effort to help them find a greater purpose. How might we use our responses to our students to help them grow stronger?

A few SEL resources I regularly use with gifted learners to do just this include:

1. Jacob’s Ladder Reading Comprehension-Affective Lessons – These resources are a great starting place and can be found for all grade levels. These lessons offer poetry, short stories, and biographies as a few of the avenues to engage in rich discussions with gifted learners.
2. Overcomingobstacles.org – All SEL lessons are free; however, you can set up an account and have greater access. I especially appreciate that the lessons are tiered for primary, intermediate, middle and high school age students and many are available in a variety of languages. There are also cross-curricular extensions available. I usually strengthen these by adding in specific Thinking Routines or Depth and Complexity questions that align with the lesson objective.
3. Project Zero Thinking Routines – Many of these are routines are used within the gifted classroom for content lessons. Consider utilizing the routines specific to “Considering Controversies, Dilemmas, and Perspectives” and “Perspective Taking” to embed SEL components into designed lessons.
4. Mindfulness Moments Cards – These beautifully illustrated cards provide all you need to build students’ ability to quiet their mind, focus on their breathing and strengthen their capacity for increased mental strength. 

As we continue to move through the year, we do indeed have opportunities to develop and increase our mental strength, as well as that of our gifted learners. With the current need for increased attention on the social and emotional needs of our students, developing a purposeful plan to build mental strength through targeted affective instruction – similar to that of a gym workout plan – has the potential to create a direct, positive impact that is desperately needed. We will surely continue to have disappointments and failures that will test us. But we will also have successes. How are we preparing? It is in the preparation that we find the success. Set the course. Make the plan.

Our gifted learners will experience all of this and more, as well. We must coach them through their challenges by first strengthening their ability to prioritize their self-care, utilize their strengths, set achievable goals, persevere and learn from their experiences. Fostering mental strength in education is an investment in the holistic development of individuals, empowering our gifted learners not only to excel academically but also to navigate the complexities of life with courage, resilience, and an unyielding spirit. As gifted educators, nurturing these traits in our students will ensure that they find success – academically, socially and emotionally – on their terms, charting a new path in to this still new year. 

Researched article:

Lin Y, Mutz J, Clough PJ, Papageorgiou KA. Mental Toughness and Individual Differences in Learning, Educational and Work Performance, Psychological Well-being, and Personality: A Systematic Review. Front Psychol. 2017 Aug 11;8:1345. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01345. PMID: 28848466; PMCID: PMC5554528.

Bonnie Taylor is the chair of the Social & Emotional Development Network. Learn more about all NAGC networks and special interest groups.

As a band director, when I suggested to a new band student that playing the same instrument as his sister was a bad idea, my advice was overruled by the head director, my husband. When I taught Eduardo in his Kindergarten music class, he showed no signs of being a brilliant musician, but in sixth grade, he successfully made a sound on each band instrument he tried. Then, in the brass class he began to master the fundamentals of the French horn faster than any other 6th grader we ever started. He began to meet with me after school one or two times a week. Bored with the short, simple lines in the beginner book, he became driven to learn the scales he would need for All-region Tryouts for the next two years. He eagerly mastered those, and toward the end of that year, he began working on the scales for high school. His goal was to play his scales on the French horn faster than I could play them on the flute. He became one of the few students to make the state’s Small School All-State band all four years of high school. We lent him books with études, solos, books about famous horn players, and recordings of well known pieces featuring the horn. We continued to work together even after my family moved from the rural town to the big city, with Eduardo calling me on his cell phone for a quick lesson when he needed help. Eduardo earned a scholarship to the state university where he double-majored in horn performance and accounting. He also commuted to a nearby metropolitan area to take lessons from a top horn professor. Eduardo and his older sisters were first-generation college students. Their father immigrated to the US from Mexico and worked in agriculture. He taught his children the value of hard work. Eduardo later received a fellowship at Yale for his master’s degree, then finished his music studies with a doctorate in music. He now prepares for future auditions while working as an accountant. He is also saving money to buy another horn.

Eduardo is an excellent example of Joseph Renzulli’s three-ring model of giftedness, with his combination of above average ability, creativity, and task commitment. Of these three, his most exceptional trait was the motivation he displayed in middle school for his chosen instrument. Looking back, I’ve come to realize that motivation is embedded deep within a student. Motivation cannot be taught but must be nurtured, and the teacher needs to provide the tools and opportunities the student needs to be successful in the years ahead. I somehow made the correct steps with Eduardo, encouraging him to improve as a musician with practice. He loved playing music, and I fed his passion with instruction in technique. There were two other students in Eduardo’s grade who also had unusual musical ability. They also stayed after school for lessons, but they lacked his desire. To truly develop talent, the student must have all three: ability, creativity, and persistence.

The task for teachers begins with recognizing an emerging talent potential. Talent is not limited to the fine arts. Young mathematicians love solving difficult problems and can compute many of the steps mentally. They may carry around books of math-based brain teasers or like to draw geometrical figures with letters identifying angles or line segments. Instructing them in advanced operations is the next logical step. Students who enjoy writing stories may have notebooks full of papers or computer files filled with story ideas or scenes. There are many directions the teacher can guide the student, such as helping to make the connection between reading and being an author, modeling on the work of favorite writers, and exploring new works by excellent writers. A potential scientist may question everything and follow up why questions with extensive, teacher-guided investigations and participation in science fairs and weekend science camps.

These talented students may see working on their talents as fun, and that becomes an opening for a teacher. With a little guidance, students can see what is possible even as a basis for a future career. I have learned from my experience with Eduardo to be open to the possibilities students may present in doing something they love, and discovering the passions of their students. Identifying students who score at the upper end of special tests is still typical in gifted education, but using models of talent development that also recognize the element of motivation opens doors to other students who may not score as high on a test, but will grow their potential into lifetime accomplishments with the help of a teacher, whether in music, math, writing, science, or any other subject of their chosen, intense interest.

Deborah Edmondson is an experienced educator in Music and Social Studies. She is working on a PhD in Educational Psychology with emphasis in Gifted and Talented at the University of North Texas. She also teaches U. S. History and AP World History at Anna High School just outside of the Dallas Metroplex. She has had the pleasure of working with gifted children who are highly intelligent or greatly talented, including her grown children. She still plays her flute in a local flute ensemble.