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Educators want new ways to reach students in the classroom.

Many are using social emotional learning techniques like self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, social awareness, and relationship skills.

Tonight we meet American Legion Educator of the year in New Jersey to discuss how she brings these concepts not only in her classroom, but into her daily life.

I'm so happy you're joining us.

From Los Angeles.

This is KLCS PBS.

Welcome to everybody.

With Angela Williamson and innovation, Arts, education and public affairs program.

Everybody with Angela Williamson is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

And now your host, doctor Angela Williamson.

Angela Germano is here with us.

Angela, thank you so much.

Oh, thank you for having me.

Well, you do so many incredible things.

And I definitely want to talk about why you're here today, to talk about the social emotional learning book club that you started.

Because that's so important to educators today.

But before we get to that, I want our audience to get to know who is Angela, the educator, and maybe a little bit of your journey of why you decided to dedicate your life to positivity.

Oh you're awesome.

Thank you.

I try not to make you cry.

It's okay.

Oh, Well, I'm a mom, and that's my number one job all of the time.

And, I didn't always think that that was going to be my job.

Right.

So when I was a little girl, I had a pretty rough childhood.

My mom passed away when I was younger.

She battled cancer for five years.

And, it was pretty hard growing up.

So I relied on my friends a lot to get me through the hard times.

But my teachers were my saving grace.

They were my saving grace.

And, they got me through my childhood, my teen years.

And after college, I went, lots of scholarships and grants.

I'm a hard worker.

I'm a hard worker.

So through all that, I was so appreciative of teachers stepping out of just teaching.

Like the curriculum.

Just teaching the subject matter, being real, being authentic and caring about me and what I was going through.

And many times realizing more about what I was going through than what I knew I was going through.

You know, that meant a lot to me.

So my dream was to become a marketing director.

So off I went.

After college, I just.

Had all these wonderful teachers.

But you just thought, that's wonderful, but I'm going to move into marketing.

Yeah, absolutely.

They inspired me to go after my dreams, not to emulate what I saw them doing in the classroom, but to just go for whatever it was.

And, so I did.

I was in marketing, I was in advertising, I was in public relations.

I traveled, which that was something I never thought I would get to do.

I studied in London, I studied in D.C., I worked and lived in DC when I was getting my master's degree, I loved it.

I met my husband.

It was it was awesome.

I never thought that I would become a mom.

It wasn't all my path.

I didn't think so.

Why not?

Because I didn't have a model, really, for that, past maybe like ten years old, you know?

So I didn't see that.

But I saw my teachers.

So I think how I'm answering your question, I think, is that, it made me appreciate that you can be so much more than what someone sees on the outside.

So my teachers were so much more than just a teacher.

They got me to believe in myself, go after my dreams.

And that's what I did.

And then with my husband and I, we would travel and we loved life.

And then we decided, you know what?

Let's start to have a family.

And then I had to reassess.

Right?

Like, how do I how do I do that?

I didn't see that.

You know, my teachers were inspiring me the whole time to go after my dreams.

How do I raise somebody else to go after their dreams?

So that's how I got involved in education.

So what I'm here that you're telling me is that you've already gone through your entire college career.

You probably have a degree.

Is it in communications or marketing?

Mark Masters in public and corporate communication.

And then you halfway through you decide I'm going to change careers.

And so that means you have to go back to school.

And so how do you manage that to change your career the way that you want it now that you want a family with your husband?

Yeah.

So I had my masters and was teaching college, and I was an ad director in the city, and it was like nonstop from four in the morning until 10:00 at night.

And then when we decided to have a family figured out, I can't keep up with this timetable.

No way.

Like and that's great for all the career moms that can I could not.

I knew what I could handle, so I was like, yeah, how do I do this?

How do I have a family and how do I gain confidence in becoming a mom?

And I thought, you know what, the best thing here is to talk to other moms, which I did.

And one of my best girlfriends said, hinge, you're an educator like your answer is right there, you know?

And I was like, what are you talking about?

And she's like, well, as a teacher, you're, you know, you've been through school.

She goes there, inspire people the whole time she goes.

So if you need that inspiration to realize who you are, just go back to school and become a teacher.

And then, you know, you get your health care benefits and you learn the best ways to handle the different types of children.

That will make me more confident in what I do.

Yes.

So that's what I did.

I went back to school at the same time I was teaching college.

Yeah.

So, my day was crazy.

I would teach two college classes in the morning, went to my full time job during the day, would take my classes afterwards, teach a nighttime class of college.

You know, it started all over again.

And then it took about two, three years to do that.

And then I was granted a wonderful opportunity in freehold, new Jersey.

And, yeah.

And then I got my first true taste of being that teacher for middle schoolers.

Different than college.

Very different.

But that's a wonderful age because you can get them right before they transition.

