Free SEL Resources for Educators
Being an educator is hard. We designed these free SEL resources for educators to make your life a bit easier and help you teach your students valuable brain basics and self-regulation skills.
FocusedKids Basics
Your Amygdala – The Guard Dog
Learn how to teach children about their amygdala and the role it plays in their brains.
Your Hippocampus – Miss Elephante
Learn how to teach children about their hippocampus and the role it plays in their brains.
Your Prefrontal Cortex – The Wise Owl
Learn how to teach children about their prefrontal cortex and the role it plays in their brains.
Articles for Educators
Navigating the School Year’s Final Sprint with Calm
In many ways, the end of the school year resembles the holiday season—full of expectations, packed schedules, and mounting pressure. But unlike the holidays, there's no built-in break or cultural permission to slow down. The days aren't longer, and the to-do lists certainly aren't shorter. The calendar quickly fills with field trips, performances, exams, projects, report cards, transitions, and celebrations. While this season brings excitement, it also silently cultivates stress.
Hear, Reflect, Connect: A Teacher’s Guide to Reflective Listening
Reflective listening is a communication technique where you listen to a student's concern and reflect back what you hear—including both facts and feelings—before trying to solve the problem. This approach helps students feel understood while reducing the time spent on repetitive complaints.
The Teacher Burnout Crisis—And How We Can Fix It
Teaching has long been a demanding profession—underpaid, overworked, and often undervalued. Great teachers enter the field driven by a deep passion for educating, guiding, and supporting students and their families. But over time, the weight of that passion, combined with relentless stress, becomes increasingly difficult to manage.
Lessons for Educators
Essentials: FocusedKids Classroom Lessons
Get the key FocusedKids lessons right here and start teaching the in your class today!
Essentials: FocusedKids Classroom Demonstration Videos
Watch demonstration videos that will help you teach FocusedKids in your classroom!
Essentials: FocusedKids Classroom Visuals, Posters, Printouts
Access educators' favorite FocusedKids posters, visuals, and print outs.
Videos for Educators
The Glitter Jar
The glitter jar is one of the best tools to use if you need to calm down kids (or yourself). Click to find out how to make and use a glitter jar.
Three Important Parts of the Brain
Discover the three key parts of the brain that you and your students need to know about.
Teach Gratitude with Grateful Goat
Meet Grateful Goat: Your Partner in Teaching Gratitude Science tells us that gratitude is a game-changer in child development....
Professional Development Recordings
Celebrating the Work You’ve Done This School Year
In the final Professional Development session of the 2024-2025 school year, Amanda Petersen facilitated a group reflection on the work teachers have done both personally and professionally through FocusedKids.
Reflective Listening: A Tool for When Your Students Have a Problem
This Professional Development session focused on nervous system regulation, emphasizing how understanding the nervous system can help manage stress and foster a positive learning environment.
Focused Frog: A Playful Approach to Boosting Student Concentration
This Professional Development session focused on nervous system regulation, emphasizing how understanding the nervous system can help manage stress and foster a positive learning environment.
Educator Training Opportunities
Want to go deeper? Learn more about getting trained in the FocusedKids Method.