Pine Project: Professional Development

Reflective Opportunities

The video will offer you opportunities to pause to read the featured books, articles, and other resources. While they are not required, the video content that follows will assume you have done these assignments.

The number at the end of each Reflective Opportunity is a timestamp for the place in the video where you paused for reading or reflection. Return to this timestamp to resume watching.

Reflective Opportunity 1

Take a moment to reflect on the relationships in your life. You can list names, draw webs, or organize them however you’d like. Think about a few people from different areas of your life and consider what it takes to maintain each relationship. Do you communicate the same way with all of them? How did you connect? Do some relationships have more conflict? Why do some require more or different attention? How might these differences make it challenging for young people to navigate relationships as they develop their social-emotional skills? (3:00)

Reflective Opportunity 2

Pull out your copy of A Different Pond and reread it if has been some time since you last reviewed it. (3:48)

Reflective Opportunity 3

Pause to think about predictability and scaffolds in your own educational setting. What moves do you already make that help to reduce the unknowns and ambiguities for students about relationship building and social problem-solving? What are some common interactions that you might be able to rehearse more or make more explicit still? (13:29)

Reflective Opportunity 4

The 11th spread in The Carpet is a single moment on a playground. How could the relationships of all the students on those pages play out over an extended period of time?

Read I’m New Here followed by its companion book, Someone New. After reading, open the books side-by-side. Open to the first spread in each. Go through the two books spread by spread, so that the pages in each book complement each other with the alternate perspectives of the long-term students and the new arrival students. Take in the interplay of the relationships between the characters. Who is taking risks, and what risks are they? Who is engaging in collaborative problem-solving? What examples are there of leadership and support in their relationships? (14:52)

Reflective Opportunity 5

Read the picture book My Two Blankets. Note in your journal how the two characters struggled and overcame communication barriers and intergroup anxiety to build a cross-group friendship. (19:44)

Reflective Opportunity 6

Read My Name is Sangoel and When I Get Older in preparation for exploring Responsible Decision-Making. (32:04)

Reflective Opportunity 7

Reflect on the potential consequences Sangoel, an immigrant student, might have faced in speaking up about the mispronunciation of his name. How could these consequences, such as feeling isolated or misunderstood, prevent Immigrant and New Generation students from exercising personal agency? Consider who else in the classroom, including yourself, could have supported Sangoel in addressing this issue. Beyond correctly pronouncing names, what other cultural differences should you learn about to create an environment where our students feel respected and understood without having to correct misunderstandings? How can you, as an educator, foster a classroom that empowers all students? (34:15)

Reflective Opportunity 8

Pause now to read the two texts Salma the Syrian Chef and Mama’s Nightingale. Specifically, look for and note examples of where Salma and Saya are 1. using empathy to identify a problem, 2. using critical thinking skills, and 3. engaging with resources or others to help make decisions to support their families. (37:51)

Reflective Opportunity 9

Reflect upon the phrase “pay it forward.” What is the concept of paying it forward and what does it look like to do so? Can you recall a time when you showed gratitude for help you received by paying it forward? How does the concept of “pay it forward” align with decision-making that supports community well-being? (42:16)

Reflective Opportunity 10

Read The Little House of Hope before moving on, including the Author’s Note. When you’re ready to continue, come back to hear from author Terry Catasús Jennings. (42:43)

Reflective Opportunity 11

Please take a break here to read and unpack The Suitcase. What lessons from the Pine Project do you see playing out on the pages? (54:01)

Further Resources

Educator’s Guide: Teach the interconnected texts I’m New Here and Someone New

Contact Hours

Earn 3 contact hours for Pine 5: Relationship Skills & Responsible Decision-Making

Source: Maine Department of Education
Submissions will be reviewed for depth of reflection and alignment with the relationship skills and responsible decision-making competencies. Approved reflections will be eligible for 3 contact hours. All submitted reflections will be kept strictly confidential and will only be reviewed for the purpose of awarding contact hours. If any insights are used for program improvement, they will be anonymized to ensure privacy.