They start to see their life differently.

They're moving from one level emotionally to the next.

And so if you have a good person there to guide them, they can definitely reach their dreams if that right person is there.

Now, when you decided to teach middle school or that's the door that was open for you, did you know right away how you wanted to teach your classes?

Or was it really a learning curve for you?

It's a great question, because I was just so stoked to be able to say, I'm a teacher now, like, right, like I did it.

I like climb the mountain, right?

Like I have another like I had my bachelors, I have my masters.

And I went back to school for education, landed a job like I was on top of the world.

I got there and there was like, wait a minute, what am I teaching?

And the district just loved me so much.

They said, we just want you to work with the children.

We see that you can take whatever data there is on the child, get to know the child and make sure that they reach their goals.

So that's what they did.

They told me, oh, you're going to teach PBL?

Like what's PBL?

Please explain that.

I had no idea.

I'm like researching it, googling it right.

And project based learning.

I say, okay, great, I'm going to teach the children through projects.

They're like, yeah, like, what am I teaching?

Like, are we going with math here?

Language arts?

Because in college that makes sense.

If you're taking a public relations class, you're project based learning would be maybe you write a press release or you form your own public relations agency.

How do you do that with middle schoolers?

Oh my gosh, I talked to them.

I looked at the data.

I saw whether what their strengths are, what their greatest opportunities were to grow.

And using my marketing background.

Yes, I analyzed my audience and I narrowed in on what does this product, this child, need in order to reach their dreams.

Well, then I had to talk to the child, and I would have these great conversations with the children and individually and with small groups like the bring all the teacher lingo in, because it was fantastic.

So the project based learning was, what do you want?

Tell me what you want out of life.

And then they would disclose their dreams to me, and they thought they were so far fetched.

And I was like, no, we can do this.

Let's put together a plan so we will put together plan a through that.

You're practicing your language arts, you're practicing your math.

You know, you're bringing it all in.

Okay, what kind of music are they going to play in your store, you know.

Oh, how much money do you want to make?

Because some kids just want to make the money, you know?

Yeah.

So because we were predicting, you know, we were doing it all.

So it was very targeted to the students in the class.

But now you're changing the way that their mind thinks.

I mean, not only are they starting to see the big picture, but then there is that critical analysis, that analytical mind that you're bringing into play, which can be a struggle for those young minds.

But because they're now focused on something they desire, they can do that, right?

They were so motivated, so motivated.

And I share with them stories of clients that I'd worked with in marketing, where they came to me with, you know, some product that they made, you know, like a little a chain to hold their lip balm when their snowboarding was one of the examples.

And they were like, wait a minute, that was someone's idea.

I'm like, yeah, the gentleman came to me, right?

Because it's like, you got your gloves on and you.

Know, you need to get to that lip balm, okay, I love it.

And they they were like, I think hearing the case studies of how it had actually happened and seeing that in that case that they were two young boys and they thought, wow, they can do it.

I'm like, yeah, and so can you.

I help them do that.

I can help you do it.

And then they believed in me and then they believed in themselves.

And then we just had fun.

We had fun, and everyone shared their ideas.

They collaborated.

We put together business plans.

The principal was so excited.

Middle schoolers putting together business plans.

Yes, yes.

And we had some great philanthropists.

Yes.

In the freehold area.

Yes.

And he actually said, okay, let's make this like a competition.

I will give you grants, a grant of $1,000.

If you put together a good business plan and it will go to a charity.

So not only were they coming up a business plans, but we tweaked it a little bit to have a nonprofit in there.

So each child found something that was near and dear to their heart, and they were able to taste success and give back.

So that is what opened up, I guess, the way that I teach in the classroom.

Yes.

You know.

Now, before we go to our break, there are educators out there right now watching this program thinking, oh, this is something that my students need.

I mean, there are moms out there that are watching and say, oh, she's doing this incredible work.

But you've also learned to turn this around for something that enhances you and other moms out there with your writing.

I'm going to ask you to tell us about that as well.

So you'll give us a little guide as educators, as, moms and parents out there, too, how we can take what we do in our jobs, turn it into our lives to keep the positivity going.

Okay, that work.

Sounds great.

Okay, so you have 30s to think about all of that.

So we'll be right back.

Come back as Angela discusses the social emotional reading book club she started in her school and her books that help educators and parents lead a positive life.

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Today.

Welcome back.

Angela is going to give us a guide of how we can use what she used in her classrooms as educators.

But then she's going to tell us how we can use this in our personal lives.

Angela, that was such a wonderful first segment.

Thank you so much for giving me a little bit of your background, but I would love for you to spend a few minutes to tell us how we can get in our classrooms.

A social emotional learning book club.

And then you have to tell us about your books because it all ties together.

it does.

Thanks so much.

So on the social emotional learning book clubs, so fortunate.

