Download this free visual with practical ideas for initiating social conversations, which Michelle Garcia Winner presents in this course.

Loneliness is a dangerous national epidemic that has been growing in depth and complexity for many years. Loneliness not only endangers our mental and physical health, but it also can make us less kind and caring toward others, resulting at times in misbehavior at schools and within our communities. We’ll explore a range of research-informed ways we can cultivate meaningful relationships with others to foster our well-being, as well as kindness, empathy, and generosity of spirit toward others. Now more than ever, building social awareness, managing anxiety, and developing social communication strategies to combat this growing crisis of loneliness is critical for school-age children, tweens and teens, and all the way through the adult years.

Small talk and conversations are dynamic, and we cannot create reliable scripts for how they will unfold. We can, however, increase our students' awareness of why we engage in social exchanges such as small talk. In this online course, we will unpack the complexities of small talk and conversation. We’ll break these down into their component parts to build strategies that support engagement in initial and ongoing social connection for children, teens, and adults.

This strategy-filled course delves into crucial aspects of building social competencies in preschool and early elementary-age students (ages 4-7). Explore how flexible thinking, social language, self-regulation, and social and emotional development are vital for developing collaborative interactions in group settings, both on the playground and in the classroom. Gain insights from a research perspective on the impact of executive functioning, social attention, and social problem solving through the lens of our award-winning We Thinkers! curriculum series. Walk away with practical strategies and examples to seamlessly integrate social learning concepts into your existing teaching methods.