ABSTRACT
The motivation and classroom management are, indeed, mysteries there are countless moving parts in a classroom every day, and the trials of adolescence often make them change every minute. This chapter includes a substantial "Setting the Stage" section with three new mini lessons: fighting, Boredom and Gratitude Mini-Lesson are dealing with feeling bored, learning about gratitude, and identifying long-term dangers of being involved in physical fights. The lessons are designed to help students want to become more committed and respectful members of a classroom and school-wide learning community. A central element of that first self-control lesson is the famous marshmallow test, originated by professor Walter Mischel. Many if not most of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons tend to gloss over these outside factors that complicate self-control and perseverance abilities, including the recently discovered impact that poverty has on a person's self-control and the challenges presented by the changes going on in the adolescent brain.