Toms River, scooped me up after I left Freehold School District.

Yes.

And they are fantastic.

Toms River Education Association is the group that, has funded my grants that I write.

So I was inspired by what I saw the philanthropist do in freehold.

Yeah.

So now I do that in my school district.

I write grants for different books and activities and celebrations.

And the Toms River Education Association funds them.

So, so blessed to have them like it is incredible.

So my students, so to answer your question, I listen to the students.

Yes, I give them time to talk.

And I always tell them, like, guys, I'm not just listening.

I'm taking notes on what you're saying and like, then I go home and I study them and I make my, like, cryptic notes, and I go through and I analyze and I go ahead and I engineer a plan to make sure that we reach your goals, to make sure your dreams come true.

And we conference every week about this.

So I truly do listen and take notes from what they say.

And I don't have all the answers, but I tell them I need that time to research.

So if we're looking for a how to guide, I listen, I take notes, I know that I don't know the answers and then I don't give up.

I figure it out.

You know, I don't get lazy.

I figure it out.

And then I come back and I share with them what I did, the struggles.

Like sometimes, like I said, I had a hardest time trying to figure this one out.

And then I was here on this Google, and then I went to Google Scholar, and I share all of my challenges so they know, like, hey, it's okay to be challenged.

It's okay not to have the.

Process of how to do it so that they can start to build up, process themselves.

Right, and have confidence.

You don't always have to know.

You don't have to have the answers.

You don't have to know how to get the answers, but you can't give up.

And that's the draw of the social emotional learning book clubs because we got that started during Covid.

Yes.

And my poor love bugs, you know, and also adults.

I love how you're saying I love bugs.

I love that they're my love bugs.

And now, like now, even the parents are my love bugs because I even talk to them just as much of the students.

We all have to figure it out.

And during Covid it was a very trying time.

We all had a lot going on.

and we needed something to bring us together.

Yeah.

So I wrote the ground and I said, you know, we need we need help.

We need to, look at it sounds silly, but look at other people's stories and then pull from it together on define the language of what we're going through, making those connections and together figuring out how to move forward.

Maybe not a full fledged plan, but just emotionally.

How to get through it moment by moment, day by day.

And it'll it'll be good because we're in it together.

And I love how you're doing that, because you said that you're in it together, but you know, part of this whole project and when you're doing, you know, social learning is building those relationships.

So you're building relationships through a very tough time for all of us, especially children and teachers alike.

How does that mean?

How do you get the parents on board with that?

you just keep on trying.

Just keep on reaching out.

Because parents were people.

You know, I talk a lot about my childhood being a little bit hectic, you know, and I look back on it, and my dad and I are good now, you know?

But when we were younger, I didn't get it.

But through life, you go through experiences and your lens changes.

Your perspective shifts multiple times.

Multiple times.

Right?

Yes.

You're right.

And and that's a lot of what was happening during the pandemic.

You know, our lens kept on shifting.

And the way we felt about certain things kept on changing.

So, yeah, our perspective shifts.

And to bring parents on board, it was acknowledging like, hey, we don't have the answers.

You don't have the answers.

Let's all figure it out.

And that was fine during the pandemic.

But one of the reasons why that still exists is because it's now being authentic with this.

Like it's not just about the pandemic in life.

We don't have it all figured out, and it's okay for the children to know that sometimes.

And as parents, we have to not compete with each other.

We have to be there together.

Show the example for them so that they can start having their authentic selves as well.

Yes, everyone just be real.

And real is not always pretty, but it's okay because we're together.

So the social emotional book clubs, that was what I did to bring in the parents.

It's like life is messy.

Let's help each other through this.

And that's what we did.

And through that, another grant that I wrote that was very well received was a selfie celebration.

Okay.

So tell us about this, because I know educators or I, I think I want to do this.

It's a blast.

So it's all about celebrating ourselves.

The parents are invited to come in.

We actually put out a little red carpet and we are celebrating the students.

The students come in, they get a swag bag.

They have these t shirts that you can look in the mirror, and then it has like a nice like message, like empowered or Believe in me and it's backwards.

So when you take the picture, it shows up.

The first, part of the selfie.

Yes.

And then we do yoga, meditation.

We put ourselves in the right mindset.

We go over tips, but in a fun, energetic way.

We have yoga mats.

We're on the floor doing yoga.

We invite the parents to do yoga, but usually they just like sit back and take it all in.

And this.

So then after they do yoga, the plan is that, you know, we've done this three times now, the plan is that the students come over and they then make, vision boards of what they want from their life, right?

Like their hopes and dreams.

And we have stickers and all sorts of cutouts, and they put this together.

Well, last time something magical happened.

Tell me the story.

The kids were doing yoga.

We had about 50.

Some students are doing yoga and then the parents.

So another 50 parents.

And as the parents are hanging out, watching, they start talking to each other.

And I look over, I'm like, wait a second.

There's like a support group happening with parents.

They're looking at their sixth graders looking at these other parents and saying, oh, how did you make it past the two years?

Like, oh my gosh, are you feeling this?

Are you going through this?

Like, how are you handling that?

And these friendships among the parents are starting to forge.

And it was just wonderful.

And I'm like trying to be about the students from like, oh, look at those baby dolls.

Parents over there.

Like they're seeing the evolution of change, of how parents work with educators to strengthen our children for their their walk in their journey.

Yes, yes.

And the parents are there supporting each other as their kids are believing in themselves, getting in touch with their inner voice, celebrating who they are.

It was it was beautiful.

And then some of the parents started making vision boards, not for themselves, but for their children, about all the beautiful things that they see in their child.

So here I am thinking, like all the other times, the students would come over and make their vision boards.

The parents like, here you go.

These are all the special things about you that I love.

And I'm like, oh my goodness, they're.

Building that self-confidence.

Yes, it was beautiful.

So then the kids had their vision boards.

The parents gave their nice arts and crafts to the children.

Everybody was feeling good.

New friendships for me and among the children, among the parents.

And then they had their picture taken on the red carpet with their celebrating of selves.

It's great.

Out here.

We love to hear about red carpet.

So yes.

Wonderful.

Well, I mean, this is so wonderful, but there's another part of who Angela is.

And and before we end our time together, I want you to talk about.

So you've been doing this incredible job inside the classroom, and you're changing the face of education not only for your students, but for their parents as well.

Now, how do you take that and decide, I'm going to put this all in a story to start changing other people's lives.

And you do this.

And to international bestselling books.

So tell us about that.

Thank you.

I just dug inside and I wanted to share that it's all about the choices that we make.

You know, you can feel down about your situation or you can use it as a reason to excel.

So, my first book is about the choices that you make, you know, using your time to investigate who you are and move forward in a positive direction.

And you know, you don't let your roots keep you.

You know, you may be rooted there, but you don't stop there, right there, just your roots.

And you can sprout in so many different directions.

And that was kind of like my metaphor for how I was in marketing and advertising, PR and now in education, not just for college, but for middle school, you know, and really, it's, you know, who am I?

It's a coach.

It's a facilitator of learning, you know, and inventor, a way of engineering new opportunities for all these dreams to actually come true for, for my love bugs and for their parents.

So that's what my first story is about.

And the second one was digging even deeper and saying, look, I'm afraid.

I was afraid of becoming a mom.

I did not know how to handle that one.

And I talked about, you know, my tribulations and how I did not let that fear contain me.

Instead, I catapult it to new heights.

And that was for women who rise, the.

Women who rise in the first book with women who illuminate.

Yes.

Now, how do you how do you follow that up with an upcoming book?

Oh, leading with the legacy.

So, leading with legacy.

I'm stoked about this one.

I actually thought about my children.

I thought about my what we.

Leave as a legacy to the next generation.

Yes.

And that's I, I didn't like I said, I didn't know if I wanted to become a parent.

I really didn't think that was ever happening.

And then when I live that long and I talk about my story, I was like, wait a minute, I meant to do something.

I guess I'm supposed to become a parent.

I'm supposed to.

But why?

I think my kids are meant to do some big, huge things.

So I'm leading, with legacy in a sense that my children are destined for big things, and I want them to always be in love with life.

And that's the title of my story.

You know, I'm in love with life.

I love my husband, I love my children, but I'm in love with life.

Every moment gets me giddy.

You know, you have a new opportunity, a new experience, right there.

Like, yeah, it could be tired.

But man, this is so it's like, you know, your first crush kind of feeling every moment.

Because I'm in love with life.

So you, you constantly walk around with butterflies in your tummy.

I do, and I'm very protective of those butterflies.

If anyone tries to take away my joy, you know, and that's what we all have to do.

We have to protect our love.

It's it's authentic, it's real, it's sincere.

It's it's our energy, you know?

And if my energy's here to make sure other people's dreams come true and that they believe in each other, and I can be a part of that inspiration, that that's why I'm here.

So that's my legacy.

And what an incredible legacy you are leading.

I love your energy, the energy that you're using in the classroom, the energy that you're giving other women as they go through their paths, but most importantly, the energy that you put into the importance of family.

I love that.

So thank you so much for spending time with us.

And I look forward to seeing what you do next.

Future doctor Angela.

Jamal.

Oh, okay.

Here we.

Go.

Good luck with that journey.

I'm waiting for that.

So thank.

You.

Thank you very much.

And thank you for joining us on everybody with Angela Williamson.

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Good night and stay well.

Hi, I'm Angela Williamson, host of Everybody with Angela Williamson.

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